Workbook · Part I
Lesson 15
My thoughts are images that I have made.
What this lesson is saying
Today’s idea is: “My thoughts are images that I have made.” In ordinary English: The pictures in your head are homemade. You built them. You can set them down.
The idea is a sentence to use, not a theory to admire. It works where a story is running: a judgment of someone, a judgment of yourself, a belief that you are separate, an attack thought, a situation you have already decided about. Point the words there.
You do not have to believe it first. You use the words on one real judgment — of someone, of yourself, of a situation — and then you take the next ordinary step.
This is not saying
This is not a slogan for the day and not a request that you believe it first. Use it. Then take the next ordinary step — work, rest, a clear no, a kindness.
Why this can change a day
A spiritual idea that never touches a real person is how the ego stays in charge. Used on one encounter, it can undo a whole afternoon of ranking, defense, and self-attack.
In your day
Same idea, three ordinary places — a relationship or encounter, the case against yourself, and a situation at work or at home. You do not need a special mood.
With someone
You replay someone’s face as you wish it had gone — a rewritten scene, a better fight.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My thoughts are images that I have made.” Watch the replay form. Name it: image. Made. Come back to the room you are in. The person is not the picture.
Toward yourself
A text that did not come. You are already in court about what it means.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My thoughts are images that I have made.” You are fighting a picture. Come back to this hour. If a fact must be asked, ask only the fact. Leave the case.
At work, at home, or in a situation
You are sure a plan is in your best interest: winning, being right, getting even.
What to do
Say the words as written: “My thoughts are images that I have made.” You are about to force an outcome so you will feel special or safe. Pause. Ask what peace would do next. Do that.
Two voices in the same mind
Hear which one is running. Then today’s idea, on a real person — or on you.
Unloving thought
The picture in my head — how it should have gone, their face rewritten — that is the real scene.
Jesus’s way
My thoughts are images I have made. The image is made. It can be unmade. You are not asked to stop thinking. You are asked to stop calling the image the world.
Spalding · 2019 · episode #208
Jesus’s commentary for Lesson 15
Tina reads the official workbook lesson first. Then she channels. The video is the source. The notes below are study notes of that sitting — not a transcript, and not A Year of Forgiveness.
After the reading
In the video · Jesus speaking
This is the channeled portion — after Tina has read the lesson. Study notes of that sitting. Not a transcript.
- “My thoughts are images that I have made.” Thoughts are causal in this teaching.
- The ones you do not notice are still making the day.
- He wants the hidden ingredients of the mind examined — not as self-hatred, as freedom.
How to sit today
Part I · Undoing
The idea is above. This is the one sitting this number asks — how often, how long, and the words. Not a second lesson.
- How often
- Three application periods; do not exceed four. Skip extras unless you feel completely comfortable
- How long
- A minute or so is recommended; less than a minute is enough if you begin to feel uneasy
- Eyes
- Open
How
- You will not cover many things in a minute. Make the selection as random as possible and apply the idea to each.
Longer sitting
Three sittings; do not exceed four — a minute or less
- Today’s idea is: “My thoughts are images that I have made.”
- Eyes open. You will not cover many things in a minute. Make the selection as random as possible.
- Say, slowly: “This [name it] is an image that I have made.”
- If a sense of light seems to appear around something, notice it. Do not try to make a light. Do not visualize.
- Uneasiness means shorten the sitting, not grit your teeth.
Uneasiness means shorten, not grit your teeth.
These scripts follow the workbook’s own method for this number — duration, frequency, and the sentences it asks you to use. They are a study paraphrase, not a replacement. Read the official lesson at acim.org and follow any wording it gives that is more specific than this card.
Words you may not know
Full glossaryCourse words do not mean what church, psychology, or ordinary English usually mean. These notes are for this lesson — tap a word.
Other voices — Tina, Ra, Carla
Short notes from the four streams. The teaching above is the lesson. These are doors if you want them.
Spalding
“My thoughts are images that I have made.” Thoughts are causal in this teaching. The ones you do not notice are still making the day. He wants the hidden ingredients of the mind examined — not as self-hatred, as freedom.
Watch this lesson’s commentaryRa
This lesson is practice in polarizing with the person in front of you. Service to others is not a slogan. It is whether you treat them as the same being you are.
Open streamRueckert
A wanderer on Earth does not need a different lesson. She needs this one, done with her hands. Carla's whole archive is the proof: contact follows a life, it does not replace it.
Open stream