Practical Mysticism: May 2021

Practical Mysticism 7: Understanding, Acceptance, Application—Part 2 Application

Welcome to part 2 of “Practical Mysticism: Understanding, Acceptance, Application with a Focus on Application.” In part 1 of the Focus on Application (previous post number 6), five areas of application were mentioned, and three of those were focused on. Today we’ll focus on the remaining two. To start, here is a list of all five areas of application for reference and review:

1. Giving no credence or power to any evidence of the 5 senses. Giving no power to any so-called person, place or thing. Seeing the world of images as one neutral tapestry of illusion and therefore not reacting to anything.

2. No longer seeking outside for safety, supply, love, or for anything at all.

3. Observing behavior in order to bring to awareness the motivation for the behavior, and no longer engaging in behaviors motivated by fear, lack, or littleness.

4. Raising to awareness all beliefs, thoughts, and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world, and letting them go.

5. Trusting in the ever present Infinite Invisible Spiritual Reality of Oneness. Stated alternatively as trusting in God, and/or trusting in the True Nature of Yourself, that nature being Wholeness and Completion, being Self Sustaining and Self Maintaining, being Infinite, Eternal, and Joyful.

In part 1 of Focus on Application, we looked at numbers 1,2, and 5 above. Now let’s look at number 3:

3. Observing behavior in order to bring to awareness the motivation for the behavior, and no longer engaging in behaviors motivated by fear, lack, or littleness.

Our behaviors offer a wonderful way of uncovering our erroneous beliefs. Our behaviors belie our beliefs, our behaviors betray our beliefs. In other words, our behaviors point to our beliefs because beliefs motivate our behaviors. If we discover that our behaviors are motivated by belief in lack, limitation, fear, or weakness then we can drop those beliefs by not following through on the behavior. The behaviors that are motivated by fear, lack, loss, limitation, or weakness are defenses against fear, lack, loss, limitation and weakness. Let’s look at a common example. Let’s say you have a job and you find yourself engaging in people pleasing with your boss. You engage in people pleasing because you fear losing your job. You engage in people pleasing because you see your boss as your source of supply and sustenance. Therefore, you believe in lack, loss, fear, and powerlessness, and you trust in outside seeking. You believe in your own weakness and inadequacy because you’re not identifying yourself as the Incorporeal Infinite Whole Spiritual Reality of Completion. So by engaging in people pleasing behavior you are defending against lack, defending against loss, defending against fear, limitation and weakness, and you are reinforcing the beliefs in lack, fear, loss, limitation, and powerlessness in the mind by making them real. You are therefore misidentifying your Self, and you are perpetuating limitation in experience. Cessation of behaviors motivated by the beliefs in lack, fear, loss, limitation and weakness are replaced by trust in the Infinite Invisible, Self-Sustaining Self-Maintaining nature of God and of my Self, since I and my Father are One. Some common defensive behaviors which are motivated by beliefs in fear, lack, and littleness are people pleasing, hoarding, taking preventative measures, taking protective measures, manipulating others, attacking, planning, and deprivation, though this list is far from exhaustive.

Next and last, let’s look at number 4:

4. Raising to awareness all beliefs, thoughts, and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world, and letting them go.

Maintaining erroneous beliefs and concepts in the mind keeps the mind mired in duality, unreality, unhappiness, and fear. Retaining beliefs and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world keeps the mind lingering in time, and riding the unmerry-go-round of reincarnation. Holding onto false ideas in mind keeps the mind asleep in the dream of separation and opposites. Where we are headed in the practice of releasing false ideas is to the outcome of the New Testament teaching of “Take no thought for your life, for what you shall eat or drink, or what you shall wear.” In other words, we are heading toward taking no human thought.

There are three helpful ways of exposing false thoughts, beliefs, and concepts.

The first way is to be aware of the motivations for behavior. This practice was already discussed above

The second way of bringing erroneous beliefs to light is to be aware of your emotions, particularly negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, unhappiness, or loss of peace of any kind. Your emotions are triggered by your beliefs. Your negative emotions are not triggered by people, circumstances, or by anything seemingly outside yourself. Your emotions will inform you of what you believe if you trace them back to the mind. Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say you’re feeling depressed. This feeling of depression is a fool-proof and powerful indicator that you’re believing something that is untrue and unnecessary. What are you believing about yourself, about the world, about others? Perhaps you believe you are powerless; that you are a tiny fragment in a great big powerful universe of forces beyond your control. (Pretty depressing!) Perhaps you believe in statistics, economics trends, or news reports. Maybe you believe that your sources of supply and sustenance are outside of you and you must seek after them and struggle to get them. Maybe you believe you must sacrifice yourself in some way to get your needs met. Maybe you do believe that your identity is a human being! Maybe you believe that the world is made of matter and that you must manipulate it (and others) in order to survive. Maybe you believe in survival! All of these beliefs, and many, many others, feel bad! You can let them go and feel happy! Let them go and replace them with Truth and with trust in your own incorporeal True Nature.

Feelings have the potential to fully release the mind from bondage to illusion and it’s subsequent suffering if they are used correctly. Loss of peace always indicates that you are misidentifying yourself, your nature, and the nature of the world.

If you really want to go deep with this, you will find that all beliefs that feel bad are founded on the core false belief in a false identity as a body in a material world. Believing I am a body in a material world is the mother of all subsequent erroneous beliefs. Wrong identity is the root false belief, and the tree of all false concepts and beliefs grows out from that root. The fast track to mind purification is to lay the axe at the root!

You might be getting the not-so-subtle hint that all beliefs and concepts are untrue! There are no beliefs or concepts in Reality, in pure Oneness, in Spirit. No beliefs are necessary, they can all be let go. A helpful analogy is that of an old fashioned movie projector.

We have the light of the projector which is a metaphor for the Light of Truth or Spirit. Then we have the film strip which is a metaphor for the mind that is full of beliefs and concepts.

And finally we have the screen which is a metaphor for the images of the world, the outpicturings of the contents of the mind.

When we drop false beliefs it’s as if we’re cleaning up the film strip and then on the screen we no longer experience the effects of those beliefs. At first it seems like we’re cleaning up that film strip more and more, letting go of more and more beliefs. And at some point we realize that we can simply remove the film strip and let the Light of Truth, the Light of our True Nature, run the show. The metaphor has some holes in it, but it is pointing to living by Grace by emptying the mind of falsehood.

When looking at the dropping false beliefs in the context of practicing defenselessness and trust, we find that beliefs are defenses. They are pseudo protections, and an unreliable means of pseudo sustenance. Living by beliefs as means of survival and fulfillment is a shabby substitute for living by the Grace of God. Being without beliefs is being defenseless. Trusting in Spirit is a replacement for holding onto beliefs and concepts. You either live by beliefs or live by Grace.

So we see that paying attention to emotions and tracing them back to the triggering beliefs is a very simple, yet very powerful tool for purifying the mind. And what’s more, it’s foolproof! Any belief that triggers a loss of peace should be dropped like a hot coal! It is safe to drop these beliefs. You do not need them. The only harm is in keeping them.

The third way of exposing false thoughts, beliefs, and concepts is to realize that the outer reflects the inner. Referring to the movie projector analogy above, the images on the screen (outer) reflect the contents on the film strip (inner). Our beliefs are outpictured in our experience. Remember, the world is all mind and only mind; it is a conceptual veil distorting our perception of the Invisible Spiritual Universe that is actually present.The application of the idea that the outer reflects the inner works best if you look at your own “little world,” in other words, your body image and the images you call your body of affairs. While it is so that the entire cosmos is mind, and your mind is that cosmic mind, the world at large reflects the collective consciousness. So for this practice, it’s most helpful to look in the mirror of your body and your circumstances, situations, and relationships. These are a mirror of the contents of your mind, and it is with the mind we must work. We are attempting to purify the mind of all thoughts, beliefs, and concepts associated with the belief of being a human being in a material world.

So look around you and take an inventory of your circumstances. Do you believe in sickness? Do you believe in lack? Do you believe that objects and people in your environment have power? Do people or insects or viruses seem to be attacking you? Do you believe in attack? These are just a few examples.

Once you’ve uncovered these false beliefs by looking in the mirror of circumstances, you must let them go. Remember to replace the dropped beliefs with trust in the Infinite, Complete, Whole, Self-Sustaining, Self-Maintaining nature of your True Identity as Spirit! Thus you are replacing falsehood with Truth.

The final words for today will be a reminder to be vigilant for choosing Truth and releasing falsehood…

And to practice defenselessness and trust in Spirit.

Thank you. May Grace be your only experience.

The video presentation of this blog post, including images and diagrams, can be found here and on the Practical Mysticism YouTube Channel:

Practical Mysticism 6: Understanding, Acceptance, Application—Part 1 Focus on Application

Hi there, and welcome once again to the Practical Mysticism blog. In the previous post in this series—Practical Mysticism 5, Understanding, Acceptance, Application—it was suggested that there are three components to spiritual awakening on the path of mysticism. In post number 5, the component of “understanding” was the focus. If you haven’t already read post number 5 (or watched the audio presentation on YouTube), or if you’re in need of a refresher, I would suggest that first you either read the previous post or watch the video before proceeding on with the current post. The video version is embedded in the post which can be found in the May 2021 archives, labeled Practical Mysticism 5.

The second component mentioned was “acceptance,” or more specifically, the acceptance of the metaphysics and principles put forth in blog post/video number 5, and in other previous posts. Acceptance of the principles and metaphysics is essential for correct application. If you’re able to accept the principles and metaphysics without any inner conflict, then that’s all that’s needed. If the radical nature of the principles and metaphysics causes some resistance to accepting them, I would suggest provisionally accepting them, sort of like a scientist accepting a hypothesis, and then applying them in the spirit of an experiment so you can discern for yourself their validity.

At this juncture, I won’t say anything more about the component of “acceptance,” as acceptance is up to the individual mind. Today’s video will focus on application, but first, let’s have a very concise review of some foundational metaphysics and principles we need to have both understanding and acceptance of:

1. Understanding the seeming world of matter as a dreamlike world of unreal appearances. Understanding that what appears to be a physical world is only a series of mental images which are not outside the mind. The apparent world is all mind and only mind.

2. Understanding the entire world of images as one unified tapestry of illusion because it is one unified dream in the mind, much like a nighttime dream. Understanding that this world of images is a counterfeit world; a temporary veil of images attempting to block our awareness of God’s Infinite Spiritual Kingdom of Reality.

3. Understanding that though invisible to the senses, but here now, is God’s Infinite Spiritual Kingdom of Reality. Understanding that God’s Infinite Spiritual Kingdom of Reality is All That Truly Is, and that the mental world of illusion has no beingness, no substance, no existence, and no reality whatsoever.

4. Understanding that God’s Being is this Infinite Spiritual Reality, and because we are one with God, this Infinite Spiritual Universe of Reality is our identity as well! Understanding that our identity is not a body or a person, but is the invisible Infinite Eternal Spiritual Universe of Reality and Oneness! I and my Father are One!

I find it helpful to view the application of the metaphysics and principles as a two-sided coin: one side of the coin is choosing Truth, and the other side is releasing illusion or falsity. We choose the Truth of the nature of God and of ourselves as abstract, incorporeal, Infinite, Eternal, Boundless Spirit which is Reality here now, and we release the falsehood of a human identity apart from God, and the falsehood of a world of mental images. The releasing of falsity also includes letting go of all thoughts, beliefs and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world.

Using the triangle as a metaphor for the split mind, choosing Truth and releasing illusion entails rising from a consciousness of duality, separation, and false beliefs, to a consciousness of Oneness and Truth. To repeat and reinforce what the practice of this choice entails: We choose the Truth of the nature of God and of ourselves as abstract, incorporeal, Infinite, Eternal, Boundless Spirit which is Reality here now, and we release the falsehood of a human identity apart from God, and the falsehood of a world of mental images. The releasing of falsity also includes letting go of all thoughts, beliefs and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world.

Let’s look in more detail at what that looks like in application.

Concisely put, defenselessness and trust are the two basic practices: Thinking, feeling, and behaving defenselessly, and putting complete trust in The One Infinite Spiritual Reality or God, which is also trusting in our own True Identity. Defenselessness and trust go hand in hand. I repeat: Defenselessness and trust go hand in hand. In order to release all defensive human thinking and behavior, we must trust in Spirit. The defensive behaviors are replaced with trust in Spirit. The practices of defenselessness and trust are predicated on the choice for Truth; the choice for True Identity as One with God, as The Boundless Eternal Whole Complete Incorporeal Reality of Oneness. This is the nature of God and of our Self because I and my Father are One. In This we trust.

Let’s continue our journey of looking deeper into the details of applying the principles and metaphysics. Please note that all practices and applications require both an awareness of thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and behaviors, and a commitment to choosing Truth over and over again, until a consciousness imbued with Truth becomes the natural state:

Let’s return to five areas of application of principles and metaphysics that were touched upon in the previous post/video number 5 in this series. I’ll first read through all five in their entirety, then today in part one, we’ll look at three of the five areas of application in more detail, as well as in the context of defenselessness and trust.

Giving no credence or power to any evidence of the 5 senses. Giving no power to any so-called person, place or thing. Seeing the world of images as one neutral tapestry of illusion and therefore not reacting to anything.

No longer seeking outside for safety, supply, love, or for anything at all.

Observing behavior in order to bring to awareness the motivation for the behavior, and no longer engaging in behaviors motivated by fear, lack, or littleness.

Raising to awareness all beliefs, thoughts, and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world, and letting them go.

Trusting in the ever present Infinite Invisible Spiritual Reality of Oneness. Stated alternatively as trusting in God, and/or trusting in the True Nature of Yourself, that nature being Wholeness and Completion, being Self Sustaining and Self Maintaining, being Infinite, Eternal, and Joyful.

We’ve already discussed number 5, the topic of trust. But let’s start here and go a little deeper. What are we trusting in Spirit for? Everything! Trusting in Spirit is the replacement for all former activities geared toward the survival and defense of the body, and for all things we formerly sought for outside of ourselves such as supply, safety, and health. Trust in the Completion and Wholeness of Spirit, it’s Self-sustaining and Self-maintaining nature, replaces all seeking, and all fear-and-lack-based behaviors.

Now, going back to number one, it reads as:

1.Giving no credence or power to any evidence of the 5 senses. Giving no power to any so-called person, place or thing. Seeing the world of images as one neutral tapestry of illusion and therefore not reacting to anything.

This practice is based on the fact that only God is Power. Stated alternatively, we cease from believing in two powers; from believing that both God is a power and that the images of the world are a power. This practice is a training of the mind. When we are tempted to assign power to anything in the world of images, we must catch ourselves and withdraw that assigned power. The world of images has no intrinsic power, only the power we invest it with by our belief. If we do not assign any power to any of the images, then there is no need to defend against them. This is where defenselessness is practiced. If I assign power to any images, I am inadvertently proclaiming them as real. Furthermore, if I defend against anything in the world of images, I am also proclaiming them as real. Let’s remember that the world of images is all mind and only mind, so what we perceive outside is really within as a belief or a concept. What we formerly believed was a world of matter is actually a world of ideas, beliefs, concepts only in the mind. Threat is a belief or concept, fear is a belief or concept, so are sickness and attack, and on and on and on. Since all beliefs and concepts are in the mind, the practice includes dropping these beliefs and concepts from where they actually reside. In mind.

If I defend against any of the images, I am actually keeping the belief in the mind, reinforcing the belief in the mind, and perpetuating the appearance of its complementary image in my experience. Why is this so? If I defend against something, say sickness for example, I am proclaiming sickness as real; but sickness is just a concept or belief in the mind. So I am then reinforcing the belief in sickness in the mind; actually holding the belief in place, which will then outpicture as sickness in the world of images. Defenses are very costly! They reinforce erroneous beliefs that are not in alignment with the Wholeness of Spirit, keeping the mind trapped in darkness. “Defenses do what they would defend.” Can you catch the meaning of that quote from A Course in Miracles?

In addition to giving no credence or power to any of the images, or to any erroneous beliefs and concepts in the mind and thereby living defenselessly, we also train our mind to see the world of images as one neutral, unified tapestry of illusion. This helps us to be non reactive and defenseless. We replace our former defensive behaviors with trust in the only Power, which is Spirit.

Moving onto number two:

2.No longer seeking outside for safety, supply, love, or for anything at all.

If we are trusting in the Allness of Spirit, and we have accepted that there is no world outside the mind, then we cease seeking in the world of images for safety, supply, or for anything. The practice is the cessation of seeking in what we formerly believed to be an external world. This is a form of defenselessness. If I am seeking outside for supply or money for example, then I am defending against lack, thereby making lack real in the mind, and perpetuating lack in experience. If I am seeking outside for health for example, then I am defending against limitation and lack, thereby making limitation and lack real in the mind, reinforcing it in mind, and perpetuating it in experience. We replace seeking outside with trust in, and dependence on, the Self-Sustaining, Self-Maintaining nature of Spirit.

So today in part one of discussing the application of principles and metaphysics, we looked at numbers 1, 2, and 5 from above. In part two, we’ll look more deeply into numbers 3 and 4. Here are all five areas of application presented once again in order for brief review:

1.Giving no credence or power to any evidence of the 5 senses. Giving no power to any so-called person, place or thing. Seeing the world of images as one neutral tapestry of illusion and therefore not reacting to anything.

2.No longer seeking outside for safety, supply, love, or for anything at all.

3.Observing behavior in order to bring to awareness the motivation for the behavior, and no longer engaging in behaviors motivated by fear, lack, or littleness.

4.Raising to awareness all beliefs, thoughts, and concepts associated with humanhood and the false world, and letting them go.

5.Trusting in the ever present Infinite Invisible Spiritual Reality of Oneness. Stated alternatively as trusting in God, and/or trusting in the True Nature of Yourself, that nature being Wholeness and Completion, being Self Sustaining and Self Maintaining, being Infinite, Eternal, and Joyful.

The final words for today will be a super brief reminder to choose Truth and to release falsehood….

And to practice defenselessness, and trust in Spirit.

If you have any questions regarding the material presented on the Practical Mysticism blog, please ask them in the comment section. Thank you. May Grace be your only experience.