This lesson addresses an issue most of us would rather not look squarely in the face. Most of us have an unworthiness or \u201cI am bad\u201d belief. In fact, only those who have transcended the belief are not beleaguered by it, in one form or another. That sense that we have about ourselves, that sense that \u201cI am the scum of the earth,\u201d is the voice of the \u201cI am a body\u201d belief. It is created and fed by our focus on our body\/mind\/personality as who we are.<\/p>\n
ACIM tells us, \u201cThe concept of the self has always been the great preoccupation of the world. And everyone believes that he must find the answer to the riddle of himself.\u201d T-31.V.14.<\/p>\n
So, we set about doing just that and the care and tending or \u201cperfection\u201d of that concept is never-ending. We call this focus on the body as who we are the \u201cego.\u201d You know the voice, \u201cOh, good job, you showed them!\u201d or \u201cI cannot believe you failed at that task so miserably. Next time \u2026..\u201d Even if we attempt to create the most wonderful conception of ourselves, the voice tells us, \u201cYou have fallen far short.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Byron Brown writes in Soul Without Shame<\/em>, \u201cThe [ego] generally recognizes the importance of essential human qualities such as value, strength, peace, compassion, and will. However, it does not believe that you have them innately; it tells you that you must acquire them from the outside through accomplishments and good behavior: \u2018If you are an unselfish, giving person, then perhaps you have some value.\u2019 The [ego] believes that you can only claim these qualities when you prove that you have earned them, you can control them, and you can live up to them through meeting its standards. If you can\u2019t, then it tells you, \u2018You must be faking the experience; these qualities are only a temporary occurrence, and they will be taken away from you at any moment because they don\u2019t belong to you anyway.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n As today\u2019s workbook lesson teaches, the unworthiness or \u201cI am bad\u201d belief is undone by removing your believing attention from the idea that you are a body\/mind\/personality and placing your attention on the Truth of Your Being. The lesson tells us, \u201cToday we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but from a very different reference point.\u201d<\/p>\n We are going to question our \u2018I am a body\u2019 thinking from the point-of-view of our truth. That is, from awareness. An important part of this questioning is \u201cWhat am I?\u201d Be curious to discover what you are. Are you the body? Are you this thinking? Or, are you awareness? Which one is most true about what you are? Which ones can you observe and which one is you, the observer?<\/p>\n We must begin to listen for the self chatter that purports to tell us who we are. After noticing negative self-chatter, pause to ask, \u201cWhat am I?\u201d and look beyond the \u201cI am a body (or person or mind)\u201d chatter to notice what you really are.<\/p>\n Today you are asked to give the first 5 minutes of each hour to today\u2019s lesson. It\u2019s possible that you won\u2019t be able to do that, but give those 5 minutes when you can. During that time, wonder, \u201cWhat am I?\u201d and then look to see what the true answer is. Use the video that is attached to this post to help guide you. You might watch it as part of your practice during one or more of the 5-minute periods today.<\/p>\n When you can\u2019t give a full 5 minutes to today\u2019s practice, give at least the 2-5 seconds that was represented by yesterday\u2019s Bentinho video. If you say today\u2019s workbook lesson and then give a full 5 minutes (or at least 2-5 seconds) to this looking every hour today, you will take great strides in freeing yourself from the \u201cI am the body\u201d belief and from the thinking that goes with it.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s today\u2019s video:<\/p>\n