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The Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness & Thought
or The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Reality
By Joshua Benavides
What you’re about to read is a very short introduction to The Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness and Thought and is not to be taken as a complete understanding of The Principles. In truth, there really is no end to how deeply one can realize the living principles and understand their profound implications.
Before we dive in, it’s important to note that the word ‘principle’, in this understanding, is used and defined as “a fundamental truth” or “the fundamental nature of something,” very much like a scientist would use the word “law,” such as “the law of gravity,” to describe something that is constant, unchanging, universal, impersonal, and neutral.
It’s also important to note that all attempts to use forms (words / concepts) to describe the formless (the principles) will be inherently limited. As the saying goes “The map is not the territory.” Verbal descriptions and metaphors are not the non-verbal truth that they are attempting to describe. They are merely used to point to something that’s closer to you than your very breath.
Prescription vs Description
That being said, The Three Principles are not a prescription for how to live our lives but a description of the invisible forces behind how life works and how these forces combine to create our unique, moment-to-moment experience. It’s the implications of The Principles that deeply transforms and heals.
Therefore, take this, and all descriptions of The Three Principles as an invitation to a deeper realization and understanding that exists beyond the words, beyond the forms.
So in the words of all the great sages, mystics and wise-ones who have preceded me, I ask you to not believe a word I say. Don’t take the following description as truth. Instead, look directly at your own experience (look within) and discover the unchanging reality behind the ever-changing landscape of your thoughts and feelings.
With Gratitude to Sydney Banks
1931-2009
A Brief History
The Principles themselves are timeless. They’re not new. They’ve been present even before the beginning of time. They are at the heart of all major religions, wisdom schools, spiritual paths and enlightenment teachings (although they go by various names).
The realization and unique articulation of The Three Principles themselves, however, began with an ordinary Scottish man by the name of Syd Banks. Syd was living a mostly ordinary life on Salt Spring Island off the coast of Vancouver, BC, Canada when one day, he had a profound, transformative realization of his true nature, the nature of all human beings, and the nature of reality.
Following that ‘awakening’ experience, he began to share with others how the principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought are the very building blocks of all human experience.
The more he talked to people about these principles and the more those people began to see the reality of the principles in their own lives, the more harmony and wellbeing they would experience. Slowly, word spread and others – including psychologists, doctors, teachers, coaches, consultants and people from all walks of life – began to realize what Syd saw and incorporate it in their own lives and work.
What Are The Three Principles?
The Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness and Thought are a description of our true nature and the fundamental nature of reality. They are a description of the unchanging, neutral, universal constants behind life that combine to create the full spectrum of human experience, from anger, fear and sadness to happiness, inspiration and peace. In short, they are the essential ingredients for all human experience.
As such, the understanding and realization of The Principles in our lives tends to catalyze profound insights into our true nature, the true source of wellbeing and what tends to obscure it.
Although they are invisible, they are self-evident. By examining our direct experience, we can come to recognize the ever-present nature of the principles and how they’re creating our experience, moment-by-moment.
Mind
Mind, in this understanding, is not what most people typically think of when they hear the word “mind.” It isn’t referring to our personal thinking as much as the formless, universal energy and vast intelligence that underlies all creation.
It is the source and substance of existence, from the formless to the form. It doesn’t take a huge leap of observation to notice that there is a deeper intelligence behind all of life. You can see it as the Intelligence that turns acorns into oak trees, makes the grasses grow, the leaves to fall in the autumn, and the flowers to blossom in the spring. You can also see it as the very fact that you are alive, that your organs are functioning, your heart is beating, your blood is circulating, and your lungs are breathing (all without you having to do anything).
This Intelligence is underlying all that is. It is creating all that we see in the moment. It is at the very core of your Being and is the source of all love, wisdom and insight.
Other words for Mind are: Infinite Intelligence, Great Mystery, God, Great Spirit, The Source, The Tao, The Universe, Existence, Energy, and so on.
Consciousness
Consciousness is pure awareness. It is not a thing (noun) as much as the self-evident quality of being conscious (verb). It is the knowing of experience. This simple fact needs no argument, reason, or research. It is beyond doubt. You are aware, and you are aware that you are aware. In short, Consciousness is the capacity to directly experience whatever you think in any given moment.
Consciousness brings to life whatever we are thinking. It is what makes thought look, sound and feel real. It is without resistance, without limits, without edges or form. It is absolutely neutral and welcoming of all that is.
It is the changeless background of experience that, like the screen in a movie theater, doesn’t change, appear or disappear, regardless of what movie (thought) is playing.
Other words for Consciousness are: Awareness, I Am, The Ground of Being, Presence, Isness, This, and so on.
Thought
Thought is the pure, impersonal substance that allows us to have thought-forms and experience those thought-forms as our personal reality. It is the mystical paintbrush that creates the tremendous variability and uniqueness of the human experience (separate realities). It is our innate capacity to create an infinite number of forms (the content of our lives) from formless energy.
Thought is the stuff out of which all stories, memories, imagination, perceptions, beliefs, language – in short, the human dream – is made of.
How It Works
While Mind is the power source of existence, Consciousness and Thought combine to create our unique reality in the moment. Through Consciousness and Thought, we have the innate ability to create the full spectrum of the human experience, from apathy and fear to love and peace.
Simply stated: Without Thought there can be no unique ‘flavor’ to experience. Without Consciousness, there can be no awareness or knowing of experience. Without Mind, neither Consciousness or Thought can exist.
The Implications of The Three Principles
Understanding and realizing The Principles in our lives illuminates how we are all experiencing a thought-created version of reality, brought to life via Consciousness, moment-by-moment, and not something “out there” other than Thought. In short, we are only ever feeling and experiencing Thought in the moment.
This implication is profound, deeply transformative and turns everything we’ve ever known about where our experience really comes from on its head. Most of us are taught and imagine that our moment-to-moment experience of life is coming from the outside-in, from the situations and people around us.
For example, we say things like:
∞ I’m stressed because of how much work I have to do.
∞ I’m nervous because I have to give a presentation at school.
∞ I’m grumpy because I was called to work early.
∞ I’m worried because that guy/girl hasn’t called me yet.
∞ I’m miserable because my house hasn’t sold yet…and so on.
We imagine our feeling/experience is coming from events, people and circumstances. But what The Principles are pointing out is that our felt experience isn’t coming from events, people and circumstances but from our thoughts ABOUT events, people and circumstances.
We are experiencing our thoughts ABOUT what is happening, not what is happening. In short, we are living in the feeling of our thinking. Whatever you think about, and believe to be true, is your reality in the moment. Your feelings do not inform you about what’s happening, they inform you about your thinking.
Furthermore, The Principles highlight that it’s the nature of Thought to come and go. It’s the nature of Thought to pass like clouds in the sky of Consciousness. And it’s the sky of Consciousness, the ground of Being, that is always okay, always at peace, regardless of the passing clouds or the weather.
It’s this innate, and profound, wellbeing that gets illuminated the more we understand and realize The Principles in our lives. It’s this understanding and realization that neutralizes and dissolves all the created problems, limitations, struggles and identities we’ve falsely identified with.
We discover that we have an innate and infinite potential for a new experience of life, regardless of circumstance. We discover we have an unlimited capacity for new thought, insight and wisdom sourced from a much deeper intelligence (Mind) than the intellect.
It’s in this way that an understanding and realization of The Principles can illuminate our true nature and lead to accelerated growth, evolution, awakening, transformation, and empowerment in all aspects of life for all of humanity.
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