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WORKBOOK FOR STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION

W-in.1. A theoretical foundation such as the text provides is necessary as a framework

to make the exercises in this workbook meaningful. 2 Yet it is doing the exercises that

will make the goal of the course possible. 3 An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. 4 It

is the purpose of this workbook to train your mind to think along the lines the text

sets forth.

W-in.2. The exercises are very simple. 2 They do not require a great deal of time, and

it does not matter where you do them. 3 They need no preparation. 4 The training period

is one year. 5 The exercises are numbered from 1 to 365. 6 Do not undertake to do more

than one set of exercises a day.

W-in.3. The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the

undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true perception. 2 With

the exception of the review periods, each day's exercises are planned around one

central idea, which is stated first. 3 This is followed by a description of the specific

procedures by which the idea for the day is to be applied.

W-in.4. The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a

different perception of everyone and everything in the world. 2 The exercises are planned to

help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally

applicable to everyone and everything you see.

W-in.5. Transfer of training in true perception does not proceed as does transfer of

the training of the world. 2 If true perception has been achieved in connection with any

person, situation or event, total transfer to everyone and everything is certain. 3 On the

other hand, one exception held apart from true perception makes its accomplishments anywhere

impossible.

W-in.6. The only general rules to be observed throughout, then, are: First, that the

exercises be practiced with great specificity, as will be indicated. 2 This will help you to

generalize the ideas involved to every situation in which you find yourself, and to everyone and

everything in it. 3 Second, be sure that you do not decide for yourself that there are some

people, situations or things to which the ideas are inapplicable. 4 This will interfere with

transfer of training. 5 The very nature of true perception is that it has no limits. 6 It is

the opposite of the way you see now.

W-in.7. The overall aim of the exercises is to increase your ability to extend the

ideas you will be practicing to include everything. 2 This will require no effort on your

part. 3 The exercises themselves meet the conditions necessary for this kind of transfer.

W-in.8. Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and

others may seem to be quite startling. 2 This does not matter. 3 You are merely asked to

apply the ideas as you are directed to do. 4 You are not asked to judge them at all. 5 You

are asked only to use them. 6 It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will

show you that they are true.

W-in.9. Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them,

and you need not even welcome them. 2 Some of them you may actively resist. 3 None of this

will matter, or decrease their efficacy. 4 But do not allow yourself to make exceptions

in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas

may be, use them. 5 Nothing more than that is required.

PART I

LESSON 1.

Nothing I see in this room [on this street,

from this window, in this place] means anything.

W-pI.1.1. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically

to whatever you see:

2 This table does not mean anything.

3 This chair does not mean anything.

4 This hand does not mean anything.

5 This foot does not mean anything.

6 This pen does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.2. Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a

wider range:

2 That door does not mean anything.

3 That body does not mean anything.

4 That lamp does not mean anything.

5 That sign does not mean anything.

6 That shadow does not mean anything.

W-pI.1.3. Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no

allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. 2 That is the

purpose of the exercise. 3 The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. 4 As

you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. 5 Do not attempt to

apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. 6 Only be

sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. 7 One thing is like another as far

as the application of the idea is concerned.

W-pI.1.4. Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each,

preferably morning and evening. 2 Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute

or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. 3 A comfortable sense of leisure is

essential.

LESSON 2.

I have given everything I see in this room

[on this street, from this window, in this place]

all the meaning that it has for me.

W-pI.2.1. The exercises with this idea are the same as those for the first one. 2 Begin

with the things that are near you, and apply the idea to whatever your glance rests on.

3 Then increase the range outward. 4 Turn your head so that you include whatever is on

either side. 5 If possible, turn around and apply the idea to what was behind you. 6 Remain

as indiscriminate as possible in selecting subjects for its application, do not

concentrate on anything in particular, and do not attempt to include everything you see in a given

area, or you will introduce strain.

W-pI.2.2. Merely glance easily and fairly quickly around you, trying to avoid selection

by size, brightness, color, material, or relative importance to you. 2 Take the

subjects simply as you see them. 3 Try to apply the exercise with equal ease to a body or a

button, a fly or a floor, an arm or an apple. 4 The sole criterion for applying the idea to

anything is merely that your eyes have lighted on it. 5 Make no attempt to include anything

particular, but be sure that nothing is specifically excluded.

LESSON 3.

I do not understand anything I see in this room

[on this street, from this window, in this place].

W-pI.3.1. Apply this idea in the same way as the previous ones, without making

distinctions of any kind. 2 Whatever you see becomes a proper subject for applying the idea. 3 Be

sure that you do not question the suitability of anything for application of the idea. 4

These are not exercises in judgment. 5 Anything is suitable if you see it. 6 Some of the

things you see may have emotionally charged meaning for you. 7 Try to lay such feelings aside,

and merely use these things exactly as you would anything else.

W-pI.3.2. The point of the exercises is to help you clear your mind of all past

associations, to see things exactly as they appear to you now, and to realize how little you really

understand about them. 2 It is therefore essential that you keep a perfectly open mind,

unhampered by judgment, in selecting the things to which the idea for the day is to be

applied. 3 For this purpose one thing is like another; equally suitable and therefore equally

useful.

LESSON 4.

These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like

the things I see in this room [on this street,

from this window, in this place].

W-pI.4.1. Unlike the preceding ones, these exercises do not begin with the idea for the

day. 2 In these practice periods, begin with noting the thoughts that are crossing your

mind for about a minute. 3 Then apply the idea to them. 4 If you are already aware of

unhappy thoughts, use them as subjects for the idea. 5 Do not, however, select only the

thoughts you think are "bad." 6 You will find, if you train yourself to look at your thoughts,

that they represent such a mixture that, in a sense, none of them can be called "good" or "

bad." 7 This is why they do not mean anything.

W-pI.4.2. In selecting the subjects for the application of today's idea, the usual

specificity is required. 2 Do not be afraid to use "good" thoughts as well as "bad." 3 None of

them represents your real thoughts, which are being covered up by them. 4 The "good" ones

are but shadows of what lies beyond, and shadows make sight difficult. 5 The "bad" ones

are blocks to sight, and make seeing impossible. 6 You do not want either.

W-pI.4.3. This is a major exercise, and will be repeated from time to time in somewhat

different form. 2 The aim here is to train you in the first steps toward the goal of separating

the meaningless from the meaningful. 3 It is a first attempt in the long-range purpose of

learning to see the meaningless as outside you, and the meaningful within. 4 It is also the

beginning of training your mind to recognize what is the same and what is different.

W-pI.4.4. In using your thoughts for application of the idea for today, identify each

thought by the central figure or event it contains; for example:

2 This thought about___does not mean anything.

3 It is like the things I see in this room [on this street, and so on].

W-pI.4.5. You can also use the idea for a particular thought that you recognize as

harmful. 2 This practice is useful, but is not a substitute for the more random procedures to

be followed for the exercises. 3 Do not, however, examine your mind for more than a

minute or so. 4 You are too inexperienced as yet to avoid a tendency to become pointlessly

preoccupied.

W-pI.4.6. Further, since these exercises are the first of their kind, you may find the

suspension of judgment in connection with thoughts particularly difficult. 2 Do not repeat these

exercises more than three or four times during the day. 3 We will return to them later.

LESSON 5.

I am never upset for the reason I think.

W-pI.5.1. This idea, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or

event you think is causing you pain. 2 Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the

cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to

you. 3 The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred,

jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. 4 This is not

true. 5 However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper

subject for the exercises for the day. 6 Applying the same idea to each of them separately is

the first step in ultimately recognizing they are all the same.

W-pI.5.2. When using the idea for today for a specific perceived cause of an upset in

any form, use both the name of the form in which you see the upset, and the cause which

you ascribe to it. 2 For example:

3 I am not angry at___for the reason I think.

4 I am not afraid of___for the reason I think.

W-pI.5.3. But again, this should not be substituted for practice periods in which you

first search your mind for "sources" of upset in which you believe, and forms of upset which

you think result.

W-pI.5.4. In these exercises, more than in the preceding ones, you may find it hard to

be indiscriminate, and to avoid giving greater weight to some subjects than to others. 2

It might help to precede the exercises with the statement:

3 There are no small upsets. 4 They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.

W-pI.5.5. Then examine your mind for whatever is distressing you, regardless of how

much or how little you think it is doing so.

W-pI.5.6. You may also find yourself less willing to apply today's idea to some

perceived sources of upset than to others. 2 If this occurs, think first of this:

3 I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. 4 For the purposes of these

exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.

W-pI.5.7. Then search your mind for no more than a minute or so, and try to identify a

number of different forms of upset that are disturbing you, regardless of the relative

importance you may give them. 2 Apply the idea for today to each of them, using the name of both

the source of the upset as you perceive it, and of the feeling as you experience it. 3

Further examples are:

4 I am not worried about___for the reason I think.

5 I am not depressed about___for the reason I think.

6 Three or four times during the day is enough.

LESSON 6.

I am upset because I see something that is not there.

W-pI.6.1. The exercises with this idea are very similar to the preceding ones. 2 Again,

it is necessary to name both the form of upset (anger, fear, worry, depression and so

on) and the perceived source very specifically for any application of the idea. 3 For

example:

4 I am angry at___because I see something that is not there.

5 I am worried about___because I see something that is not there.

W-pI.6.2. Today's idea is useful for application to anything that seems to upset you,

and can profitably be used throughout the day for that purpose. 2 However, the three or

four practice periods which are required should be preceded by a minute or so of mind

searching, as before, and the application of the idea to each upsetting thought uncovered in the

search.

W-pI.6.3. Again, if you resist applying the idea to some upsetting thoughts more than

to others, remind yourself of the two cautions stated in the previous lesson:

2 There are no small upsets. 3 They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.

4 And:

5 I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. 6 For the purposes of these

exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.

LESSON 7.

I see only the past.

W-pI.7.1. This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first. 2 Yet it is the

rationale for all of the preceding ones.

3 It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything.

4 It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has

for you.

5 It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see.

6 It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything, and why they are like the

things you see.

7 It is the reason why you are never upset for the reason you think.

8 It is the reason why you are upset because you see something that is not there.

W-pI.7.2. Old ideas about time are very difficult to change, because everything you

believe is rooted in time, and depends on your not learning these new ideas about it. 2 Yet

that is precisely why you need new ideas about time. 3 This first time idea is not really

so strange as it may sound at first.

W-pI.7.3. Look at a cup, for example. 2 Do you see a cup, or are you merely reviewing

your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the

rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast and so on? 3 Are not your aesthetic

reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? 4 How else would you know whether or not

this kind of cup will break if you drop it? 5 What do you know about this cup except what

you learned in the past? 6 You would have no idea what this cup is, except for your past

learning. 7 Do you, then, really see it?

W-pI.7.4. Look about you. 2 This is equally true of whatever you look at. 3 Acknowledge

this by applying the idea for today indiscriminately to whatever catches your eye. 4

For example:

5 I see only the past in this pencil.

6 I see only the past in this shoe.

7 I see only the past in this hand.

8 I see only the past in that body.

9 I see only the past in that face.

W-pI.7.5. Do not linger over any one thing in particular, but remember to omit nothing

specifically. 2 Glance briefly at each subject, and then move on to the next. 3 Three or four

practice periods, each to last a minute or so, will be enough.

LESSON 8.

My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

W-pI.8.1. This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past. 2 No one

really sees anything. 3 He sees only his thoughts projected outward. 4 The mind's

preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing

suffers. 5 Your mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is. 6 It therefore

cannot understand time, and cannot, in fact, understand anything.

W-pI.8.2. The one wholly true thought one can hold about the past is that it is not

here. 2 To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions. 3 Very few have

realized what is actually entailed in picturing the past or in anticipating the future. 4 The

mind is actually blank when it does this, because it is not really thinking about anything.

W-pI.8.3. The purpose of the exercises for today is to begin to train your mind to

recognize when it is not really thinking at all. 2 While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your mind,

the truth is blocked. 3 Recognizing that your mind has been merely blank, rather than

believing that it is filled with real ideas, is the first step to opening the way to vision.

W-pI.8.4. The exercises for today should be done with eyes closed. 2 This is because

you actually cannot see anything, and it is easier to recognize that no matter how vividly

you may picture a thought, you are not seeing anything. 3 With as little investment as

possible, search your mind for the usual minute or so, merely noting the thoughts you find

there. 4 Name each one by the central figure or theme it contains, and pass on to the next.

5 Introduce the practice period by saying:

6 I seem to be thinking about ___.

W-pI.8.5. Then name each of your thoughts specifically, for example:

2 I seem to be thinking about [name of a person], about [name of an object], about [

name of an emotion],

and so on, concluding at the end of the mind-searching period with:

3 But my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

W-pI.8.6. This can be done four or five times during the day, unless you find it

irritates you. 2 If you find it trying, three or four times is sufficient. 3 You might find it

helpful, however, to include your irritation, or any emotion that the idea for today may

induce, in the mind searching itself.

LESSON 9.

I see nothing as it is now.

W-pI.9.1. This idea obviously follows from the two preceding ones. 2 But while you may

be able to accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as

yet. 3 However, understanding is not necessary at this point. 4 In fact, the recognition

that you do not understand is a prerequisite for undoing your false ideas. 5 These

exercises are concerned with practice, not with understanding. 6 You do not need to practice

what you already understand. 7 It would indeed be circular to aim at understanding, and

assume that you have it already.

W-pI.9.2. It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to

picture is not there. 2 This idea can be quite disturbing, and may meet with active resistance

in any number of forms. 3 Yet that does not preclude applying it. 4 No more than that

is required for these or any other exercises. 5 Each small step will clear a little of

the darkness away, and understanding will finally come to lighten every corner of the mind

that has been cleared of the debris that darkens it.

W-pI.9.3. These exercises, for which three or four practice periods are sufficient,

involve looking about you and applying the idea for the day to whatever you see, remembering

the need for its indiscriminate application, and the essential rule of excluding nothing.

2 For example:

3 I do not see this typewriter as it is now.

4 I do not see this telephone as it is now.

5 I do not see this arm as it is now.

W-pI.9.4. Begin with things that are nearest you, and then extend the range outward:

2 I do not see that coat rack as it is now.

3 I do not see that door as it is now.

4 I do not see that face as it is now.

W-pI.9.5. It is emphasized again that while complete inclusion should not be attempted,

specific exclusion must be avoided. 2 Be sure you are honest with yourself in making

this distinction. 3 You may be tempted to obscure it.

LESSON 10.

My thoughts do not mean anything.

W-pI.10.1. This idea applies to all the thoughts of which you are aware, or become

aware in the practice periods. 2 The reason the idea is applicable to all of them is that

they are not your real thoughts. 3 We have made this distinction before, and will do so

again. 4 You have no basis for comparison as yet. 5 When you do, you will have no doubt that

what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything.

W-pI.10.2. This is the second time we have used this kind of idea. 2 The form is only

slightly different. 3 This time the idea is introduced with "My thoughts" instead of "These

thoughts," and no link is made overtly with the things around you. 4 The emphasis is now on the

lack of reality of what you think you think.

W-pI.10.3. This aspect of the correction process began with the idea that the thoughts

of which you are aware are meaningless, outside rather than within; and then stressed

their past rather than their present status. 2 Now we are emphasizing that the presence of

these "thoughts" means that you are not thinking. 3 This is merely another way of repeating

our earlier statement that your mind is really a blank. 4 To recognize this is to

recognize nothingness when you think you see it. 5 As such, it is the prerequisite for vision.

W-pI.10.4. Close your eyes for these exercises, and introduce them by repeating the

idea for today quite slowly to yourself. 2 Then add:

3 This idea will help to release me from all that I now believe.

4 The exercises consist, as before, in searching your mind for all the thoughts that

are available to you, without selection or judgment. 5 Try to avoid classification of any

kind. 6 In fact, if you find it helpful to do so, you might imagine that you are watching

an oddly assorted procession going by, which has little if any personal meaning to you. 7

As each one crosses your mind, say:

8 My thought about___does not mean anything.

9 My thought about___does not mean anything.

W-pI.10.5. Today's thought can obviously serve for any thought that distresses you at

any time. 2 In addition, five practice periods are recommended, each involving no more

than a minute or so of mind searching. 3 It is not recommended that this time period be

extended, and it should be reduced to half a minute or less if you experience discomfort. 4

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