Healing and the Conscious Mind

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We are aware of the regrettable fact that a cult is growing around ACIM (the book A Course in Miracles). That is really too bad, for it does have a number of good teachings. It is largely the common sense (anything but common) of the twelve-step programs. We do not subscribe to the mythical superstition that this book is infallible, incapable of error, or that it was "channeled from God," or "actually" written by Jesus Christ. This is, you might recognize, the same lie that fundies have been telling for years about the Bible; it serves only those who are too lazy, too ignorant, or too weak to think for themselves.

One problem with healing is that people want to assign very simplistic causes to diseases. If disease has a very simple cause, then it also has a very simple solution. Usually, it is something along the lines of "changing your thought-patterns."

This simplism not only "blames" the sick person, instead of extending compassion to her, but it is absurdly simple. It is, in fact, far too simple to account for the facts.

Simplicity, of course, has a very wide place in the philosophy of enlightenment. But intellect also has its proper place. For, historically, many people who never allowed a "negative thought" within a hundred yards of them have suffered from some major illnesses. To claim, or to imply, that all illness is the result of "negative thinking" simply does not tally with the known facts-- of history or of medicine.

The conscious mind is not the "cause" of all illness. It can and does affect the body, but its power is not unlimited. If these "positive thinkers" were right in their simplistic explanations, everyone would have followed them years ago, and there would be no serious health-problems in our world. For mind-based systems of "positive thinking" have been widely available, to everyone, for well over a hundred years, in just recent history.

For an example, the cult called "Christian Science" (founded 1879) ascribes all illness to "wrong" thinking. Yet this is a microcult, with only a few million members worldwide. But if Mary Eddy's theories were correct, if her "practice" actually worked, by now, the cult would have converted the entire world. You could not keep people from converting to the cult! It would be madly, astonishingly popular, and you could not pull people away with bull-dozers. And no Christian Scientist would ever suffer from any major disease; they would all, and always, enjoy perfect health.

But this has not been the real situation "on the ground" (in the real world). These facts show its flaw: There are still practicing Christian Scientists (as members call themselves) who become very sick with major illnesses; indeed, despite continuous practice and programming, some die every year, making the cult lethal for sick people.

The whole idea of "mind-healing," or healing through exclusively positive thinking, underwent a massive revival in the US and the whole world in the 1890's, and millions converted to various related "positive thinking" schools. But many, if not most, remained either sick or poor, or both. Why?

Because they mistook the conscious mind for the Mind of God, the One. The conscious mind is indeed a part of the great Mind that controls the universe-- indeed, creates it. But the conscious mind has never been assigned control of the material cosmos, including the body.

The best that this little mind can do, say the wise Taoist sages, is to learn cooperation with the cosmic Mind of God; and this includes acceptance-- the opposite of trying to change everything, and trying to force the universe to be the way that we personally want it to be. This "grunt and groan" struggle to control the universe produces a person of increased tension, and it amplifies fears.

But the philosophy summed up by Jesus is very different: (He was also a Taoist) in his famous words to God: "Not my will, but thine."

This is also the foundation of the Model Prayer that we should pray always: "Thy will be done."

This "thy will" recognizes a pre-existent will in the great Mind that rules the cosmos. God has plans, and outcomes, that He/She wants, and they are not always what we want. Jesus, unlike "positive thinkers," who want to grab hold of the cosmos and alter it according to their personal wills, saw a distinction between his personal will and the will of God. It is only when we lose this distinction (usually, because we want so powerfully to believe that God's will is always the same as our personal will) that we "fall" for the easy but ineffective "wishful thinking solutions" of "positive thinking."

Yes, positive thinking can change very much in our lives. It is wonderfully superior to negative thinking. But, as human beings, we have limits regarding our control of the cosmos, and this is the one fact that extremists of "positive thinking" do not want to recognize:

In the end, the cosmos, including our births (we had nothing to do with them, as the conscious mind that now exists, except peripherally) and our deaths, are not controlled by us personally. Where was "your" mind when the sperm first entered the egg, and formed your current body? No, this was not controlled by you, but by Nature (symbolized by the ancient Christians as the Goddess Sophia).

Our only task is to use these lives to learn to cooperate with Sophia, our "heavenly Mother," and with Love, our "Father." So, we do not have strictly to regulate each and every thought, always fleeing from the "demons" of negative thinking. For this is how "positive thinking" can increase the "demons" of fear.

Instead, we follow the words of Jesus' most "Taoistic" sermon, the famous Sermon on the Mount, and live like the birds and the flowers, who know, and need/want to know, nothing about "positive thinking."

We can then simply relax and trust, "going with the Flow." When Jesus said his famous words, "Lest ye be as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom," the Greek word translated "little children" means literally "nursing infants"-- another group of minds that knows nothing about control or "positive thinking."

This Taoist life of full trust (faith) is far better, for it is God-dependent and not egocentric or human-dependent. Human beings have tried, metaphysically, for thousands of years to control the cosmos with their conscious minds; the idea goes way back to ancient Greece; it was not invented by the "modern cult" of Christian Science. (Similar ideas were also found in ancient India.)

The key, for us, is to find the courage to dare to trust. For, deep down, many of us distrust the universe. We might even distrust Love. For we have never found any solid evidence of a "God" "out there," in the universe.

This is simply because there is no God in the universe. That is, there is no "exterior" God. God does not exist in the universe. But, as Mind, the universe exists in Him/Her. This is the beautiful and glorious discovery of the mystic, and it frees us from all desperate illusions and delusions.

Mind alone is Reality, so the mystics called God "Reality." This is one meaning of Jesus' famous words, "You will know the truth [reality], and the truth [reality] will set you free." (Jn. 8:32) Reality, the truth, is God in the world, and in the heartmind. It alone can free us from desperate illusions, bathing us in the Light of sweet, saving Love.

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The "Song of God"

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The Bhagavad-Gita ["Song of God"] is among India's most beautiful and profound texts. It is a truly spiritual work, and touches upon the nature of the smaller self (ego) and higher (Soul) and highest (Spirit) Self. In that text, Krishna transforms himself into other creatures-- some say, into every other creature. While he is "talking to Arjuna," he is also Arjuna! He is both teacher and perennial learner, both horse and rider, cat and mouse, pursued and pursuer. Thus does he bring into being this beautiful world, as a dream of the divine Mind.

This does not mean that the world is "unreal," but that its reality is relative, not absolute. Only Mind has absolute existence, and that is why enlightened mystics often call It the "Absolute." For everything else in the cosmos exists only relative to the existence of this Mind.
Without It, the entire cosmos would "blink off," disappear. Yet even if the entire cosmos did disappear, it would have no effect whatsoever on the real (absolute) existence of the one Mind. (This is the "One," God, divine Mind, cosmic Mind, or Love.)

I am delighted to hear that you are reading such a profound and wonderful text as the "Song of God." It is a breath-taking and awe-inspired reminder that this passing world is only a dream, a "virtual reality," existing in Mind only. And, as Krishna says, even reading this text generates good karma!:)
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That is, everything is Mind, as are we. This gives birth to that most famous realization in Hindu mysticism, Tat tvam asi, which means, "That thou art." You begin to identify with every thing in your experienced cosmos, since it is all a dream within a mind. There is no "out there."

In the vastness and immensity of this realization, the ego-- the name on your driver's license and birth-certificate-- is seen as a minor and not very important "game," a "role" being "played on the stage of earthlife" by your Soul. Thus, in growing into enlightenment (filled with Love, and nothing else), the ego dissolves into a much brighter and higher Loveself. This is how the enlightened person "denies" and even "denounces" the ego. This re-identification of the self as a higher (Soul), or even the highest (Spirit), Self results in bliss (ecstasy), for this is the "reward" of the cosmic Mind (God or Love).

This is the most complex subject in the entire cosmos. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to drop me a line or two.:)
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God(dess) and Light

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Sunny bright days are full of Light, and hence, remind us of the everpresent Love everywhere in the world. For the mystic who wrote, "God is Love" (1 Jn. 4:8) also wrote, "God is Light" (1 Jn. 1:5). How sweet and healing is the interior Light, symbolized by the light of nature.

As beings of Spirit, let us fill ourselves with Light every day. Let us also see God or Goddess in the sunlight. For the Hindu mystics say that Godmind is like sunlight: Even when it shines upon garbage, it remains absolutely and stainlessly pure; and even in the midst of an imperfect and sometimes "unclean" world, the Mind remains pristine.:)
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Tao

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Since you showed some interest in the Way of Taoism, thought a little follow-up might be nice:

Tao (pronounced "dow") is an indefinable, great, and mysterious Power or Mind that runs and controls the cosmos. Tao is manifested in pattern. Designs on butterfly-wings and tortoise-shells are two of many, many examples.

This same Tao is also manifest as the activities of the physical body, especially in natural nanotech: The Tao transforms dirt, water, and sunlight into fruits and vegetables, and then, in yet another nanotech "miracle," transforms these foods into your physical body.

We see Tao in action every day, in the beating of your heart and the rising of the sun. So, belief in this Power does not require "blind faith."

The Taoist, or Taoist mystic, is the person who, on a practical level, develops trust in this unseen Power. In the West, this is "faith." Jesus taught pure Taoism when he told his disciples, in Matthew, chapter 5, to live like birds and flowers -- without worry, fretting, or fear.

The Taoist's main jewel is the absence of all personal desire. She wants many things, but they are all what Love wants. She does not eliminate all desire, but only all personal desire. This gives the famous Taoist tranquility, and guarantees the absence of greed. Like the cosmic Lovemind of many other systems of mysticism, the Tao can work only through a mind that is still and quiet, as in meditation, and a mind that
is not continually troubled with, stuffed with, personal desires.

Also, believing in this Power, the Taoist gives up all control, or attempts to control, the activities of others, or the outcome of her life. She must control the car, or the chainsaw, of course. But she does not control the world; even the control of her own body she gives up to the mysterious Power of Tao. This greatly lessens anxiety, increasing serenity.

Instead of grasping control, she seeks to become a "vessel" or "instrument" of Tao, or the great Mind. In terms of other forms of mysticism, she becomes a tool of Love. Like Jesus, her longterm goal is to become an "incarnation of God (Love)."

Just a few ideas to think about, from an aspiring Taoist!:)
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"A Course in Miracles" and the Dreamworld

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I like some of the content of the book A Course in Miracles, but the book is seriously over-named. It is clearly not a "course in miracles," for it does not tell how to do miracles, in the accepted definition of that word. So, the title is actually a bit absurd. Despite the "grabber" of a name, no doubt to sell more copies, it does contain some good and useful material. It is largely an adaptation or modification of much of the Twelve-Step program material.

Sadly, a cult is forming around the book. It is seen as the "new Bible." Believers are gathering, and dividing themselves spiritually and socially from "inferior" non-believers. I do not accept the dogma that the book was "written by Jesus Christ," as believers insist.

Nor do I see the book as infallible, as many believers are starting to claim. The book was written by a psychologist, not by Jesus. A realistic, practical assessment tells us that we can include this book in our libraries and sources, but we cannot reasonably join the cult that is forming around the book, without sacrificing our independence and other freedoms.

There is nothing particularly original, and certainly nothing "spectacular," about the book. The writing is clear but ordinary. It contains a few good ideas, but, again, has nothing to do with miracles in the usual definition of that word.

Re your inquiry about the "reality" of the everyday world. It is true that the great saintmystics, particularly of Indian tradition, point out that our world is a "virtual" one, or, a dream. No material object is real. They are all products of Mind. They are dreamimages, or "virtual" reality.

But Mind is real. Since this Mind indwells you, this means that you-- and all other thinking beings-- are real. That is why human and other sentient (self-aware) life is so sacred. All thinking and aware beings are real,and holy.

Life on earth is a great school. We do things, and accomplish tasks, not so that they will last forever (they do not), but so that we can learn from them. Every minute is valuable because we can learn from that moment, and enrich our minds and hearts.

The whole "show" is about Love. Earth is a Love-school. So, every event and situation is designed to help us learn to love ourselves and other creatures. Just as a little child can learn about real estate and real money by playing Monopoly, although it is "just a game," we can learn very much about ourselves, and about compassion, goodness, and kindness from the various environments to which earthly life exposes us.

Every person is of inestimable value. So, we are here to learn to "invest in people," not just bucks and unreal material things. (The reason that they can never satisfy is that, deep down, we know that money and "stuff" are unreal.)

Your friend has gone way too far, and has misunderstood everything important, if he says that human beings are illusions. Instead, they are a part or expression of Mind, or Reality. In an unreal world, human beings are certainly, and very, real indeed.

In spirituality, we are always talking about "sentient" beings. These are self-aware beings. This category includes most of the higher mammals, and certainly, includes all human beings. Any creature who can say, "I am," with meaning, distinguishing herself from other creatures, is a "sentient" being. (This category includes all developed brains of mammals, but does not include reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, microrganisms, etc.)

Deliberately harming any of these sentient beings can create terrifying and disastrous karma. This is where the principle called ahimsa enters the life of the wise. For this principle is taking a vow never deliberately to harm any sentient being.

So, your grand-daughter, like yourself, is both real and sacred. She is to be treated with kindness that, in its fullness, blossoms as Love. Love is the most important principle in the enlightened life.
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