Practical Mysticism 3: Split Mind Basics of A Course in Miracles

 

Today I’d like to discuss the triangle as a metaphor for the split mind as it would be applied specifically to the teachings of A Course in Miracles. In A Course in Miracles,  the origin of the seeming separation from God and the making of a world of images is given in the following quote: “Into Eternity where all was one there crept a tiny mad idea at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh.” This tiny mad idea could generally be defined as the idea of separation. Now, I say the seeming separation from God and the making of a world of images because whilst we may start on our path of awakening feeling separate from our Creator and we may believe in the reality of a world of images, the ultimate message of A Course in Miracles is that “the separation never happened,”and, that “there is no world!” But Because we start out believing we are separate human beings existing in a real universe of matter, A Course in Miracles offers us a way out of this delusion through the practice of forgiveness, and the classroom or arena where this practice takes place is in the split mind. 

Let’s start with some quotations from the Clarification of Terms in A Course in Miracles:

“In this illusory state, the concept of an "individual mind" seems to be meaningful. It is therefore described in the course as if it has two parts; spirit and ego.”

“Spirit is the part that is still in contact with God through the Holy Spirit, Who abides in this part but sees the other part as well.” “The other part of the mind is entirely illusory and makes only illusions.”

“The mind can be right or wrong, depending on the voice to which it listens.

 Right-mindedness listens to the Holy Spirit, forgives the world, and through Christ\"s vision sees the real world in its place. This is the final vision, the last perception, the condition in which God takes the final step Himself. Here time and illusions end together.”

“Wrong-mindedness listens to the ego and makes illusions; perceiving sin and justifying anger, and seeing guilt, disease and death as real. Both this world and the real world are illusions because right-mindedness merely overlooks, or forgives, what never happened. Therefore it is not the One-mindedness of the Christ Mind, Whose Will is one with God\"s.”

“In this world the only remaining freedom is the freedom of choice; always between two choices or two voices.” 

So in the mind that is dreaming of separation, generally the practice is to choose the top-of-the-triangle perspective and it’s concomitant thought system, and to release the false perception typified by the bottom of the triangle, as well as the entire thought system that stems from it. 

The practice of forgiveness, or the practice of choosing to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, or the practice of unifying perception, all entail a rising in consciousness or mind from the false thought system of illusion and linear time into the consciousness of unified perception, seeing the entire ego thought system and the world of images as false, and understanding that mind is the dreamer of the world of images. This is symbolized by the vertical axis in the diagram above. The practice of forgiveness, also called the miracle or a shift in perception, takes the mind off of the horizontal timeline where it is identified as a human being moving through time and space, and elevates it to the consciousness of Truth. A partial quote from ACIM Chapter 1 The Meaning of Miracles demonstrates this principle: “...the miracle entails a sudden shift from horizontal to vertical perception.” 

In order to practice the shift in perception called the miracle, or to practice forgiveness as taught in A Course in Miracles, you must begin with accepting yourself as mind and not as a body. To repeat, you must think of yourself as mind. So your area of focus and practice is the split mind, symbolized by the triangle above. This could also be described as working at the level of cause, as mind is causative, and the world of images is effect.

Mind, represented by the triangle, is the agency through which we return to God or to Reality, which according to ACIM, transcends the split mind and the dualistic world of images. Please note that I use the terms God and Reality with a capital “R” interchangeably as they are used interchangeably in A Course in Miracles. Truly, there is no actual return to Reality because we never left, but while the mind is asleep and dreaming of a world of images, it is with the split mind that we must work. 

The Holy Spirit is described in a Course in Miracles as the memory of God in our mind, and as the bridge to restoring our awareness of Reality.

The Condition of the mind required for return to God is peace, is unified perception, is healing the split mind, is the real world perspective. Repeating an earlier quote from A Course in Miracles: “This is the final vision, the last perception, the condition in which God takes the final step Himself. Here time and illusions end together.” The goal of the practice of forgiveness is to bring our minds to that condition. 

Now I’d like to talk a bit about one of the major foundational errors in thinking that must be corrected in order to bring the mind to the condition of peace and to a unified perception of the world of images.

At the level of effect, or what appears to be form, when we are identified as a body or a person, it seems that we are in a dualistic, subject-object relationship with everything.  If I’m identified as a body existing in a material universe, then I am the subject and everything else in the universe, including other people, are the objects. But this perception is an error. Truly there is no subject-object split at the apparent form level. In actuality, it is more akin to what we experience in a nighttime dream. When we are dreaming at night, it seems as if our dream character is the subject and all the other people and things in the dream are objects, when in actuality it’s one seamless, unified dream, occurring in the mind. The daytime experience is the same; it is one unified dream occurring only in the mind of the dreamer. Identifying ourselves as that dreamer is the goal of the forgiveness process of A Course in Miracles. 

Not only is there no subject-object split at the apparent form level as mentioned, but there is truly no subject-object split at the mind level either. Let’s look further into what this means. In some spiritualities we hear about our identity as consciousness or awareness and about the appearances of the world as the objects of consciousness. Even in A Course in Miracles, we hear about cause and effect, with mind being cause and the world of images being effect, or we hear about the mind projecting the world. However, in actuality cause and effect are together. There is no inner and outer. In other words, there is no mind as inner and world as outer. Another way of saying this is offered by ACourse in Miracles in the following quote: “Ideas leave not their source,”  meaning that the world of ideas is still in the mind of the thinker. The world is not actually projected but it’s all mind and only mind. This understanding is a top-of-the-triangle perspective. It’s the dreamer of the dream perspective. “You are the dreamer of the world of dreams.” Jesus said.  The “you” he is referring to is not the body or personality, it is the mind. The one mind dreaming of a world. The dreamer and the dream are unified. You, as mind, are the dreamer and the dream. 

Ultimately, this dreaming mind is illusion as well, but coming to this unified perception, this dreamer of the dream perspective, is as far as we can go, so to speak, while the dream is still in awareness. God takes the last step in our return to Him. Our concern is coming into the unified perception of the dreamer of the dream perspective, which is symbolized by the top of the triangle. Also, this perspective has dropped all thoughts, beliefs, and concepts associated with the erroneous beliefs in a human identity and a world of matter. 

A Course in Miracles states that “the sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself.” Atonement in A Course in Miracles is the concept that the separation from God never happened and that an unreal world of images has no true existence. So the aim of mystical practice is to accept that the perceived separation from God never happened, and that I am still as God created me as Christ, despite any seeming five sense evidence to the contrary. Metaphorically, acceptance of the Atonement could be described as mind dwelling at the apex of the triangle, where True Freedom abides; it is a state of mind that is still, expansive, and peaceful. 

I hope the content here has been in some way helpful. Thank you.

The audio presentation of this blog post, including images and diagrams, can be found below and on the Practical Mysticism YouTube channel:

Practical Mysticism 1: Defining Mysticism

 

Hello and welcome to the Practical Mysticism Channel. The purpose of the Practical Mysticism Channel is to provide useful insights into the understanding and application of mystical principles, especially as taught in A Course in Miracles and The Infinite Way, as well as in mystical Christianity in general. Both A Course in Miracles and The Infinite Way could be categorized as mystical Christianity or esoteric Christianity as both pathways use biblical references and language, and both take their inspiration from the example of Jesus the Christ. In this first video, I wanted to start out by saying a few words about the term “mysticism.” If you search for a definition of mysticism as I did, you’ll find a broad variety of descriptions. I’ll attempt to describe mysticism in the way it is meant to be applied in the teachings of A Course in Miracles and The Infinite Way, as well as in the way it is used on the Practical Mysticism channel. 

Let’s begin with a basic dictionary definition of mysticism that is in line with how I will use the term: “Mysticism is the pursuit of, communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of an Ultimate Reality, Divinity, spiritual truth, or God. The believer seeks a direct experience, intuition, or insight into Divine Reality.” A search for the definition of the term “mystic” led me to the following choice: “A person who seeks by contemplation and self surrender to attain unity with, or absorption into, the Deity or the Absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.” I find these to be very good definitions for our purposes, but let’s flesh out some further details.

Firstly, for one on a mystical path, there is a fundamental understanding of the difference between the True and the false, or between Truth and illusion, and the mystical practice is to choose Truth and to release illusion. In order to do this, one must know the difference between Truth and illusion. Stated alternatively, one must understand the difference between Truth and erroneous belief, the difference between Oneness versus duality, and the difference between the Universe of Spirit and the five sense mind universe, and the difference between True Identity and false identity. 

Mystical practice is like a two-sided coin. While mystical practice entails choosing a consciousness of truth, it must also include letting go of all thoughts and beliefs associated with humanhood and the false universe.  By letting go of all thoughts and beliefs associated with humanhood and the false universe (which, by the way, also releases the subsequent related emotions), this practice brings the mind to stillness. The mind is then a transparency for truth. In this stillness the still small voice is given audience, and Grace flows, dissolving discord and disharmony in the sense universe of images.

The mystical perspective sees that the nature of Reality is infinite and eternal Oneness, and that it is the false “human” mind, through its five senses, that misperceives Reality and sees duality, division and solidity. Mysticism is about trusting in the invisible, ever-present, infinite reality of Oneness that transcends the world of appearances.The mystic understands the human world of opposites to be an unreal dream, a series of unreal mental images. The mystical path never gives any credence or power to evidence of the five senses. Truth proclaims that an invisible, perfect, and complete Spiritual Universe is the Only Reality. This One Reality is the essence of who we truly are and what the universe truly is. We release the false belief in a selfhood apart from Spirit, and release the false belief in a universe of matter. Then the Grace of Spirit outpictures as images free of discord and disharmony.

It could be said that Mystics live from a consciousness imbued withTruth. Practicing mystical principles allows us to rise out of the consciousness of duality and into the consciousness of Oneness, out of the consciousness of humanhood in a material universe and into a consciousness of Spirit Alone. When all worldly beliefs have been laid aside and the mind is still, it is a clear channel for the consciousness of Truth, and thereby has access to the guidance and inspiration inherent in that state of consciousness.The mind of a mystic is still, having risen above the tumultuous human consciousness, thereby knowing its identity as Infinite, Harmonious Spirit. Anything that presents itself to the contrary in the world of images is known by the mystic as a lie.                                                                                                          

Finally, I want to take a moment to share my thoughts on Practical Mysticism. The YouTube channel name/website name—Practical Mysticism—was given through internal guidance. I actually think that the term Practical Mysticism is redundant because mysticism is inherently practical. In my understanding and experience, it is the only truly practical way of living. First and foremost, it is a way out of illusion; it is a path of enlightenment, and overcoming this world is the only practical pursuit! But even on the “level of form,” so to speak, mysticism offers a way of effortless living, a way of Grace, of peace, joy, inspiration, a way of effortless abundance, where all needs are met. These are the “added things” that the mystic experiences when he has sought and found the Kingdom of God. The body image, and its body of affairs, outpicture as witnesses to Truth, as testimonies to the presence of Reality right here and now. 

I feel that the word “practical” was given by Spirit as a way of making mysticism more approachable, more appealing, and to reveal the inherent practicality of the mystical life.

One final word...It is very important to me to attempt to clarify the definition of mysticism in the way that it is meant to be used and understood in these particular teachings. With the internet as a search tool, truth seekers have access to a plethora of information about spirituality, spiritual paths, spiritual teachers and teachings. And there are many words and concepts that are used by these teachers and in these teachings that are not defined, and where no explanations are given for how the words and concepts are to be interpreted for that particular teaching. For example, some commonly used words in spirituality are “consciousness,” “mind,” “ego,” “reality,” and “universe” just to name a few. These words mean different things in different teachings. As an example, in some teachings the word consciousness is equated with God, and in others the term consciousness is considered the domain of the ego. This is no small difference! The term “mind” can be equally problematic when not defined. In my understanding, it is not so much what words or terms one uses that is of top importance, but offering a working definition of that term is. With that said, I hope the explanation of the concept of mysticism shared here offers some clarity on how the word is intended to be used. And I hope to do my best to clarify important concepts going forward. Thank you.

The audio presentation of this blog post can be found on YouTube: