THE WORLD IN ITS GRANDEUR AND IN ITS FOLLY teaches you what to value and to recognize what is true. Contrast must be evident in learning for you to make these distinctions. To distinguish what is true from what is false and what is meaningful from what is meaningless, you must have contrast in learning. You must taste the meaningless to find out its true nature and content, and you must taste the meaningful to find out its true nature and content. The world continuously provides you the opportunity to do both.
AT THIS TIME YOUR NEED IS TO TASTE THE TRUE INCREASINGLY, and that is why we emphasize this in your daily practice now. You have already indulged yourself in the false so sufficiently that it has dominated your mind and attention. Now we feed you the true, but you must also learn to benefit from what the false has given you. Then you will need to investigate the false no more. The false has already presented itself to you. Now you are learning to recognize its presentation and to utilize what benefit it can offer you. The only benefit the false can offer you is to learn to recognize its lack of substance so that you may desire to know what is true and have greater capacity to receive it.
THUS, THANK THE WORLD TODAY FOR SUPPORTING YOU, for its grandeur and for its folly, for its moments of inspiration and for its great display of illusion. The world you see so far is largely comprised of the fantasy of individuals, but there is a greater world for you to see, a world that is actually there, a world that will arouse in you Knowledge, appreciation and true self-application as well. For it is your purpose to serve the evolution of this world, as it is the world’s purpose to serve your evolution.
IN YOUR TWO LONGER PRACTICE PERIODS TODAY, investigate this idea actively with your mind. Apply your mind to understanding how the world has supported you. Think very carefully about this. This is not a superficial investigation. It is an investigation that you must conduct with necessity and with seriousness, for it will determine your experience in life, both in the present and in the future.
UPON THE HOUR, REMEMBER OUR STATEMENT for today and keep it in mind when you view the world. Do not let this day be wasted upon you. This day is a day of recognition, a day of gratitude and a day of Wisdom.
Practice 179: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.