It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your “seeing” was made. This is the function you have given your body’s eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusions.
Methinks I think, therefore I think, I think. But no, I only think I think. Because I think I think, I don’t “see”. I merely make images with mine eyes through the thoughts I think I’m thinking.
Is it just me, or does ACIM sometimes get a bit cryptic and Shakespearean? Me thinks I think I get it, however. We think we “see”, but we have actually replaced real “seeing” with the images of our thoughts. (This is the function for which we have created eyes.)
Jesus would agree. Just after he tells the parable of the sower to the multitudes and he is again alone with his disciples, he tells them:
To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. Mark 4: 11-12
Jesus isn’t trying to fool the people by teaching in parables, he’s trying to get beyond the images created by what it is they think is reality. He gets frustrated with his disciples, too. A few chapters later he chastises them because they are taking him too literally:
Having eyes, do you not see? and having ears, do you not hear? and do you not remember? (Mark 8:18)
We think we see, but we do not. We think we hear, but we do not. Our thoughts are images we have made. They are, in effect, the idols we worship.
ACIM says that we will know we are beginning to “see” when we see little edges of light around things. In fact, as we go on, we may have many “light episodes”. I noticed that Ben mentioned on his blog that he is beginning to see energy emanating from everyone he contacts and that it is like having an antenna that is becoming more finely tuned for improved reception. ACIM says that this sort of experience is not knowledge and it may not persist, but it is a symbol/sign of true perception.
I had several fairly significant “light episodes” in my 30s although I rarely have them anymore, although I have always been able to see light around people. Both of my kids and many of their friends claim to have this ability, too.
Lots of people discuss having various light experiences. Annie Dillard offers a beautiful example in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. She describes an illumination that was a tree. A Buddhist might say it is the uncontained experience of the tree before our mind contains it by labeling it “tree”. It is the ability to actually “see” beyond our labels and our beliefs about it.
- This dog is an image that I have made.
- That cat is an image that I have made.
- This computer is an image that I have made.
- This TV is an image that I have made.
- That pillow is an image that I have made.
- That plant is an image that I have made.
- That crystal pitcher is an image that I have made.
- That candle is an image that I have made.
- That incense holder is an image that I have made.
My thoughts are images that I have made.