LESSON 79 Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.

1. 1A problem cannot be solved if you do not know what it is. 2Even if it is really solved already you will still have the problem, because you will not recognize that it has been solved. 3This is the situation of the world. 4The problem of separation, which is really the only problem, has already been solved. 5Yet the solution is not recognized because the problem is not recognized.

2. 1Everyone in this world seems to have his own special prob­lems. 2Yet they are all the same, and must be recognized as one if the one solution that solves them all is to be accepted. 3Who can see that a problem has been solved if he thinks the problem is something else? 4Even if he is given the answer, he cannot see its relevance.

3. 1That is the position in which you find yourself now. 2You have the answer, but you are still uncertain about what the problem is. 3A long series of different problems seems to confront you, and as one is settled the next one and the next arise. 4There seems to be no end to them. 5There is no time in which you feel completely free of problems and at peace.

4. 1The temptation to regard problems as many is the temptation to keep the problem of separation unsolved. 2The world seems to present you with a vast number of problems, each requiring a different answer. 3This perception places you in a position in which your problem solving must be inadequate, and failure is inevitable.

5. 1No one could solve all the problems the world appears to hold. 2They seem to be on so many levels, in such varying forms and with such varied content, that they confront you with an impossi­ble situation. 3Dismay and depression are inevitable as you regard them. 4Some spring up unexpectedly, just as you think you have resolved the previous ones. 5Others 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. 1All this complexity is but a desperate attempt not to recognize the problem, and therefore not to let it be resolved. 2If 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. 3Perceiving the underlying constancy in all the problems that seem to confront you, you would understand that you have the means to solve them all. 4And you would use the means, because you recognize the problem.

7. 1In our longer practice periods today we will ask what the problem is, and what is the answer to it. 2We will not assume that we already know. 3We will try to free our minds of all the many different kinds of problems we think we have. 4We will try to realize that we have only one problem, which we have failed to recognize. 5We will ask what it is, and wait for the answer. 6We will be told. 7Then we will ask for the solution to it. 8And we will be told.

8. 1The exercises for today will be successful to the extent to which you do not insist on defining the problem. 2Perhaps you will not succeed in letting all your preconceived notions go, but that is not necessary. 3All that is necessary is to entertain some doubt about the reality of your version of what your problems are. 4You are trying to recognize that you have been given the answer by recognizing the problem, so that the problem and the answer can be brought together and you can be at peace.

9. 1The shorter practice periods for today will not be set by time, but by need. 2You will see many problems today, each one calling for an answer. 3Our efforts will be directed toward recognizing that there is only one problem and one answer. 4In this recognition are all problems resolved. 5In this recognition there is peace.

10. 1Be not deceived by the form of problems today. 2Whenever any difficulty seems to rise, tell yourself quickly:

3Let me recognize this problem so it can be solved.

4Then try to suspend all judgment about what the problem is. 5If possible, close your eyes for a moment and ask what it is. 6You will be heard and you will be answered.