Library of Christ Mind Teachings
ACIM Original Edition
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1 A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is.
Even if it is really solved already, you will still have the problem
because you cannot recognize that it has been solved. This is the
situation of the world. The problem of separation, which is really the
only problem, has already been solved. But the solution is not
recognized because the problem is not recognized.
2 Everyone in this world seems to have his own special
problems. Yet they are all the same and must be recognized as one if the
one solution which solves them all is to be accepted. Who can see that a
problem has been solved if he thinks the problem is something else? Even
if he is given the answer, he cannot see its relevance.
3 That is the position in which you find yourselves now. You
have the answer, but you are still uncertain about what the problem is.
A long series of different problems seems to confront you, and as one is
settled the next one and the next arise. There seems to be no end to
them. There is no time in which you feel completely free of problems and
at peace.
4 The temptation to regard problems as many is the temptation
to keep the problem of separation unsolved. The world seems to present
you with a vast number of problems, each requiring a different answer.
This perception places you in a position in which your problem solving
must be inadequate and failure must be inevitable.
5 No one could solve all the problems the world appears to
hold. They seem to be on so many levels, in such varying forms, and with
such varied content that they confront you with an impossible situation.
Dismay and depression are inevitable as you regard them. Some spring up
unexpectedly, just as you think you have resolved the previous ones.
Others remain unsolved under a cloud of denial and rise to haunt you
from time to time, only to be hidden again but still unsolved.
6 All this complexity is but a desperate attempt not to
recognize the problem and therefore not to let it be resolved. If you
could recognize that your only problem is separation, no matter what
form it takes, you could accept the answer because you would see its
relevance. Perceiving the underlying constancy in all the problems which
confront you, you would understand that you have the means to solve them
all. And you would use the means because you recognize the problem.
7 In our longer practice periods today, we will ask what the
problem is and what is the answer to it. We will not assume that we
already know. We will try to free our minds of all the many different
kinds of problems that we think we have. We will try to realize that we
have only one problem, which we have failed to recognize. We will ask
what it is and wait for the answer. We will be told. Then we will ask
for the solution to it. And we will be told.
8 Our exercises for today will be successful to the extent to
which we do not insist on defining the problem. Perhaps we will not
succeed in letting all our preconceived notions go, but that is not
necessary. All that is necessary is to entertain some doubt about the
reality of our version of what our problems are. We are trying to
recognize that we have been given the answer by recognizing the problem
so that the problem and the answer can be brought together and we can be
at peace.
9 The shorter practice periods for today will not be set by
time but by need. You will see many problems today, each one calling for
an answer. Our efforts will be directed toward recognizing that there is
only one problem and one answer. In this recognition are all problems
resolved. In this recognition there is peace.
10 Be not deceived by the form of problems today. Whenever
any difficulty seems to rise, tell yourself quickly:
11 Let me recognize this problem so it can be solved.
12 Then try to suspend all judgment about what the problem
is. If possible, close your eyes for a moment and ask what it is. You
will be heard and you will be answered.