The Art of Abstraction

To attain life-giving satisfaction

We must learn the art of abstraction.

In Complete Abstraction can we See

Oneness with God eternally.

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary abstraction “is the formulation of an idea by mental separation from its particular instances or material objects.”  In this context art refers to the ability to achieve abstraction. God represents a complete abstraction.  People often fail to understand God because they have not learned how to let go of conscious physical reality and think abstractly.

The abstractions referred to here all have to do with aspects of God’s existence. They are taken from a workbook called Give Me Your Blessings, Holy Son of God published by the Foundation of Inner Peace. The workbook is used in a course I took about miracles. These abstractions will form a foundation for some reflections on how abstract thought may be achieved to more fully appreciate and understand God.

Most people function primarily through their ego mind. The ego mind refers to physically evolved five sense consciousness responsible for our physical actions, reaction, and emotions to immediate sensory stimulus and memory.  The ego mind, the part that deals with matter, energy, space and time cannot integrate God as an abstraction. It cannot separate itself from its sense induced sensory memories. It has no physical memories of God so it cannot abide the thought of God, except maybe on Sunday in church. Although the ego may not allow this abstraction to be integrated, God is the all-encompassing abstraction that embodies omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence.

The ego interfers with human belief systems because its main function is self-preservation. The human ego does not want us to think abstractly, it wants us to be aware of physical dangers and to be able to respond to protect ourselves.  By calling forward memories of fear imbedded and stored in our physically conscious minds it is the ego that often prevents humans from being at Oneness with their God.

In order to think abstractly, the ego must be set aside. This can be achieved through prayer, meditation, relaxation exercises or by whatever methods work.  We must be quiet and let our Spiritual Awareness observe what happens.  Our Indwelling Holy Spirit will recognize God’s Awareness abiding in us. In this way we truly talk with God and experience the Unconditional Love he offers us as Spiritually Aware human beings.

God is the ultimate complete abstraction. We can observe God’s Indwelling Spirit abiding in us by believing that  God is the all-encompassing Abstraction.

Humans are created in God’s image. God’s image is abstract. It is All-Encompassing Awareness and functions in humans as the Indwelling Holy Spirit.  Complete abstraction is natural and embedded in humans. However, the power of the ego must be checked and most people need to be taught to overcome their self -preservation mechanisms the ego.  

All-encompassing means all things physical and all things spiritual.  God can perform timely separation from our physical consciousness. The only complete abstraction is God. Our indwelling Spirit is created within us. It is already there and the art of abstraction is also within our power.

© John Borchert 2012. Written permission required to republish in print or electronically.