The Course describes aspects of our psyches that are currently hidden to the conscious awareness of most of us. These hidden aspects include both Reality, accessible to us through the superconscious, and key dysfunctional dynamics of the unconscious that keep us perpetually stuck in the world of illusions until we become conscious of them and decide to change them. Depending on the background of the reader of the Course, some of these key dysfunctional dynamics taking place in the unconscious when brought to attention may bring up intense denial, and even rejection of the entire teaching. Such reactions would obviously be counterproductive to the purpose for bringing these dynamics into awareness. Thus it may help for these key hidden aspects to be clarified so the reader can understand them in the context that the Course presents them, which is very different than the normal contexts in which the terms describing these dynamics are often used.
The first of these hidden dysfunctional dynamics in the mind or psyche is what the Course calls “temptation.” This does not refer to the normal understanding of this term as the inexplicable overwhelming compulsion to “sin” or engage in acts that one knows are harmful to oneself and/or others. This concept arises out of religious traditions that believe there is an evil force or entity operating in the universe that is nearly as powerful as the force of good, and that constantly does battle with the good, often winning these battles in individuals, groups, and the world itself even if destined to be defeated and lose “the war” in the end. In non-religious contexts this normal meaning of temptation is refined to be the compulsion to disregard doing the right thing, or ethical deed, for short-term individual or group gain or pleasure rather than for the long-term well-being of all those impacted by a course of action.
In the Course the context of the term “temptation” is the idea or act of “mis-projection” in contrast to that of “true projection.” True projection as presented in the Course means extending what is good in oneself to others because it can’t be contained in itself. It is a cup overflowing with abundance of something that others will delight in receiving because it will enhance their well-being, and the act of radiating this abundance to everyone. Indeed, in the very first Deed in Eternity, the Divine extended Itself – Its Being – and this Extension became the perfect Creation. Thus, true projection means extension, which means creation.
Mis-projection, on the other hand, is the unconscious casting out or away from oneself what one doesn’t like in oneself, in an attempt to throw it away and get rid of it—the exact opposite of true projection. Ironically, however, after we have mis-projected, we then believe that we perceive in people and things around us what we have cast out of ourselves. This is because, per a key tenet of the Course, ideas can’t leave their source. While mis-projection seems to alleviate our immediate discomfort at becoming aware of something inside ourselves that we don’t like, by casting it away it then boomerangs back to us, and with unintended consequences. We still have to deal with the thing we have cast out, but now as if it is coming at us from outside of ourselves and seemingly beyond our ability to directly do anything about. Because ideas can never leave their source, the only actual way to get rid of something we don’t like is to change our thoughts that are framing the thing in a way that makes us want to cast the thing away, rather than to transform our relationship to it through miraculous thoughts.
Accordingly, the term “temptation” in the Course refers to the temptation to mis-project, the urge not to take responsibility for what we are experiencing inwardly, the attraction of taking the apparent “easy way out” of discomfort by trying to cast it away rather than resolving it at its source, a source that will always be a misthought we are having.
It was in fact mis-projection that caused the entire separation, or appearance of a world outside of us. In our unbearable discomfort at the thought that we had actually betrayed our Creator and usurped Its Power in that instant of confusion long ago that began the making of and detour into time, and experiencing the guilt and fear resulting from this confusion, we split our mind and cast or mis-projected half of it outside of us as the appearance of all the separate beings and things that seem to be surrounding us. The Course assures us that these beings and things are not separate from or outside of us, and that the separation never actually happened in Reality, a truth that can alleviate our ancient trauma and heal the insanity that led to the decision to mis-project in the first place. Thus the key to overcoming “temptation,” i.e., the temptation to mis-project, is to take full responsibility for everything we experience, bringing everything back into us where we can heal it by correcting the misthought that caused it in the first place.
A corresponding dynamic that always accompanies casting outside of us what we are uncomfortable experiencing within (i.e., mis-projection) is the fashioning of an idealized replacement for what we believe we have cast outside of us. Such an idealized replacement is fashioned because a wounded self cannot bear to face its perceived flaws, including its mis-projections, and so also cannot calmly experience discomfort. It believes that it must present an idealized appearance to the world to cover up for what it believes are its shortcomings and failings, lest these become known. This idealized appearance in place of what we have cast out of ourselves is summarized in the idea of the ego. This egoic dynamic is tragic because it is only through embracing and taking full responsibility for our mistaken creative activity, including our mis-projections, that this activity can be brought again into the Flow of Life. And it is only in the Flow of Life that our mistakes – whatever their nature and apparent magnitude – can be corrected because dissonance of any kind cannot have existence in the Flow of Life because this Flow is pure Harmony. Fashioning an idealized replacement for what we have cast out of ourselves is like burying our heads in the sand to avoid the discomfort of owning all of ourselves, and we remain stuck in this untenable position until we mature enough to realize that the pain we fear we will experience by acknowledging and revealing our perceived flaws and failings is nothing compared to the pain of remaining stuck in our split identity and its illusions.
The other dysfunctional dynamics in our unconscious that the Course makes us aware of throughout its teaching stem from this first one of the temptation to mis-project, which is ultimately our fear of our own power – the power of our thought and our power as creators – and our refusal to take responsibility for this power even in something so apparently mundane as the thoughts we permit to run through our minds on an ongoing basis, most of the time unobserved in the unconscious. These unobserved thoughts then become the hidden aspects, attitudes, beliefs and processes in our minds that take place beyond our awareness and that weave the dream world of illusions and keep us stuck in this world until they are observed, taken responsibility for, and healed.
The most consequential result of the temptation to mis-project, apart from the making of the separation itself, is the psychological phenomenon or state of mind that the Course calls the “ego” or pseudo-self, previously discussed in some detail. The ego represents the entire dynamic of making up of an idealized appearance to cover up perceived shortcomings, failings and flaw. It is the attempt to cover up and push away, as deeply into the unconscious as possible, the overwhelming belief that we became irreparably flawed as a result of the separation. As “the separation” is the entire split mind seemingly cast outside of us to become the world of illusions, the ego is the individual embodiment of this same original mis-projection that resulted in the separation. Thus the ego as described in the Course is simply the unconscious state of our mind whenever we feel or believe that we are victims of the world, not responsible for it and thus helpless in the face of forces beyond our control. Such a state or frame of mind naturally causes other key dysfunctional hidden aspects, attitudes, beliefs and processes in our psyches, such as guilt, fear, anger and resentment, to come about. The state of mind referred to as the ego is so prevalent in our psyches and so harmful to our well-being that the Course could be said to be a manual for overcoming the ego, i.e., for healing the state of mind or mindset that the term as used in the Course points to. Because the ego as a hidden aspect of our psyche believes that it is continually being attacked – given that this is precisely the unconscious frame of mind it represents – it attacks back at its own host mind, and at everything else that comes into its field of awareness.
This perpetual conflict that is the egoic state of mind is described throughout the Course as if the ego is something that is not ourselves, because the ego is the part of our mind that believes it isn’t part of us or of anything else, i.e., that is completely autonomous but sadly also completely weak, vulnerable, and despondent as a result. Because of what the ego represents – our mind being split in two – the Course’s description of it can seem quite dualistic, as if the ego is actually battling for our mind, which in a sense it is by the very nature of the frame of mind we have constructed in ourselves as the ego, and the entire thought system we have developed to accommodate this frame of mind, a thought system that is the world of illusions. However, this distinguishment of dualism that results from identifying this hidden aspect of our minds is just part of the process of sorting out the real from the unreal so we can choose the real and let the unreal go. Thus, the Course first identifies the duality we have made up in all of its aspects in ourselves and apparently in the world, so that we can move through this to a true Unity. The Course identifies the ego and describes its activity in detail so that we can decide to stop perpetuating it. As long as the ego remains “mixed in” with the other aspects of ourselves, we won’t be able to stop giving energy to it, and our minds, our lives, and the world will continue the way they have been.
Sorting out what is hidden in our minds to become aware of the psyche’s conflicting aspects so that these can be healed can come across as an intensely dualistic approach in part because it draws attention to very serious psychological challenges facing modern humanity, from which can be traced the significant social and even environmental challenges we all deal with even if we feel ourselves individually to be personally balanced. We can honestly ask: have our attempts to be balanced individuals in a balanced and non-dualistic world worked so far? Clearly what we experience on an ongoing basis is an extremely dualistic world – given its apparent outer and inner aspects, and all things in the world appearing to be separate – even at those times when our own experience appears to be relatively non-dualistic. Through healing our minds by dissolving the perspective or state of mind that the Course calls the ego, we will achieve a true unified state of being, in place of the pervasive dualistic one that currently prevails.
Another potentially challenging description used throughout the Course with regard to what is currently hidden in our unconscious, clearly referring to the ego mindset and the thought system we’ve developed around that, is some form of the terms “insanity” and “madness.” The Course asserts that the ego frame of mind is insane or mad when considered in the context of Reality and Truth, but is considered normal by the ego frame of mind itself until we transform our minds. This idea may be quite challenging and even feel offensive. How could our normal frame of mind be described as insane when consciously we believe ourselves to be quite sane? Isn’t this insulting to us and to all decent people in the world operating from the same general frame of mind, striving to live good lives and to make the world a better place through their efforts? Isn’t our sane and reasonable approach to life what keeps the world from devolving into irrationality, whose extreme is actual insanity?
In the context of the Eternal, the world of illusions from its outset devolved into insanity (though fortunately only the insanity of a bad dream) at the instant it was made at the beginning of the separation when the split mind – the very definition of madness – mis-projected a world outside itself. It is this misuse of our creative power in splitting our mind into conflicting aspects, with the manifestation of a fragmented world that appears to be outside of us and a pseudo-self acting as ourselves in this world, that the Course refers to whenever it uses the terms “insanity” or “madness.” And from the perspective of a truly sound mind such as that of the author of the Course, this decision to use our creative power uncreatively, and its result in the appearance of the tragic world outside of us that we believe ourselves to be stuck in, can truly be described as madness. While the Course’s use of some form of the terms “insanity” and “madness” throughout its teaching to describe the split mind may strike some readers as polarizing and off-putting, it may also be acknowledged that a mind that is split is obviously not a sound mind, and many of us recognize that our minds are currently not whole, i.e., that there are aspects of our minds that are not integrated and healthy. Addressing this problem and facilitating the healing of the mind is the core purpose of the Course.
While calling the dysfunctional aspects of our unconscious “insane” may seem extreme, if we consider the meaning of the word as being “not sane,” and we define sanity as a completely whole mind, then the usage of the term may be considered appropriate. In addition, the term “insanity” in common usage refers to the perceiving of a world that isn’t real, and if we perceive a world outside of us, which the Course assures us doesn’t exist, then that is exactly what we’re doing. It is in these two senses – thoughts, feelings, words or actions that are in conflict and therefore not whole, integrated, sound or sane; and perceptions of something that isn’t real and doesn’t exist – that the terms “insanity” and “madness” are used in the Course. This description is part of the Course’s practice of directly addressing the problem of the world and of our relationship with it, as these really are, in unambiguous and sometimes startling terms, so that they can be addressed and resolved.
Like identifying the ego as a frame of mind operating most of the time in ourselves, identifying sanity and insanity in the manner described may seem to be highly dualistic. However, the duality of the split mind is the only actual duality, and the source of all duality or fragmentation that appears in the world. As long as dual qualities remain mixed in our minds, the world will continue as it is. We must first separate what is different, in this case true sanity and insanity. Only then can we really heal the one thing that needs healing, and the only thing that can be healed: our minds.
Another hidden dynamic in our minds described throughout the Course that may be potentially challenging to the reader is the belief, perhaps buried deep in the unconscious, that the world and we ourselves as part of it are frighteningly, perhaps irredeemably, flawed. This idea of fundamental flaw – which may also be experienced in forms such as unworthiness, unholiness, or “sin” in various cultures of the world after centuries of this idea permeating the beliefs of certain faiths, and the shame, guilt, fear, disappointment and hopelessness that the idea fosters – has many dimensions, all stemming from the idea that we have done something terribly wrong that has caused our rejection by and loss of connection with the Source of our being. This hidden dysfunctional dynamic in our unconscious can manifest as an ongoing sense that there is something wrong with us and/or the situations we are in no matter how ideal our surroundings seem to be or how well we ourselves seem to be doing; the feeling that we don’t belong no matter where we are; that we always have to justify our existence or “prove” our worth; that there is always some danger we have to be on the lookout for; and/or that we simply aren’t good enough and have to constantly battle the voice of an extreme inner critic that finds fault with us no matter what we do. The inner torment from this dynamic can become so extreme that it can drive the person experiencing it to self-harm or even self-destruction. Thus, resolving this unconscious dynamic is obviously crucial for our well-being.
In the Course the hidden belief in flaw or sin is simply the mistaken idea that there could be something apart from the Perfection of the true Creation, and thus flawed and prone to maladaptation or “evil.” The Course makes it clear that sin and evil do not exist in Truth, and that only Perfection is real.
Our unconscious, hidden belief in flaw or sin is an example of a kind of paradox in our psyches that we must resolve. On the one hand something has obviously gone terribly wrong with the world, evidenced by our experience of both subtle and gross imperfection perceived in our lives on a regular basis. In this regard our sense that there is something wrong is not unreasonable. On the other hand, we also experience life’s perfection regularly even if not consciously: the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, the kindness of someone’s smile or friendly gesture, the miracles we experience countless times a day. As the Course emphasizes, it’s what we focus on and strengthen with our attention that matters. Knowing the Truth about the Perfection of Reality, we can give that our attention and cease giving energy to the temporary imperfections that still linger in our perceptions from misguided beliefs and the old, dysfunctional perspectives resulting from them.
An understandable result of the ego mindset in our psyches, and its resulting sense of flaw, is the unconscious negativity and antipathy, or “hate,” that operate beneath the surface of our conscious awareness, even if we are kind people. This idea of “hate” referred to in the Course is really our bitterness of feeling separated from our Creator and seemingly unable to manifest our power as creative beings, through believing that we are victims of a world outside of our control. This hidden antipathy in our psyche, as the Course presents it, may take many forms manifesting in our emotions and in the world, from mild irritation or frustration to intense rage, either withheld or acted out. The common definition of hate is an intense dislike of something. When we believe that we are “dis-like” or unlike another, hate must be present in our minds in some form of thought of separation. In this sense, to perceive separation or error at all is to “hate.” We overcome this by recognizing true Likeness.
Related to the hidden antipathy or “hate” aspect in our minds is that of “attack,” particularly in the form of “attack thoughts” referred to throughout the Course. By identifying this aspect, the Course points to an inner violence that runs in the background of the ego aspect of the psyche. Inwardly this hidden aspect results in “interference in the motivation to truly learn,” and refusal to allow real change to occur. This tendency toward attack or violence as an expression of the antipathy in the unconscious, though mostly repressed, manifests outwardly as competitiveness (“the ego . . . is competitive rather than loving”), passive-aggressive behavior, microaggressions toward ourselves and others, continuous conflict with everything and everyone, and sometimes outright violence. In our verbal expressions, “violent” language (the opposite of “life affirming” language) manifests in our expressions of comparison used to label, diagnose, criticize and judge; “loaded language” and inuendo used in subtle put-downs or direct insults; blaming others and not taking responsibility for our own thoughts, feelings, and actions; and communicating our desires in the form of demands.
This dynamic of attack in the split mind is predictable because the ego itself personifies the perspective of victimhood and resulting bitterness and anger. “The ego is therefore capable of suspiciousness at best, and viciousness at worst. That is its full range. It cannot exceed this range because of its uncertainty. And it can never go beyond it, because it can never be certain.” Only by our becoming certain about what Reality is can our minds become free of the “attack thoughts” that stem from the ego mindset.
“Fear” is perhaps the most debilitating of the key hidden dysfunctional dynamics in our minds described in detail throughout the Course. This idea refers to any experience that isn’t completely trusting in the Divine, in Its Creation (the perfect, true Universe), and in our sisters and brothers; any feeling that isn’t completely joyful and confident; anything, in fact, that isn’t Love. In this regard the Course states that there are only two core emotions available for us to experience in this world: Love and fear. Whatever isn’t Love must be some form of fear. Therefore, the split mind’s tendency to miscreate and then refuse to take responsibility for this miscreative activity but on the contrary mis-projecting it outside oneself; the victim state of mind that is the ego and its belief in flaw; and our inner antipathy and its resulting attack thoughts, are all merely forms of fear. Identifying these seemingly disparate forms of fear or aspects of the lack of Love as the same mistake makes it easy to bring Love to them to heal them, which is what a miracle is, and does. The miracle is the means of providing Love where It is experienced as lacking. This heals all aspects of fear because it takes away their cause.
It may be quite challenging to hear described in detail how beyond our conscious awareness certain dysfunctional and even destructive dynamics are active in us in our unconscious until we decide to address them. Thankfully also operating beyond our conscious awareness, in the superconscious, is Reality – true, beautiful and good beyond our current ability to comprehend – which the Course also describes in great detail. This understanding helps us to begin to think in terms of Reality, i.e., to think truly and miraculously. To the degree that we are open to considering the possibility of hidden aspects, attitudes, beliefs and processes operating in our unconscious, we allow these erroneous dynamics and ways of framing the world to be healed through seeing the world rightly, which dissolves the ego perspective of the mind. Even if we don’t believe that these things operate unconsciously in our own minds, we can acknowledge that we are living in a world in which we don’t seem to have access to our creative power and that therefore seems to be happening to us, and with open minds we can seek the healing of this condition.