Teaching and Learning Beyond the Range of Thought

. . . Notes on Magical Thinking

In A Course in Miracles "magical thinking" is thinking that is confused about cause and effect. It has them reversed. It doesn't recognize thinking as a cause of anything.

Instead, it sees thinking as an effect of an external world set in direct opposition to the one doing the thinking. Magical thinking is about survival. It's about victimization and blame. It is always in a fundamentally defensive posture.

Examples of magical thinking include: yoga will make me happier, prayer will calm my anxiety, I need more money or time or a different boss. Like that, right? The problem in “here” is caused by what's out “there;” therefore, the solution must be out there as well.

That's the set-up in which we live: isolated minds trapped in bodies that are themselves trapped in a cruel and/or indifferent world. We did not ask to be born and we cannot refuse to die. All we can do is try to break even before the mandatory cashing-out.

Another word for that set-up, that mind frame, is "separation."

A magic thought, by its mere presence, acknowledges a separation from God. It states, in the clearest form possible, that the mind which believes it has a separate will that can oppose the Will of God, also believes it can succeed (M-17.5:3-4).

It's that last bit that matters most - not just that we believe we're separate from God but that we can still somehow come out ahead. That's ego, right? Everything is broken but we can - we will - fix it.

All of us do this. All of us are invested in external solutions - meditation and exercise regimens, psychological detoxification, volunteering at the shelter, et cetera. And it’s not that there’s anything wrong with those things. Do them or don't, as Krishnamurti would say. Just don't confuse them with the Cause for Joy and Peace, which is internal and already given.

Reality is safe and sure, and wholly kind to everyone and everything. There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad. For love asks only that you be happy, and will give you everything that makes for happiness (T-16.II.8:6-8).

Magical thinking implies that happiness is an effect of external interventions (e.g., yoga, prayer, money). But we don't have to do anything to be happy, other than see that there is nothing we have to do. And this "seeing" is not a question of thinking differently but rather of giving attention differently. Tara Singh said that when we give attention, truth becomes accessible. We come to a state of awareness in which activity, and the thoughts giving rise to activity, are no longer the object of our attention. We come into a stillness that is creative and alive and, critically, not of us.

. . . awareness is not self-analysis. In awareness there is recognition; a person sees the truth (Nothing Real Can Be Threatened 218).

A few pages later, he gives an example of how to see the truth.

We can see how in nature the rains come, the rivers flow to the ocean, and millions of tons of water float up to the clouds; it rains bringing green vegetation, the water then goes into the rivers, and it goes on. This is the Action of Love (226-7).

He is not being metaphorical! He is saying, look at what nature does - the rain and the rivers, the trees and the ocean - and remember that you too are natural. You don’t have to try and there is nothing to fix. Just be. See what happens. You, too, are created.

When we give attention to Creation in this way, we realize that we did not create ourselves (T-1.V.1:8). Whatever we are - whatever is going on - we are not the author. This can be scary but it's also profoundly liberating. If we are not responsible, then we cannot be guilty. And if we are not guilty, then we must be innocent. And the innocent have nothing to fear.

There is nothing in the Mind of God that does not share His shining innocence. Creation is the natural extension of perfect purity . . . The happy learners of the Atonement become the teachers of the innocence that is the right of all that God created (T-14.V.3:3-4, T-14.V.3:7).

Teaching and learning are the opposite of magical thinking because they place mind (not thinking - mind!) at the center of the relationship. They restore cause to its rightful place. Sharing our innocence transforms our relationship from shallow and self-centered to holy.

Holiness is about communication and cooperation. It's about listening to understand and being aware of our impact on the relationship. It's about vulnerability and the willingness to accept uncertainty. In holiness we naturally support one another in doing whatever it takes to awaken and stay awake.

Holiness reminds us over and over that nothing is missing so there is nothing to do. It’s okay to be happy; it’s okay to be at peace. We can rest our weary minds and hearts. Beyond what appears to separate us is what joins us and it cannot be mistaken.

Healing perceives nothing in the healer that everyone else does not share with him. Magic always sees something “special” in the healer, which he believes he can offer as a gift to someone who does not have it. He may believe that the gift comes from God to him, but it is quite evident that he does not understand God if he thinks he has something that others lack (T-7.V.4:3-5).

God has one child and we are it; anything less is confusion and there is - thank Christ there is - a better way.

You do not make yourself the bearer of the special gift that brings the healing. You but recognize your oneness with the one who calls for help (S-3.III.4:5-6).

What is the same in us? What do you know about yourself that is true of all your brothers and sisters? Including maple trees and chickadees and rivers? What do we naturally share?

For me it is important to ask and answer those questions. I don’t know what form your own answers take but I am confident that they point to something worth remembering.

Thank you, always, for teaching and learning with me.

~ Sean