Lesson 1

"Nothing I see in this room [on the street, from this window, in this place] means anything."

The lesson suggests that you as an observer look around the room at specific things close to you and repeat, "This object does not mean anything." Then look farther away from your immediate area to a wider range and say that each object does not mean anything. There's no order in these statements. Repeat this at different times until you're comfortable and understand.

Lesson 2

"I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me."

This exercise is an expansion of the first one, to increase your range outward, turn your head. Remain as indiscriminate as possible in selecting objects to concentrate on anything. The only criterion for applying the idea to anything is whatever your eyes have lighted upon. Make no attempt to exclude anything.

Lesson 3

"I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]."

Apply this idea without making distinction of any kind. Whatever you see becomes a subject for applying the idea. Do not question the suitability of anything, these are not exercises in judgment. Lay your feelings aside, clear your mind of all past associations to see things exactly as they appear to you now. Keep an open mind unhampered by judgment in selecting the things to which the idea is applied. For this purpose one thing is like another, equally suitable, equally useful.

Lesson 4

"These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]."

Begin by noting the thoughts that are crossing your mind for about a minute. Then apply a third in the idea to them. If you're already aware of unhappy thoughts, use them as subjects for the idea. In selecting the subjects for the idea, do not be afraid to use "good" thoughts as well as "bad." None of them represents your real thoughts, which are being covered up by them. The aim is to train you in the first steps towards the goal of separating the meaningless from the meaningful. The long-range purpose of learning is to see the meaninglessness as outside you, and the meaningful within. It is the beginning of training your mind to recognize what is the same and what is different. Use your thoughts for application of the idea for today, identifying each thought by the central figure or event it contains:

"This thought about                                                  does not mean anything. It is like the things I see in this room, [on this street, and so on]."

Lesson 5

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

This idea, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing your pain. Applied specifically to whatever you believe is the cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to you.

Use both the name of the form in which you see the upset, and the cause that you ascribe to it:

"I am not angry at                                                  for the reason I think."

"I am not afraid of                                                  for the reason I think."

Try to be indiscriminate and avoid giving greater weight to some subjects than others.

"There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind."

Examine your mind for whatever it is distressing you, regardless of how much or how little you think it is doing so. If you find yourself less willing to apply this idea to some perceived sources of upset than to others, think of this first:

"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."

Search your mind and identify a number of different forms of upset that are disturbing you, regardless of their relative importance.

"I am not worried about                                                  for the reason I think."

"I am not depressed about                                                  for the reason I think."

Three or four times during the day today is enough.

Lesson 6

"I am upset because I see something that is not there."

It is necessary to name both the form of the upset (anger, fear, worry, depression and so on) and perceived source very specifically for any application of the idea.

"I am angry at the                                                  because I see something that is notthere."

"I am worried about                                                  because I see something that is not there."

If you resist applying the idea to some upsetting thoughts more than to others remind yourself of the two cautions stated in the previous lesson:

"There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind."

and:

"I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For the purpose of these exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same."

Lesson 7

"I see only the past."

This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first. Yet it is the rationale for all of the preceding ones. It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything. It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has for you.

It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see. It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything, and why they are like the things you see. It is the reason why you're never upset for the reasons you think. It is the reason why you are upset, because you see something that is not there.