Lesson 18 – I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

Day - 18 ACIM Alex Puglia.pdf

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1. The Lesson (from the Workbook)

The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant. It also emphasizes the idea that minds are joined, which will be given increasing emphasis later.Today's idea does not refer to what you see as much as to how you see it. Therefore, the exercises for today emphasize this aspect of your perception. The three or four practice periods which are recommended should be done as follows:First, glance around you, selecting subjects for the application of the idea for today as randomly as possible. Keeping your eyes on each one, say:I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see [object].Conclude each practice period by repeating the more general statement:I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.A minute or so, or even less, will be sufficient for each practice period.

2. Explanation with Teachings from the Text, Modern Science, and Spirituality

This lesson builds on the idea of shared perception. In A Course in Miracles, perception is not isolated; it is a projection from the mind, and minds are not truly separate. The text says:

“Every thought you have contributes to truth or to illusion; either it extends the truth or it multiplies illusions.” (T-5.I.1)

And:

“What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see.” (T-21.V.1)

This means that what you perceive affects not just your experience, but others' as well. Perception is a shared field. The Course reminds us that we are never alone in our thoughts—and therefore never alone in their consequences.

In quantum physics, researchers like Donald Hoffman argue that time and space are not fundamental. They are part of a virtual interface we project—tools that help us navigate experience, not the ground of reality itself. From this view, consciousness is the only true foundation. We are not in the world; the world is in us.

What we call “seeing” is not passive—it is a creative act. When two people align in seeing the same truth or possibility, it is not because they observed the same object in space—it is because they connected in the field of consciousness that gives rise to space.

Similarly, Ervin Laszlo proposes a unified informational field—the Akashic Field—where all consciousness connects. In this field, every thought, every perception, is shared. And what one mind heals, all minds can access.

As Joe Dispenza teaches, when we choose to observe reality from elevated emotions like love, compassion, or forgiveness, we broadcast those frequencies into this field. It is not symbolic—it is vibrational. And it is felt by others, whether they’re aware of it or not.

So when the Course says “I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing,” it isn’t a poetic metaphor—it’s a description of how perception actually works in the fabric of creation.

3. Integration with Christianity

In traditional Christianity, the idea that we are “one body in Christ” is often taught as symbolic—something to strive toward as a spiritual community. But the deeper meaning is far more literal: we are not just connected in belief or fellowship—we are energetically and spiritually one.

Where traditional teachings often emphasize actions—serving others, helping the poor, forgiving wrongs—the deeper truth revealed in this lesson is that we influence others most profoundly through perception. Not by doing, but by seeing them rightly.

Seeing your brother with love is not just a kind gesture—it is a creative act. An act of remembering our shared Source. When you see your neighbor as part of you, you’re not just being nice. You’re healing the entire field of separation.

When Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself,” He wasn’t giving us a to-do list. He was stating a spiritual reality.

Because when you truly love God—with your heart, your mind, your soul—you enter into union. And in that union, perception changes.

You no longer see others as separate.

You no longer think in terms of you and me, right and wrong, giver and receiver.

You see only one thing: Love, remembering itself.

And so “love your neighbor as yourself” isn’t a behavior. It’s a state of recognition. Because if Love is the remembrance that we were never separated, then there is no other way to love your neighbor except as yourself.

Not like yourself.

As yourself.

Because we are not many things trying to become one.

We are one Love, living different aspects of the same story… in different bodies.

4. Bible Verses and New Meaning

1. Romans 12:5 – “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”→ Traditional view: We are spiritually unified through Christ.→ Deeper meaning: Our minds are not separate—how I see you affects both of us. Perception is a shared prayer.

2. 2 Corinthians 10:5 – “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

→ Traditional view: We must reject sinful or impure thoughts.

→ Deeper meaning: To make a thought obedient to Christ is to remember that separation is not real. Every thought we hold shapes how we see our brothers—not as strangers, but as parts of ourselves. Capturing a thought is not about control; it is about choosing union. It is the moment we choose to see through love instead of fear. In doing so, we restore the truth: we are one, and what I see in you is what I remember in me.

3. Matthew 18:20 – “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”→ Traditional view: Jesus is present when people pray together.→ Deeper meaning: When our perception aligns with Love—even silently—it becomes a gathering of minds in Christ-consciousness.

5. Message to Friends

When Jesus said, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them,” it’s easy to think He shows up because we gather. As if our prayer invites Him in.

But maybe it’s the opposite.

Maybe the only reason we can truly meet—soul to soul, heart to heart—is because He’s already there. Because Christ, the living Word of God, is the space where any true seeing becomes possible. Every sacred encounter doesn’t summon Him—it reveals Him.

I saw that clearly just a few days ago, in a Costco parking lot.

Darcia and I had spent most of the day missing each other. We were both feeling unseen, unappreciated, unloved—replaying the cycle that shows up too often in our marriage. Small moments of coldness. Words that land sideways. Old stories demanding proof. Both of us needing something from the other, and both of us unable to give it first.

We sat in the car, still tangled in it.

Normally, that’s where the arguments would start again—who didn’t do what, whose fault it was, how tired or unsupported we felt. But that day, something stopped me.

I turned to her and softly said the words of Ho’oponopono:

“Thank you. Please forgive me. I’m sorry. I love you.”

She didn’t respond.

So I closed my eyes and prayed.

Holy Spirit… please let me see her.

And then I said it again.

“Thank you. Please forgive me. I’m sorry. I love you.”

And that’s when the miracle happened.

Her whole body softened. She began to cry. She looked at me and whispered:

“It was all my fault… I was just scared. I didn’t know how to say it.”

And I saw her. Not her fear. Not her words. Her.

I saw the soul of my wife—the one beneath the noise—and in that moment, we were no longer two people fighting for understanding.

We were the body and the soul of something holy, trying to stay together.

I don’t think that healing came from anything I said. I believe it came from the space I was finally able to hold—for her, for me, for us both.

And I believe that space was Christ.

Not a person watching from above. Not a presence waiting to be summoned.

But the Word of God—alive.

And the Word of God is not a sermon or a scripture. It is a space. A silence.

It’s the silence behind your thoughts. The space where seeing becomes sacred.

We don’t bring Him into our relationships by inviting Him.

He is the Word.

And the Word is the space we enter when we finally stop speaking long enough… to truly see.

And what I saw that night—what she saw too—reminded me of this lesson:

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

The miracle didn’t happen in my head. It happened in the space between us. My willingness to see her differently changed what she saw in herself. And her shift became mine too.

Because perception is not private.

We are not alone in creating our experience. We never were.

When we shift how we see, the whole field shifts with us.

And that—that—is how Love saves the world.