dissociation

 

dissociation

To separate something from awareness as a mechanism of ego defense. A “decision to forget” (T-10.II.1:2).

1. The mechanism by which the separation occurred (see T-6.II.1:4-5). The separation was not a physical parting, but a mental decision to forget.
2. The ego then dissociated from God’s Answer: the Holy Spirit and His thought system (see T-14.VII.4). “Dissociation is a distorted process of thinking whereby two systems of belief [the ego’s and the Holy Spirit’s] which cannot coexist are both maintained” (T-14.VII.4:3). They are maintained by keeping them in different compartments of the mind. When they are brought together, one must dispel the other (see bringing darkness to light).
3. The ego even uses dissociation to keep contradictory goals in its own thought system from coming into contact with each other (see T-15.I.4:12).

See denial. See T-10.II.1.