A new understanding of how humans work, part 1
Knowing how something works simplifies our life immensely.
How something works is called a principle.
A principle is a constant not a variable.
Applying principles creates consistent, reliable and reproducible results. Principles are transcendent of personal views, opinions or beliefs, even spiritual ones. They are universal and applicable under all circumstances.
Principles are simply facts.
Following on from the previous article, here, I shall begin unpacking a new understanding, called the Three Principles, of how humans work. To make it relatable and practical, I shall share what I have seen along the way.
Why we do what we do
Whatever we do is in service of up levelling our experiences.
Ultimately it is about finding freedom from all levels of suffering and making the world a better place whether it is for ourselves or many. This is entirely possible when you know the facts about how humans work and how we create our experiences.
Knowing the facts of how we work removes the noise of unnecessary thinking, revealing the signal of clarity, which greatly up levels every aspect of our life including health, happiness, ease, career, relationships, and evolution into one whole being.
The Three Principles that Sydney Banks uncovered in the 1970’s and shared with the world are facts about how we really work.
What are the facts that Syd uncovered and shared? Why are they so important? How can we apply them to enhance our health, happiness and thriving?
What are the Three Principles?
Sydney Banks uncovered Three Principles which he called Mind, Consciousness and Thought.
Another way that can be expressed is - we are alive, we are conscious, we think.
These are the facts behind how psychology works. They are the source of all human experience. This source is what creates and orchestrates all of life and is sometimes called pure energy, the quantum field, the life force or the spiritual dimension of life.
The following description can seem a bit dry, possibly confusing to begin with or make no sense at all. However, it is a helpful starting point for understanding how to enhance our innate capacity to be whole and well.
It is only when something touches us that we are truly impacted. So I suggest you read gently, allowing the feeling that the words convey to touch you. As best you can, don't pay too much attention to the noise of your thinking or the inevitable comparisons that you will make with what you already know. Take them in just as they are for now.
Fact 1. We are Alive - The Principle of Mind
Simply stated there is a formless energy behind all forms of life. That energy is the source of all life. It pervades everything.
Physicists can’t entirely refute the existence of this source-energy. Einstein essentially said that matter is simply energy in another form. Modern physicists postulate the existence of a source-energy from which all things arise, they call it the quantum field.
And there is an intelligence to this source-energy, so Syd called that Universal Mind or Mind.
Everything arises from this vast ocean of source-energy intelligence. That source-energy intelligence creates, animates and conducts all life processes from the subatomic level to the entire universe and everything in between.
Since a human being is energy in another form, then we are, in essence, an intimate part of this all pervasive energy intelligence. We differ only in appearance, not in essence - like the individual waves in one vast ocean. Thus we are all one with that field of source-energy intelligence.
In human beings, the formless power of Mind creates and orchestrates all psychological activity from thinking, feeling, perceiving, sensing and behavior. This energy-intelligence is also sometimes referred to as wisdom. We are all connected and have direct access to this wisdom.
Fact 2. We are Conscious- The Principle of Consciousness.
Syd called that energy-intelligence in each of us Consciousness.
Consciousness,
is the source of our capacity to be aware, to have experiences.
animates our senses.
allows us all to be aware of our connection to wisdom
allows us to aware that we think
allows us to be aware that thinking creates what we feel
Fact 3. We Think - The Principle of Thought
Thought is the formless power that creates our feelings and experiences in each moment.
This power gives us the ability to generate or create thoughts. The power of Thought refers to the entire contents of mental activity - ideas, memories, images, perceptions, views, opinions, concepts etc.
The formless power of Thought creates the illusion form. It gives the sense that all our experiences are coming in from the outside world through our senses. In reality that experience is entirely created by the power of Thought.
Powered by Mind, Thought creates all our experiences, which are perceived by Consciousness.
The Three Principles are essential and irrefutable facts behind how humans work. They explain how all human experience is created from the inside. That is to say that human psychology functions in only one way - from the inside-out.
How our minds work is more like a projector than a camera. It projects the appearance of a world of form, from the inside, instead of passively taking in a pre-existing world outside.
Sydney saw that the missing link between human psychology and spirituality, the form and formless dimension, is Thought.
These facts are formless, you could say spiritual forces, not material. These Principles are the basis of all human beings. Since it is formless, this basis cannot be harmed or damaged by anything that happens to us in life. It is essentially who we are. Every human being, and indeed all of creation, comes from and always remains connected to this one source of ife.
Words can never encapsulate the full meaning of that which is formless.
Words can only ever be metaphors, mere signposts, to the source of life and creation which is mysterious, ineffable and numinous.
I am not being mystical on purpose. These forces are beyond the scope of the intellect to fully comprehend. This is similar to how we cannot say exactly what the force of gravity is or indeed what the force of love is. We can only point to them as best as we can.
We can, however, intuit their presence by the quality of feeling in our body sense awareness. We can recognise and describe the characteristics or qualities of those feelings with our intellect. And we can even represent them through various forms of expression.
Words do not teach, only what we experience for ourselves has that power. So we need to look at how these facts play out in the context of our life. We can then make use of them to be whole and well.
In part 2 of this article we shall look at these facts in context of our lived experience.