Funhouse Mirror of Mind

Growing up I had a peculiar fascination with funhouse mirrors at amusement parks. The ones that twist and distort your reflection into comical caricatures. Absurdly exaggerating the human form into Escherian contortions.

We giggle at the projected images because they are such a perverse representation of reality.

But perhaps those mirrors offer more truth than meets the eye.

Putting aside the brain's futile attempt at imaging reflected light from concave or convex surfaces, our conviction of reality might be just as warped.

Everything we think of as "normal" — the world, its inhabitants, the various goings-on — is actually an elaborate, enormous funhouse mirror. Without the fun.

Truth is a state of infinite, eternal joy. Reflecting the radiantly beautiful light of unconditional love. Yet clearly that is not our experience. So what gives?

Enter the distorting funhouse mirror of mind, otherwise known as the ego. It produces such an erroneous, yet relatively convincing, picture of existence — actually making it seem like our world and sorrow-filled lives are real. So much so that we never stop to question the source of projection.

But what if we could step back from apparent attestations and see beyond the travesty?

We're invited to look past the illusions of separated form to the underlying reality of oneness. To see with what A Course in Miracles calls "true Vision."

As I referenced in last week's article, "Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward."

By identifying the bizarre nature of perceived reality, we open ourselves to the possibility of seeing past the distortions. We begin to recognize the eternal essence within each form, the thread of divine love that connects us all.

Such a perspective infuses the world with deeper meaning, a profound beauty that transcends mere appearance. We start to see the world not as a collection of separate entities, but as a unified expression of Being.

Join me in Thursday's class where we'll explore techniques to help us see past these funhouse misrepresentations and into the realm of true Vision. I look forward to seeing you then.