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Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
A Course In Miracles
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Divine Abstraction
Editor's note: The dictionary definition of abstraction: "The quality of dealing with ideas rather than events; the process of considering something independently of its associations, attributes, or concrete accompaniments."
Since only beings of a like order can truly communicate [Editor's note: see "prayer"], His creations naturally communicate with Him and like Him. This communication is perfectly abstract, since its quality is universal in application and not subject to any judgment, any exception or alteration... God, Who encompasses all being, created beings who have everything individually, but who want to share it to increase their joy. Nothing real can be increased except by sharing. That is why God created you. Divine Abstraction takes joy in sharing. That is what creation means. "How," "what," and "to whom" are irrelevant, because real creation gives everything, since it can create only like itself. Remember that in the Kingdom there is no difference between having and being... In the state of being, the mind gives everything always.
Editor’s note: A cursory reading will not reveal the meaning of “Divine Abstraction,” but let’s look at this carefully. Generally speaking, God does not communicate with particular words – however, we should not generalize too much as some, in fact, might hear actual words, but this particularization, while very rare, could happen and, if it does, will occur via God’s agents, the Spirit Guides; nevertheless, as a rule – God communicates with us in an abstract way, “independently of its associations, attributes, or concrete accompaniments." What does this mean? A clue for us is that the “Divine Abstraction” is offered within the discussion’s context of “being” and “joy.” I think the meaning here is that when God communicates we might be filled with a sense of overriding joy, a feeling of purpose, a perception of the rightness of one’s direction in life. The “how, what, and to whom are irrelevant” to the communication, not because these are unimportant but that the details are left us, as God does not want to violate our free will, nor the educative lesson as we make our own decisions. Notice, too, that "in the state of being, the [divine] mind gives everything always." And it is this sense of joyful altruistic intent that God communicates to us, and when we find ourselves in receipt of it, we can know that God has "spoken" to us.
[Physical] existence ... is specific in how, what, and with whom... [however,] being is completely without these distinctions. It is a state in which the mind is in communication with everything that is real. To whatever extent you permit this state to be curtailed, you are limiting your sense of your own reality... This [sense of being] is your reality... It is your real home, your real temple, and your real Self.
Editor's note: In this passage, too, we receive further confirmation that “Divine Abstraction” constitutes an unbounded perception of "being" and joy. Notice how “being” is contrasted with “existence,” with the latter now defined in terms of what being is not: “how, what, and with whom.” We derive our essential being from God’s own being, and we share this with all of God’s creation; in this shared sense of being, of universal affinity, we experience what is commonly known as “love”; however, there is one with whom the unitive feeling is most pronounced. See “The Wedding Song” for much discussion on love as connectedness.
In the following, notice the emphasis on awareness: Concerning the two statements, a “mind ... in communication with everything that is real,” and the admonition not to “permit this state [of being] to be curtailed [which limits how one perceives] reality,” we’re reminded of Father Benson’s report from Summerland about “The Ruler Of The Realms.” This is a person billions of years old, although appearing as any mortal, and with a hobby of tending a rose garden. He is part of the highest service-leadership of the universe and, it would seem, is aware of every intelligent life-form in the cosmos. Like Jesus’ admission, the “Ruler” can do nothing that we ourselves, one day, will not be able to do, if we continue to grow in a sense of sacred being. For more discussion on "The Ruler Of The Realms," see the article, "the 500 tape-recorded messages from the other side."
Editor’s note: There may be those, still in this world, with powers of expanded mind, so extensive, that a certain far-flung awareness of items in the universe may exist right now. Consider the advanced shamans of the South American Kogi people. They know things that escape the rest of us. See the inset-box.
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As a man [Jesus] and also one of God’s creations, my right-thinking, which came from the Holy Spirit, or the Universal Inspiration, taught me first and foremost that this Inspiration is for all. I could not have It myself without knowing this. The “word” know is proper in this context because the Holy Spirit is so close to knowledge that He calls it forth; or better, allows it to come. I have spoken before of the higher or “true” perception, which is so near the truth that God Himself can flow across the little gap. Knowledge is always ready to flow everywhere, but it cannot oppose [the flowing]. Therefore, you can obstruct it, although you can never lose it…
The Holy Spirit is the Mind of the Atonement. He represents a state of mind close enough to One-mindedness that transfer to it is at last possible. Perception is not knowledge but it can be transferred to knowledge, or cross over into it. It might even be more helpful to use the literal meaning of transferred or “carried over,” since the last step is taken by God. The Holy Spirit, the shared Inspiration of all the Sonship, induces a kind of perception in which many elements [of the perception] are like those in the Kingdom of Heaven itself:
First, its universality is perfectly clear [to those imbued with the Universal Inspiration], and no one who attains it could believe for one instant that sharing it involves anything but gain.
Second, it [that is, the perception induced by the Holy Spirit] is incapable of attack and is therefore truly open. This means that although it [the perception] does not engender knowledge, it does not obstruct it in any way.
Finally, it points the way beyond the healing [of oneself] that it brings, and leads the mind beyond its own integration toward the paths of creation. It is at this point that sufficient quantitative change occurs to produce a real qualitative shift.
Editor’s note: This is an incredibly important passage from the Course. We are offered a few synonyms for the “Divine Abstraction” – the Holy Spirit, the Universal Inspiration, the true perception, the Mind of the Atonement. None of these imparts knowledge, as such – no details or facts – but, by way of intuitive cognition, leads the mind to an ultra-readiness to receive the knowledge of God. In this state of inspiration, knowledge is very close, and we intuit it easily. God takes a hand in this realization as the “last step”; “last" because we ourselves first have to be willing. This “last step” is interesting. The question has been raised, if we are held captive by the ego, a condition in which “we know not what we do,” how does one break out of that? The answer appears to be a combination of our own willingness to end personal suffering plus an element of gift from God.
Special note: The phrase "a real qualitative shift" was discussed on the page devoted to "healing," but it's so significant that it deserves further comment. It's part of the context of the "Divine Abstraction" and notice how it's related: When we allow ourselves to be influenced by the Holy Spirit, the Universal Inspiration, we begin to find healing for our minds, which had been led by the ego. The nature of this rescue becomes an other-centeredness, a service-mindedness. This should not be surprising as God's mind is just that way. However, there's an unexpected benefit to us. As we begin to think more about what we can do for others, "a real qualitative shift" occurs in our level of maturity and consciousness. We're the big winners when we devote ourselves to charitable works. We become more godlike, our minds become transformed, which takes us steps closer to fulfilling our destiny to emulate Mother-Father God.
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summary statement:
The “Divine Abstraction” refers to a quality of mind – of God and those aligned with God. It is, or can be, a kind of “steady state” mind focused on joy, love, peace, and all manner of virtue. It is referred to as an “abstraction” because it is undefined and unlabled. This means that its positive-mindedness is not linked to any particular circumstance or element of knowledge, nor is it sent away when troublesome things happen to us.
Editor’s note: This "undefined" element of joy reminds us of, and is closely associated with, Elizabeth Barrett's phrase "not for a reason" in reference to romantic love. See her works quoted on the homepage.
In other words, the "Divine Abstraction" is, or can be, an elevated state of mind for us even when things seem to be going wrong, even when the facts of our lives do not seem to support positiveness; in other words, we can have joy even when we're not happy.
Happiness is the result of favorable “happenings,” something we can't control, but the "Divine Abstraction," on the deeper soul-level, naturally issues with undefined joy, despite the vicissitudes of circumstance at the surface of life. If we don't feel the joy, it's because we've allowed the ego to block it.
Editor’s note: In the Gospel of John, chapter four, Jesus speaks of this naturalness of the mind of God by comparing it to an artesian spring with endless water-flow. It automatically and naturally bubbles up to the surface from the depths, without any effort on our part.
Fundamentally, it is a joy simply of being alive, of enjoying one's own existence; and then it becomes a desire to help others to experience the same.
See the definition-notes at "Revelation" indicating that this spirit of joy, offering evidence of our linkage to the "Divine Abstraction," more than our words, most effectively influences others and leads them to God.
summary statement II:
Allow me to try one more time to make this clearer. Why should there be a “Divine Abstraction”? Why the indefiniteness? If the Holy Spirit directed us, “laid down the law,” in a concrete way, then we’d be back to the same iron-fisted approach that Religion has used to enslave people for thousands of years - and with zero success in terms of changing hearts and minds. If the Holy Spirit spoke to us in terms of inflexible rules and regulations, connecting all the dots for us, all of us would again be reduced to child-mentalities, taking orders, trying to live by someone else’s script. This is not how to develop the human mind and is not what God wants. God supplies the undefined sense of joy, love, and peace – the “Divine Abstraction” – and we, as co-creators with God, are assigned the task of implementing joy, love, and peace in particular situations. That's the deal.
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Editor's last word:
As we’ve seen, soul-based joy is offered both as healing balm for the egoic mind and as catalyst for spiritual growth.
There’s a related concept from the afterlife testimonies, one I'd discovered years ago, but just this moment I’m understanding it more deeply.
Frederick Myers in Summerland, via psychic medium, instructs us that soul-based joy not only takes us very close to what it means to have been “made in the image,” but it should also be the primary component of Twin Soul marriage. Children of the world, he said, those born to the typical John-and-Mary couple, miss out on experiencing their parents dwelling in this joy - and the consequence of this deficit, Myers admonishes, eventually might bear fruit as an array of societal problems.
See his complete testimony in this article.
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