2.5. Are Thinking and Feeling Spirit, When Seen from the Perspective of Human Experience?
Let's consider the question of where our thinking and feeling originate from the perspective of human experience.
Automatic Thinking
Automatic Thinking During Meditation
In meditation, we become acutely aware that thinking occurs constantly and automatically, without any conscious intention.
This automatic thinking prevents us from entering deep meditation and accessing our innermost being - and ultimately, God.
Automatic Thinking in Daily Life
When we observe our daily lives attentively, we notice that most of our thoughts arise without a conscious decision.
They are triggered either by external stimuli such as information or perceptions, or by internal processes within the mind. This type of thinking could very well be generated entirely by the human brain.
This form of thinking largely controls and dominates our awareness.
It makes it difficult for us to remain mindful and to connect with the deeper layers of our being.
If we want to open ourselves to a higher state of consciousness, we must learn to detach from this unconscious thinking.
This insight aligns with the experience of mystics from all religious traditions.
But what about consciously initiated thinking?
Whether it originates from a deeper level of being, the spirit-mind, depends largely on the individual’s state. In the state of mind-body unity, the spirit-mind leads and initiates in relation to the physical mind.
However, if our spirit-mind has not yet been firmly established, we lose our mindfulness through constant thinking and reflecting, becoming entangled in it.
Therefore, it is hard to imagine that this thinking actually originates from our own spirit-mind.
Levels of Feelings
It is similar with feelings.
Affects are immediate reactions to experiences - a phenomenon that also occurs in animals.
This might be possible without the presence of a spirit-mind.
Scientific findings from brain research and psychology consistently show that many of our behaviors and reactions are driven by unconscious patterns.
These patterns are - in broad terms - anchored in the structures and functions of the physical brain.
The spirit has a body-like element and a mind-like element (spirit-mind). The part that resembles the mind of the spirit is anchored in the spiritual world. It is always in relation to God. The mind-like element of the spirit does not come into existence without a relationship to God.
It is important to understand that spirit and mind are two different things. The fallen mind has no relationship to God. It has distanced itself from Him. God can neither relate to the fallen mind nor exercise His direct dominion over it.
From this it becomes clear that the spirit-mind is connected to God, while the conventional mind - meaning intellect, emotions, and will - of a fallen person has no connection to God.
It seems that the functions of the human psyche do not necessarily belong to the spirit-mind. Although they are functions of the mind, they are not necessarily of the "spirit," as Sun Myung Moon explains.
There is another spiritual level of the mind with the functions of intellect, emotions, and will, which are part of the spiritual self - the spirit-mind.
The Beginning of the Search for the Spirit-Mind
All these considerations made me doubt whether our conventional thinking, feeling, and intention actually originate from our spirit and the spirit-mind.
This led me to search for an answer to the question of what the spirit-mind really is.
How can we recognize, distinguish, or find it within ourselves?
If we have access to God only through the spirit-mind, then this is of central importance to our life of faith.