True self-consciousness is spiritual man's comprehension of himself as the infinite and complete expression of ever-present God. good. The spiritual man, and in Truth there is no other, lives, moves, and has his being in God, whom he eternally reflects. Being fully aware of his spiritual selfhood, man has no consciousness of materiality. Man's true and spiritual being is the expression or embodiment of all the qualities and attributes of the eternal Godhead, or ever-present First Cause, whom we reverently call God. Man's being is, therefore, intact and complete. He is ever sustained by the beneficent government of Spirit, and can know no falsification or perversity.
To be conscious of our spiritual being and sonship with the Father-Mother God is to know true and enduring self-consciousness. To be truly conscious of our real selfhood is to enjoy "the fruit of the Spirit," which, St. Paul tells us, "is love, joy, peace, longsuffering. gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" and he adds, "Against such there is no law."
Based on the belief that man and the universe are mortal and material, is that false state of thought ordinarily termed self-consciousness. Such a mental condition, having as its viewpoint the false concept of existence as material, sensual, and limited, would mesmerize one into continually contemplating himself and his affairs to the exclusion of other interests. This false sense may make one fancy that he is the object of the undesirable thoughts and attentions of everyone with whom he comes in contact. As a consequence, he seeks to find completeness and satisfaction in his own limited outlook, which virtually constitutes his world. This state of mortal self-consciousness is bondage, for it is the direct opposite of the truth regarding God's man, who is spiritual, free, boundless, and perfect.
