What are the Three Principles?
The Three Principles — Mind, Consciousness, and Thought — are the fundamental forces responsible for the creation of life and for all of our psychological experiences. They comprise the eternal backdrop behind life. This dimension of life is formless so it doesn’t change. It’s eternal, it’s always there. It is something that we can rely on because it doesn’t come and go.
”Together, these three components are the golden threads from which all human experience is woven. No one can exist without them; they are the necessary components through which we acknowledge life. Without any of these three principles, life would not exist for any human being. They are the psychological trinity of all human functioning. ”
Mind is the source and intelligence behind all of life.
The Principle of Mind is the formless energy that is responsible for the creation of all of life. It exists completely beyond the world of form. It is the eternal stillness and silence that lies before the movement and noise of created life.
Mind is the essential nature of every one of us. There is nothing beyond Mind. It is the source of everything in the universe. Throughout the ages many words have been used to try to point toward this dimension of life: the unborn, the uncreated, the infinite space out of which everything arises, the divine, the quantum field, the great nothingness, emptiness, the fertile void and other names. Feel free to use any word that you like.
Mind is the intelligence that knows how to create every living system and how to operate those systems. In nature, it guides a flower to open up and turn toward the sun. It knows how to turn sunlight into energy for the flower to grow. It knows how to guide salmon back to their spawning grounds. It guides birds on their annual migration.
Consciousness is that which allows all of us to be aware of life.
Behind your thinking is an open space of quiet awareness, or what we call the Principle of Consciousness. The Principle of Consciousness is the domain of the human soul. The Latin word for soul is “anima,” which is the root of the word animation. We can, therefore, say that Consciousness is what animates your thinking and turns it into your sensory experiences so that you can be aware of what is created.
The Principle of Consciousness is the eternal backdrop behind all of life. We are all living within an infinite field of consciousness rather than consciousness only living within the individual.
Everything in life — every single cell that is created in life — since it is created out of this infinite field of awareness, has built into it
a degree of awareness. Every cell in the universe responds to heat, pressure, touch, and gravitational forces.
Consciousness is that which allows every human being to be aware of life. It brings your senses to life — your seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and touching. It’s through your senses that you are able to be aware of life.
The Principle of Thought is the power behind life that creates the full range of human experiences.
We live in a world of Thought. There is nothing in our experience, from the moment we are born to the moment we die, that isn’t brought to life by the power of Thought. It is formless and infinite.
Thought generates every moment of mental activity, or thinking, that is going on inside your head and inside everyone else’s head. It creates all the forms of your mental activity, such as ideas, concepts, beliefs, impressions, images, and intuitions. The Principle of Thought is also the power that creates everything you feel and all of your emotions. You are a thinker with free will so you are free to decide what thoughts to listen to and bring to life. You are free to pay attention to a thought or not. You are free to act on a thought or not.
When we talk about the Principle of Thought, we are not talking about the stream of content that is flowing through your head at any given time — that is your personal thinking. The Principle of Thought is much bigger and deeper than that. It’s what allows for the creation of all mental life, everything you think, perceive, and feel. There is nothing before this Principle. It is the unlimited creative potential, or field, from which all experiences arise.
