[acimlessons_list] Lesson 5 - January 5

[Sue Roth]

Lesson 5 - January 5

"I am never upset for the reason I think."

Practice Summary

Purpose: to teach you that the cause of your upset is not the external
situation, person, or event you think it is. Also, to teach you that your
negative emotions are not truly different from one another.

Exercise: 3 or 4 times, for 1 minute or so
  *	Optional beginning: Say, "There are no small upsets. They are all
equally disturbing to my peace of mind." This is designed to correct your
tendency to dismiss some upsets as too insignificant to bother with.
  *	For a minute or so, search your mind for any persons, situations or
events that are distressing you, however mildly.
  *	Then apply the idea indiscriminately to each one by saying, "I am
not (angry, worried, depressed, etc.) about (source of upset) for the reason
I think." 
  *	If you want to hang on to certain upsets because they seem
justified, say, "I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For
the purposes of these exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same."

Response to temptation: optional
In addition to the formal practice periods, feel free during the day to
apply the idea to any upset you are experiencing, as a way of restoring your
peace of mind. Say, "I am not (angry, worried, depressed, etc.) about
(source of upset) for the reason I think."


COMMENTARY

This lesson is, to me, one of the most useful tools for jarring my thinking
loose from a deeply worn track. "This lesson, like the preceding one, can be
used with any person, situation or even you think is causing you pain." Try
to remember it today when, for whatever reason, you get upset. That
slow-poke driver on the road in front of you. The person who puts you down.
When the job you've been hoping for falls through. When someone tracks dirt
on your freshly mopped floor, or breaks your favorite keepsake. "I am never
upset for the reason I think."

Notice that the lesson does not identify what it is that you really are
upset about. That comes later. For now the Course is simply trying to
undermine your belief that you know what is upsetting you. Notice, too, that
it does not ask you not to be upset! "...fear, worry, depression, anxiety,
anger, hatred, jealousy"...the lesson does not ask you to be without these
feelings, simply to recognize that they are not occurring for the reasons
you think. Yes, of course, the eventual goal is to let them all go. But to
do that we have to break our belief that they are different things with
different causes. All of them stem, ultimately, from the same cause; all of
them are meanings we project onto the world we see.

These first five lessons have been tough, if you think about them. Lesson 1
was about letting go of what I see. Lesson 2, letting go of my judgments
about meaning. Lesson 3, letting go of my understanding. Lesson 4, letting
go of my thoughts. And this lesson is leading me let go of my entire thought
system, the root cause behind all of my upsets.