Lesson 17: I see no neutral things
This lesson follows up from the prior lesson “I have no neutral thoughts.”
In fact, this lesson starts off by saying “You see no neutral things because you have no neutral thoughts. It is always the thought that comes first, despite the temptation to believe that it is the other way around.”
So, what we see first begins with what we think.
And if our thoughts are not neutral, then we won’t see anything neutral. We will always see through the lens of judgment.
Later in this lesson, the Course tells us that “Regardless of what you may believe, you do not see anything that is really alive or really joyous. That is because you are unaware as yet of any thought that is really true and therefore really happy.”
In other words, up to this point, we have only experienced projections of the ego mind. Which always leads to experiences of fear, guilt, anger, and, at best, brief moments of conditional joy – meaning that we’re happy because certain things have lined up in a way that temporarily pleases us.
Understanding that we have no neutral thoughts and see no neutral things is a major step in reversing what the Course refers to as our mad descent into hell.