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Showing posts from July, 2023

Watching Ego's Personalization Come Undone

            One of the first things consciousness here noticed when the center shifted from ego to Spirit was the sense of personal learning and the growth that comes from that were gone. In what were once learning situations, it felt it was merely discovering information. Consciousness does not have an “I” of its own. And Spirit does not learn. So, as ego withdrew from the center of consciousness, information was revealed (like the correct orientation of ego, consciousness, and Spirit to each other), but there was no longer a false “I” to feel it was “learning something” that led to personal, growth, development, or evolution. However, consciousness here defaults to framing experiences in personal terms. It was distorted by ego to think this way. And in fact, its language, which reveals how it thought, was constructed by and for ego, making it awkward to communicate without the personal perspective. In writing, this is not too difficult. Consciousness he...

Why Consciousness May Be Confused With Spirit

              Last week, I wrote again about two approaches to nonduality . One is that consciousness is God. And the other is God is beyond consciousness. I pointed out it can be difficult to discern which approach a certain teacher takes because sometimes they have not sorted it out for themselves. They may confuse consciousness with the Presence of Spirit in consciousness. I will explain why here. Consciousness represents duality in two ways. It seems to be a part of God sort of “carved out” for the idea of not-God to play out. So, it seems there are two realities, God and consciousness. And within itself, consciousness is split between the idea of not-God (ego) and the idea of God (Spirit), because God is All and cannot be wholly absent anywhere, not even in a false construction of reality. Ego is an idea in consciousness that denies the Onlyness of God through the assertion that consciousness is reality, either the only reality or a reality be...

Ask: Is consciousness God or is God beyond consciousness?

            There is confusion out there in nonduality communities about consciousness (also called awareness or perception ) as there are conflicting teachings about whether consciousness is God or if God is beyond consciousness. I’ve written about this often, but as I keep running into this confusion, I revisit it here. First, I will define consciousness experientially rather than theoretically. Thoughts, ideas, feelings (both emotional and physical), energies, and the entire material universe are appearances and experiences that express consciousness. To some degree, everyone is aware of an individuated consciousness, or mind . For some more focused on experiences, the mind may seem incidental. But for others, the mind is more important. They may grow their awareness of mind more and more, through study,   meditation, and contemplation. Eventually, they may even become aware that their seemingly individual mind is not in a body (an appearance)...

Ask: Then what does ACIM mean by "my mind is part of God's Mind"?

             Referring to what was written in last week’s article further clarifying consciousness and what A Course in Miracles teaches about mind:   “May i ask, what is the difference between mind & consciousness? . . . and if my mind is part of God’s then i am so confused!  and so grateful that you care to clarify these terms!” – YH   I use the term “your mind” to refer to an individual consciousness. Upper case Mind in my writing would refer to God. A Course in Miracles doesn't sort out consciousness. It says it is not concerned with precise terminology or with getting into the structure of individual consciousness. Its emphasis is on experience over theory, which will lead to clarity. So, what it means by "you" depends on context. There are only two choices, ego or Christ. Christ   is the "your mind" in phrases that indicate "your mind is part of God's Mind." >>>>   If you have a ...