When I was eleven or twelve years old, I saw a Lamborghini for the first time in my life. I was in awe. It was perhaps the most beautiful piece of machinery I had ever seen, and I was hooked.
I began drawing that car on tracing paper, my grade-school book covers, and anywhere else I found blank canvas. My daydreams were often filled with imaginations of owning such a captivating vehicle. When I grow up and make enough money, I have to buy that car.
That obsession lasted a couple years until I saw the first Macintosh computer. It ran a graphical user interface like nothing I had seen before, and the screen and mouse were simply gorgeous. I was fortunate enough to be enrolled in a university that would be supplying Macs to all incoming freshmen. For a while, my thoughts were completely consumed with receiving and programming that computer.
And so it is in all of life – we are so engrossed in the drama around us: people, potential, possessions. We are hypnotized by the world.
Consider anything that has our attention for extended periods of time. It doesn’t take much to realize that it relates to some obsession with the world around us: perhaps it is family or relationship drama, financial or health issues, a concern with what others think about us, frustrations or anxieties about our professional life, and so forth.
All these are referred to as form. Form is anything in the world: thoughts, emotions, and physical entities. We get so wrapped up in the world of form that we’ve forgotten who we truly are.
Nothing so blinding as perception of form. For sight of form means understanding has been obscured. (T-22.III.6)
Perception of form is hypnotizing. Why? Because it convinces us that this is real, I am here, and I can suffer. Much like a stage hypnotist mesmerizing a suggestible subject, we willingly capitulate and fall “under a spell”. We rarely, if ever, step back and ask ourselves, “Is this reality?”
It isn’t until the magician snaps his fingers that we “awaken” from the illusory state. And thought systems like A Course in Miracles are like that snapping finger jolting us from our deluded hypnosis and pointing to that true reality beyond the illusion of form.
Transcending perception of form and our obsession with the world – even for incredibly brief moments – results in unbelievable clarity and peace. Join us in Monday’s class where we’ll explore this topic in greater depth and learn how to practice such awakening. I look forward to seeing you then.
Oh so true, Anthony. Especially when the body is in pain for some health reason. It’s hard to remember that the pain is actually coming from the mind.
Well said Marion. Pain and sickness are such great detractors. As the course so powerfully points out: “[Everything] convinces you of what you want to perceive, and of the reality of the [thought system] you have chosen for your vigilance.” (T-11.V.18) And the ultimate realization: “Pain demonstrates the body must be real.” (T-27.VI.1).
I particularly like the end of lesson 136 that reads: “I mistook my body for myself. Sickness [pain] is a defense against the truth. But I am not a body. And my mind cannot attack. So I can not be sick [in pain].”