“Mindedness” is described by the Course as a constant state of true awareness. There are three states of mindedness.
- Right-Mindedness is the absence of judgment and therefore of fear from the mind even if only for an instant. It allows true reason to be experienced and appropriate choices to be made and actions to be taken. “The term ‘right-mindedness’ is properly used as the correction for wrong-mindedness or judgment and applies to the state of mind that induces accurate perception. It is miraculous because it heals misperception, and healing is indeed a miracle, in view of how humans often perceive themselves. Only the sick need healing. The spirit does not need healing, but the split mind does.” “Right-mindedness indicates each next correct step automatically, because right perception is uniformly without attack, so that wrong-mindedness or judgment is dissolved. The ego cannot survive without judgment, and is laid aside accordingly when judgment is no more. The mind will then have only one direction in which it can move.”
- Miracle-Mindedness is when miracles become natural reflexes to every situation, as the deepest sublevel of the subconscious is activated. Establishing this state of mindedness, which is simply consistent right-mindedness, is a major goal of the Course.
- One-Mindedness (Christ-Mindedness in ACIM) is the healed and unified mind that resides eternally in the Mind of the Divine. This state of mindedness is not a goal of the Course because it is beyond what can be taught and learned. Regarding this highest state of mindedness, the Course clarifies: “Sometimes a teacher or student of the Divine may have a brief experience of direct Union with the Divine [i.e., of One-Mindedness]. In this world it is almost impossible that this experience endure indefinitely. It can, perhaps, be won after much devotion and dedication, and then be maintained for most of the time on Earth. But this is so rare that it cannot be considered a realistic goal. If it happens, so be it. If it does not happen, so be it as well. All worldly states must be illusory. If the Divine were reached directly in sustained awareness, the body would not be long maintained.”
In connection with the levels of consciousness, right-mindedness is connected with conscious awareness, miracle-mindedness with the subconscious when this level and its sublevels are operating together in a healthy way, and one-mindedness is connected with the superconscious.
“Readiness” is described by the Course as a state of mind at least temporarily in a right-minded condition, one of sanity and true reason, which allows the mind to interact appropriately with Spirit and move toward accomplishment, mastery, and awakening. “Readiness is nothing more than the prerequisite for accomplishment. The two should not be confused. As soon as a state of readiness occurs, there is always some will to accomplish, but this doesn’t mean that this will to accomplish will be undivided. The state of readiness implies only the potential for a shift of will. Readiness does not mean mastery. Confidence cannot develop fully until mastery has been accomplished. . . . In response to the concern that an enormous amount of time will be necessary between readiness and mastery, remember that time and space are under my [Jesus’] control, and that the final accomplishment [awakening] is assured.” “You are ready to learn, and as you study, learn, and apply your learning to your life, you will move toward mastery.”
The two states of readiness are miracle-readiness and revelation-readiness. Miracle-readiness is the state of mind that allows miracles to be performed through us. It is the conscious level of awareness, i.e., our consciousness, attuned to the deepest sublevel of the subconscious, i.e., miracle-mindedness. This process moves along these lines: The true part of our mind – our spirit – always clearly experiences expressions of Love from our sisters and brothers, in which we rejoice with them, as well as unloving expressions which are lacks of Love and thus calls for help. When our spirit experiences a lack of Love and call for help, it always responds with the desire to meet this call with a miracle. Thus our spirit, or true mind, is always miracle ready.
The miracle inspiration from our spirit or true mind to any call for help is simultaneously experienced in the deepest sublevel of our subconscious, the level of miracle-mindedness. It is experienced there as a miracle impulse, or an impulse to be in deep connection with a brother or sister through allowing a miracle of abundance or healing to be performed through us in response to this brother’s or sister’s need or call for help. If the other sublevels of our subconscious are not distorted, then we are in a state of miracle-readiness. In this case, if we are the one in the best position to have the needed miracle performed through us at that moment in the situation, we will be directed by Jesus, who is in charge of miracles, from the superconscious level as to exactly what to do. If we are inspired to allow the miracle to be performed through us, the unique content of the miracle for that specific situation will be revealed to us in our subconscious, and from there we will become consciously aware of all we need to know to be the right conduit for the miracle to take place.
Being miracle-ready also means that an individual refrains from performing miracles that they are not directed by Divine Essence and by the leader of the Atonement, Jesus (who is One with Divine Essence), from the superconscious to perform. Miracles should be under “superconscious control” to have their power best used. Only Divine Essence and Jesus, who direct miracles from the superconscious, know in a given moment which individuals are best situated and able to perform given miracles in given situations so that everyone and everything that would benefit from being touched by the miracle is touched.
“It is important to be clear that the healer who relies on their own readiness to heal is distorting their understanding. They are perfectly safe in performing miracles as long as they are completely unconcerned about their own readiness to heal, but maintain a consistent trust in mine [Jesus’]. This trust is miracle-readiness. Errors in understanding about readiness inevitably introduce inefficiency into the miracle worker’s behavior, and temporarily disrupt their miracle-mindedness.”
Revelation-readiness is the state of mind that is clear enough from one’s mental chatter or “noise” to receive revelations from the Holy Spirit, Who is the “Bringer of Revelation,” whenever this would be helpful to us. Revelation-readiness is the conscious awareness attuned to the superconscious. “‘Be of one mind’ is the statement for revelation-readiness.”
Miracles and revelations are both essential in our journey of awakening, as are their forms of readiness. Miracle- and revelation-readiness are complementary aspects of healthy awareness and both are needed for our well-being and awakening. “Through miracles you learn how to be released from fear and enter revelation-readiness.” However, the Course indicates that miracle-readiness is more important at this time in the journey of humanity than revelation-readiness because of the interpersonal nature of miracles and their facilitation of learning leading to awakening, while revelation is a temporary experience of our original mode of communication with our Creator, and will be our communication mode with the Divine again when we have fully awakened, completed our part in Atonement, and returned eternally to our true Home.