If you substitute Buddha mind, Big Mind for Christ Mind you get the same results:
Finding Your Christ Mind
We are all born with the Christ-Mind, what I call Christ Consciousness, an inner awareness that we are connected with others and our environment--literally One Mind.
But something happens as we grow up; we begin to make distinctions and to separate ourselves from the rest of the world. We trade the Christ Consciousness we are born with for another mind that centers on the small self. That self then becomes our number one preoccupation.
The small mind always looks at the world from the center called "me." The arrow points "out there" so everything else appears to be on the outside. And when we look "out there," we feel rather empty, unimportant and incomplete "in here." Naturally want arises; we want to feel better, more complete.
As long as we believe that something outside ourselves can make us feel whole, we will be driven to grasp at things. Dissatisfaction and anxiety will haunt us because we have traded Christ Consciousness for a narrow, self-centered one. This unrest is what Jesus called separation. We ignore our intrinsic wholeness.
The point of spiritual practice is to return to our original mind, which is Christ Consciousness. When our mind is not divided, there simply is no conflict. We turn our own light inward to find our way back to original mind.
An easy exercise can give you a glimpse into the true nature of your mind. Take a few minutes to look inside and ask yourself this simple question. "How big is this mind?" Really look! Don't imagine what you think you should find; look for yourself. Can you grasp the size of your mind? No, it is ungraspable. Can you find a beginning? An end? Can you find a birth or death? No. Anything that you find has been invented by the small mind.
In Christ Consciousness we experience no separation, no outside, no inside, no point and no center. Even though we experience this incomprehensible Heart-Mind, our separate and frightened self wants to believe that something bigger than ourselves has everything in control; so we keep looking for God "out there." The secret known by all the mystics is that God can be found only when we give up our efforts to control and understand our life. Such striving is really unnecessary. When we give up our small perspective and come from Christ Consciousness what is there that we don't know?
When we look inside and let go, we can come from Christ Consciousness and see that there is no need to control any of it. When we allow everything to just be, it all functions perfectly, exactly the way we want because we give up wanting it to be any other way. The trick is to let go of wanting.
How easy is it to experience this Christ Consciousness? The question is: How difficult is it to put aside the controlling self? It can take years, or with the right preparation, a few minutes.
Whether you're in that space or not; Christ Consciousness is your mind.
John W. Cargile, Msc.D, D.D. is a licensed ordained minister through International Metaphysical Ministries and a graduate of Samford University (1969). E-books, reference material and study programs are now available at his website www.21stcenturyministries.com For those with special prayer needs, call Unity’s prayer line at 1-800-669-7729. You can contact him at jwcargile@charter.net. All conversations are confidential.
JC
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