Unity Metaphysics: 10 The Trinity in Man

10A THE TRINITY:

"We may understand the relation and office of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit by analyzing our own mind and its apparent subdivisions during thought action, because each person is a perfect image and likeness first cause: God, the Father.” (Keep a True Lent 17)

"The mind of God is Spirit, soul, body; that is, mind, idea, expression. The mind of man is Spirit, soul, body—not separate from God-Mind, but existing in it and making it manifest in an identity peculiar to the individual. Every man is building into his consciousness the three departments of God-Mind, and his success in the process is evidenced by the harmony, in his consciousness, of Spirit, soul, and body. If he is all body, he is but one-third expressed. If to body he has added soul, he is two-thirds man, and if to these two he is adding Spirit, he is on the way to the perfect manhood that God designed." (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 22)

We are a Trinity of spirit, soul, and body, not in the abstract but in recognizable, concrete terms. We are a manifestation of the Trinity. As Mr. Fillmore writes, the Trinity within each person "... manifests in an identity peculiar to the individual."

10B MIND/IDEA/MANIFESTATION:

"The movement of every mind in bringing forth the simplest thought is a key to the great creative process of universal Mind. In every act is involved mind, idea, and manifestation. The mind is neither seen nor felt; the idea is not seen, but it is felt; and the manifestation appears." (Jesus Christ Heals 54)

In this paragraph Mr. Fillmore reduces the creative process of the Trinity to what may well be its clearest and most simple presentation. We can see that he views the individual mind of a person as a "small scale model" of the Mind that created our universe. This illustrates an aspect of the law of correspondence: "as the macrocosm, so the microcosm." In a sense we, in our highest meaning, are the scaled-down image and likeness of our creator.

10C 1) SPIRIT (MIND):

"In its higher functioning the mind of man deals with spiritual ideas, and we can truthfully say that man is a spiritual being. This fact explains the almost universal worship of God by men and makes possible the conjunction of the heaven and the earth by those who understand the underlying laws of prayer. Jesus stated this emphatically in John 4:24: 'God is Spirit; and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’" (Jesus Christ Heals 74)

We are spiritual beings in the sense that we have a spiritual nature and a spiritual identity. In understanding the Trinity in us it is helpful to relate our threefold nature (spirit, soul and body) to the metaphysical meaning of the Trinity (mind, ideas and expression).

10D 2) SOUL (IDEA):

"SOUL—Man's consciousness; the underlying idea back of any expression. In man, the soul is the many accumulated ideas back of his present expression. In its original and true sense, the soul of man is the expressed idea of man in Divine Mind." (The Revealing Word, Soul, p.182)

"The one and only object of man's existence is the development of his soul, and any attainment, whether mental or material, that cannot be associated with and counted as an aid toward that end will ultimately be refused." (Teach Us To Pray 130)

Many Truth students find difficulty in understanding exactly what is meant by soul. One of the reasons for this confusion is that different schools of thought use different terms in defining the soul. In spite of these differences, there need not be difficulty in dealing with the word "soul" because in Unity terminology it is simply the name given to the entire area of awareness in us. We are not yet certain of its full potential, nor of its limitations, but any part of our being which includes any sort of awareness is referred to as our soul. Jesus declared that the most important thing about a person is the worth of his soul. He said that it is of no profit that a person "gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul."

10E 3) BODY (MANIFESTATION):

"BODY—The outer expression of consciousness; the precipitation of the thinking part of man. God created the IDEA of the body of man as a self-perpetuating, self-renewing organism, which man reconstructs into his personal body. God creates the body idea, or divine idea, and man, by his thinking, makes it manifest. As God created man, in His image and likeness by the power of His word, so man, as God's image and likeness, projects his body by the same power. All thoughts and ideas embody themselves according to their character. Material thoughts make a material body. Spiritual thoughts make a spiritual body." (The Revealing Word, Body, p.26)

One of the most helpful Unity teachings is that our real body is created by God as an IDEA. There is a divine idea body within all persons. It is a spiritual pattern of a perfect body. Today we function in a physical form which is an outpicturing of our current level of consciousness. Regardless of what happens to the physical body, the perfect body idea is always there and more and more of its perfection can be brought forth and expressed. All healing is based on this principle.

10F ACTIVATING THE TRINITY IN MAN:

"Man sets into action any of the three realms of his being, spirit, soul and body, by concentrating his thought on them. If he thinks only of the body, the physical senses encompass all his existence. If mind and emotion are cultivated he adds soul to his consciousness. If he rises to the Absolute and comprehends Spirit, he rounds out the God-man." (Jesus Christ Heals 71)

This paragraph is similar to paragraph 10A, the difference being that in paragraph 10A Mr. Fillmore only analyzes the Trinity in us. In this paragraph Mr. Fillmore speaks of how to activate the Trinity. We can increase our awareness of any or all aspects of the Trinity in ourselves. Mr. Fillmore was always careful to point out to students that we should make effort to activate all three, body, soul, and spirit. The method he sets forth is amazingly simple: (1) acknowledge; (2) concentrate; (3) affirm.

10G MANKIND'S DESTINATION:

"The natural man in the physical world is merely the beginning formation of the man planned by creative Mind. When the natural man finishes his unfoldment he enters the next stage, that of the Christ man illustrated by Jesus. Jesus was the first man or 'fruit' of the earth's first age, that of the natural man. He opened the way for all who aspire to the attainment of immortality." (Atom-Smashing Power of Mind 130)

In many other places in his writings (particularly in "Mysteries of Genesis") Mr. Fillmore deals with the concept of man as he is today as being in a "fallen" state. That is, we were once consciously divine, but through desire for sensations departed from that level of consciousness and became involved with our own thought creations. In this concept, we are now working to regain what we once had. In the passage above, Mr. Fillmore takes the alternative view. Here he says, "The natural man in the physical world is merely the beginning formation of the man planned by creative Mind." In this concept we have always been moving in a forward direction toward new goals, not regaining what we have lost, but progressing into that which we have not yet experienced. Many students ask, "Which one is correct?" The answer would seem to be that either one might be correct. But whichever is correct, it does not change our destiny in any way. We must all continue to work on consciousness.

Transcribed by Sheri Owen on August 11, 2015.