This topic discusses the importance of being willing to let go of our current perspective and open our minds to a "NEW WAY OF SEEING!"

The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought about that which everybody sees. - Erwin Schrodinger

All self-conscious minds experience a world where events occur in space and time. We identify ourselves as a body, living at a particular time in a particular place. We experience various situations, some of which we describe as good and others bad, relative to our perspective. Finally our experience of the body ends in death. These experiences are shared by all, of this there is no question.

However, what is subject to question is the source or cause of these experiences. As mentioned in topic I, "Process for Seeing and Understanding;" our mind interprets the perceptions of our experiences from an accepted perspective or system of belief. While a perspective may appear to be useful at a given time, the fact that we have, over time, had different perspectives demonstrates their limited value. Perspectives attempt to explain appearances, not the way things really are. While all perspectives are inherently limited, some lead to truth, while others might lead away from truth.

Therefore, they should not be thought of as The Truth. If perspectives were The Truth we would still accept the perspective (accepted truth of that time) the earth is flat; or the perspective (accepted truth of that time) the earth is the center of the universe; or the perspective (accepted truth of that time) child sacrifice to the gods; or the perspective (accepted truth of that time) Newtonian mechanistic world view of absolute space and time, mass and energy.

In case you haven't noticed, the Newtonian world view has, since the beginning of the 20th century, been eclipsed by the perspective of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, which, among other things, see a world of no absolute space and time. Space and time are relative to the state of motion of the observer and the observed. Space and time become the space-time continuum and energy and mass become stages in a process of transformation.

A widely accepted perspective is the Judeo-Christian perspective that God created everything. However, many incorporate the Newtonian and current scientific perspective into their religious beliefs.

Topics 1, 2 and 3 created the opportunity to see:

  • That the nature of our experience is perception and how perception works.
  • That perception deals in appearances not reality (the way things really are).
  • That despite this fact, many of our interpretations and subsequent decisions are from a belief that we are dealing with reality.
  • Despite the fact that we know perspectives are inventions of the mind, used to explain or interpret our experiences, the mind (conveniently) forgets this fact and accepts its chosen perspective as The Truth. This is why it is always very difficult and even threatening to give up a perspective,even when its validity is seriously in question.
  • That we have two fundamental, mutually exclusive, systems of thinking, which interpret our experiences: belief system #1: The world is cause and I am its effect, is consistent with the view we are dealing with reality; belief system #2: I am cause and the world is my effect is consistent with the view we are only dealing with the way things appear to us, not the way they really are.
  • Throughout the historical time frame you and I are familiar with, our experience, even in the best case scenario, is one of pain, suffering and death, with intermittent (albeit ephemeral) periods of relative peace which we have come to associate as joy.
  • All widely accepted perspectives (past and present) see these experiences as part of the "human condition" (effect or victim of their physical body and world).
  • For tens of thousands of years (within our historical time frame) we have (supposedly) been attempting to understand who we are and the purpose of our experiences here. To that end various perspectives have been invented (some mentioned above) to help us make sense of our world. From my point of view many of these perspectives have led us away from, not toward, the truth. In a very real sense they have been defenses against the truth.

I would now like to explore the implications of belief system #2: I am cause the world is my effect. Embracing this belief system leads to experiences governed by different rules or laws than belief system #1. It is not like playing the world game better than before or different than before. The very relationship of the players to the game has fundamentally shifted from effect to cause. So you are truly embarking on a journey which has the potential to bring into your awareness experiences not possible from belief system #1

For instance in a relationship where you experience being attacked, your interpretation is completely different, when looked at from the perspective "I am cause the world is my effect." It is not seen as a defense/attack scenario. Bring into your awareness a situation where you believe you are upset because someone provoked you, due to something they said or did. If you believe you are the cause of your experience, you could not be upset for the reasons you think. Be as still as you can. See if you are willing to look from this perspective for just an instant. From this perspective you would need to let go of your judgments or interpretations because they are inconsistent with your belief about the nature of your experience. You would need to be willing to see it differently. By letting go of this interpretation you free your mind to see something else. You should experience more peace even though the situation has not been resolved. You merely know it wasn’t what you thought. By staying with this perspective other ideas will come into your mind. Everything you now see will be interpreted from this view of who you are. These ideas go to the source of the experience. If you are the cause you must have projected something you did not want to believe about yourself onto someone else. Denial always leads to projection. As stated in ACIM "Projection makes perception." By your willingness to let go, or forgive your initial interpretation (which had to be wrong in terms of your emotional reaction/response) you remove your projection. See if you are willing to do that now. If you are, some of the charge and/or drama should have subsided. Your mind should begin to quiet down allowing peace to enter. You are no longer judging either yourself or another. In your heart you truly want to see this differently---And you will! Don’t look for anything. Just let the ideas in and monitor your thoughts. If they are not peaceful, forgive and let them go. If you are studying ACIM it might be helpful to read lesson 23 "I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts."