You cannot cast off the mind with the mind. How then is evolution occurring.

[anagogy]

It is almost as if the mind's attempt to understand is a complete charade, while the consciousness calmly and naturally progresses without thought. The mind is the only thing that I perceive as 'learning,' though. The mind learns things, but they are useless.

The consciousness 'learns,' right? It has to, or evolution would not occur? But how does a consciousness learn without thinking? The consciousness must evolve independent of the mind?

Spirit has no need to evolve. If it helps, consider that it is like a time traveler from eons upon eons in the future where it has reached the "ultimate" or "infinite" already. It is pure TRUTH. Pure LIGHT. Pure AWAKENESS. [positive pole] The Polaris of the Self

Mind is constantly evolving, changing, forming, and dissolving. This is the mental form that spirit has erroneously come to believe it is (your true nature is spirit and always has been). The evolution it perceives, and tries to egoically take credit for, is really just the mind breaking down (gaps in the clouds forming, allowing light to shine down to the earth). The mind feels like it needs to take ownership of all that it sees.

Body simply reflects the nature of the mind. The mind is the builder of the body.

Matter, of whatever plane of existence is simply the opposite of spirit. It is the symbolic expression of FALSITY. Pure DARKNESS. Pure ASLEEPNESS. [negative pole]

I'm fond of metaphors/parables/analogies so here is one for you: The earth is like the body, the sky is like the mind, and the sun is like the spirit. Clouds are like thoughts that occur in the mind (the sky). The only function they really serve is to provide water (emotion) for the earth, and to block the sun from reaching the earth (darkness of perception). When the clouds are gone, the sun shines upon the earth, allowing life to grow (but the rain provided by the clouds is also necessary for the life to grow on earth -- life requires duality). But if you can realize your true nature, that is above the sky, no darkness can touch you, because the clouds can no longer block your relationship with the sun. This doesn't mean the clouds never come again, it just means you no longer perceive the darkness normally associated with them. Enlightened masters have stopped identifying with the earth, and have stopped identifying with the sky. When that happens they become what they have been since before time, pure radiance: the sun. The One Infinite Creator.