Chapter 2.XI – The Real Basic Conflict, paragraphs 10-22

March 3, 2021

It is not important to completely understand all of the theories about conflict and the levels of consciousness because the Course will teach us the truth about the real basic conflict.

We are now starting to gain a stronger view of creation being God’s perfect projection of Himself and all of his attributes out and forward into us, and miscreation being our projection of fear out and forward into the world.  “The fundamental opponents in the real basic conflict are creation and miscreation.” (10:1) All of creation is composed of love and all of miscreation is composed of fear.

We also need to understand the Course’s concept of psychic energy. It does not matter whether we are creating or miscreating, both produce energy. “Everything that you make has energy because, like the creations of God, it comes from energy and is endowed by its maker with the power to make.” (12:1)

The act of miscreation or creation that produces energy also produces behaviour and behaviour depends on the content. Remember that the unconscious is where we contribute content and it is where we “can readily introduce fear, and usually (do).” (5:3) If our creative impulses contain fear, we do end up miscreating.  It is the miscreation that controls our behaviour because “the power (to create) will be misused or used fearfully.” (12:4) The “censor” in the unconscious mind distorts the impulse to create with the fear that has been introduced into this level causing miscreation. This is a split in our mind because we now believe that both fear and love, miscreation and creation are real.

In healing the split it does not work to deny it has happened, nor to accept that it is inevitable to have the split and learn to get along in a tug-of-war situation between the opposing wills.

“A… deadlock occurs when both the power of creation and of miscreation coexist.” (14:1) This means that we accept the power of both, but we also believe that both are real, therefore, we end up in a sort of compromise that does not solve the issue for either side.

The only way out of this confusion is the recognition that what is miscreated is not real. “This entails a full realization of the basic fact that, although you have miscreated in a very genuine sense, you need neither continue to do so nor to suffer from your past errors in this respect.” (15:3)

It is fascinating to catch this glimpse of how Jesus operates in the world. It looks like he influences the  thoughts of those who are working for him even when they have no conscious awareness of their joint endeavor. Even though it seems Freud had strong defenses against Atonement, “he did succeed in forcing recognition of the unconscious into humanity’s calculations about itself, a step in the right direction which should not be minimized.” (18:2) It appears that Freud’s and other psychoanalytic theorists’ contributions in this regard were essential to our being able to learn this Course. These concepts had to be introduced in a way that we could accept and move forward from.

Paragraphs 18-21 are an interesting discourse on Freud’s use of miscreation and the ways in which it held him back from understanding the true power of the mind and the use of the Atonement to heal the split. He may have been able to go farther with his work if he had not been so afraid of religion, but he “could not divorce miracles from magic.” (20:2)

Jesus tells us that if we can remember that we did not create ourselves it will be a huge step toward correcting our “own magic-miracle confusion.” (22:1) This magic-miracle confusion is a result of confusing what we made, our miscreation, with what God created. Thus, in our mind, what we made becomes real with all of the attributes of creation.

Reflection:

Once again, we have been shown that fear is something we should value only for its ability to bring the need for correction into our awareness.

Take some time today to reflect on the ways fear shows up in your life. Try to observe what it means to you and the way it influences your behaviour. Then remind yourself that this fear only means there is a need to “re-establish true single-mindedness.” (16:4) Fear cannot mean that what God created has magically changed into something weak and vulnerable. This is miscreation.

Tell yourself that this fear is an indication that although you have miscreated in a very genuine sense, you need neither continue to do so nor to suffer from your past errors in this respect.

Suggested Practice:

The only way out is to stop miscreating now, and accept the Atonement for miscreations of the past.