A study of history reveals that in the past 3,000 years, we have records of over 5,000 wars on this planet Earth. War seems to be a popular past time. When we look into our own lives and notice how often we are at odds with co-workers, loved ones, or fellow drivers on the road, and then even closer into the internal battles going on in our own heads, we can see the inevitable and insidious nature of war.
Revolution, the overthrowing of one paradigm for a new, if it’s at the same level of consciousness is not effective in creating change. Why haven’t we noticed? Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. As much as we talk of our desire for world peace or even peace of mind, it continues to elude us. It seems it is time we individually wake up out of our insanity and start a collective evolution, rather than a revolution.
No matter what is going on in the world, no matter how completely it seems as if it shouldn’t be, no matter how much we want to protest and change it, the only real change we can truly affect is within ourselves, individually. This is not to say we shouldn’t try to change the outside world. It would be naïve to think we could ever stop trying. To do so consciously though, acknowledging that there is no possible way we can see the complete and true nature of any situation, would manifest a radically different action. To realize the degree to which we are projecting our own filters of our conditioning onto the matter would result in less harm, greater effectiveness, and a quantum leap into a higher level of consciousness.
We don't really make change to a higher level when we are fighting something. It is a Universal Law that like attracts like. If we see something manifesting, which causes a reaction in us, we must be vibrating on a similar level or we wouldn't be in reaction to it. If we are operating at a higher level of consciousness, we naturally know how to respond harmlessly with wisdom and grace. If we attempt to change something before changing our own energetic level, we just make changes of a lateral nature. For instance, if we see children fighting, we step in maturely and handle the situation. We don't jump in and start fighting with them to stop them. Well, some of us may resort to slapping them around, which may stop them temporarily, but I doubt it does much for changing their behavior on a more permanent basis. I'll use a different example. If we see someone on the street having a psychotic spell, yelling obscenities at us, we most likely have compassion and respond from that place of compassion. However, if we are having a psychotic episode as well, we may take offense to what they are saying and attack back defensively.
We only see a tiny fraction of what's going on in front of our eyes at any given moment. To think we see the whole "truth" of a situation is to be in deep delusion. It is our grace when we see something we want to change. This is our catalyst for personal growth. We can know what we need to change about ourselves by seeing what we think needs changing outwardly, with which we are in reaction. The outer world is truly our mirror. We must first change our own understanding and level of consciousness and then see what needs to be done on the outside. When we change ourselves, it affects everything in the outer world as well. If everyone on the planet took care of their own happiness and peace of mind, we would all be happy. There are, of course, those of us who can't for one reason or another take care of ourselves, the psychotic mentioned earlier would be an example. This is where the call to serve comes in. But only from a place of higher understanding.
If we each take responsibility for the quality of energy we are personally radiating, especially when we are in judgment and opposition, acknowledge our own projections onto others whom we are judging, and heal ourselves first, what a difference it can make! This brings to mind the metaphor of putting our own oxygen masks on first in the event of cabin depressurization on an airplane. We are then able to freely breathe while assisting others. If we don’t put ours on first, we are of little help to anyone including ourselves.
We can also change the quality of our energetic radiance by focusing on what we WANT rather than on what we DON'T want. What we focus on expands and so focusing on solutions puts us on the track for effective change into a new paradigm rather than fighting from the same level of consciousness, which created the situation in the first place. This is a most important and effective step forward in creating a world of peace. Have you ever noticed how good it feels to think of what you want and what a downer it is to stay focused, ruminating on what you don't like? This is our challenge, to stay aware of our thinking and ask ourselves if we are radiating warlike energy or peaceful energy. How often do we get what we want by complaining and radiating negative energy?
The yin/yang theory is a great tool, if you want to find a path toward inner peace. In the yin/yang, (also called Tai Chi symbol) we can see expressed visually the dynamic in which war occurs. Whatever is happening is occurring in this play of opposites. We can view it from a yin side or the yang side. We can see it as right or wrong, as good or bad, as beautiful or ugly, the list goes on to infinity. Which side we view it from determines how we feel about what we are seeing. If what we are seeing is in alignment with our beliefs and conditioning, we like it, if not, we don't. If however, we view it from the mid-line of the circle or more expansively from the outer rim of the circle viewing the whole, we see everything as just this play. Each side is dependent and gives rise to the other and each exists within the other. Nothing is good or bad, it’s our point of view that makes it so for each of us individually.
If we all could take a moment now and then to go within and ask what a particular dislike, or even better, an extreme aversion is pointing to in ourselves, we may be wonderfully surprised. I say wonderfully because this is a very empowering technique. I say surprised because seldom do we realize that what we dislike in another is a disowned part of ourselves. What we cannot accept in ourselves, we cannot accept and love in another. The answer to peace and happiness lies in the degree to which we love and accept ourselves. When we stop projecting all of our self-hatred onto others and begin the process of healing into self-acceptance, the end of war becomes a real possibility.
Showing posts with label yin/yang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yin/yang. Show all posts
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What I Can Do
Regarding politics, race, or religion, when we criticize or condemn, we are usually projecting an unconscious part of ourselves onto the person or people condemned. This is the nature of all “isms”. For example, racism is a projection of a disowned part of oneself onto the one perceived as different. What we don’t accept in ourselves, we project out onto others and then reject. This is a clever tactic of the ego to stay in control and remain feeling separate and superior. However, what and how we condemn, we usually become or experience. Politically, one side condemns the other and then in turn becomes the condemned and vice versa.
As the spiritual axiom goes, what we focus on expands and what we give our attention to grows. If we are critical and demonizing of the leaders in office, we will continue to find people to criticize and demonize if that is what we are in the habit of doing. Habits tend to keep showing up. This is not an effective strategy. We certainly can use discrimination and proper judgment, give feedback and protest actions taken by our leaders. However, unless we give conscious, mature feedback and take conscious, mature actions toward solutions we will keep manifesting situations to complain about and continue to be dissatisfied, unconsciously polarized and out of balance.
We as individuals are at different levels of maturity. I believe it is the responsibility of the more mature to help guide the less mature. We must act with conscious maturity to stop injustices or dangerous actions as we would if we were watching a child about to hurt him/herself. Just as we would not let a child run dangerously in the street or play with fire, we must speak out and do what we can to prevent and protect those who are less mature from causing irreparable damage to other humans and our planet as a whole. We must do this with balance, discrimination, and kindness. Just as a mature parent would gently guide with care and compassion rather than harshly criticize and condemn, so we must do to those less mature.
Through our thoughts and actions, we individually make our contribution to the world. The quality of the energy of any thought we cultivate or action we take creates a vibration which we personally radiate out to the world each and every moment. The state of the world is the result of the sum total of the radiance of every person on the planet. The quality of the energy we each individually radiate becomes the quality of our own individual experience and, ultimately, the quality of the energy on the planet. To quote Deepak Chopra, “Every action we take generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. We reap what we sow. When we consciously choose actions that bring peace and happiness to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”
Contemplating a profound symbol can sometimes aid us in developing deeper understanding. The Tai Chi or more popularly called the yin/yang symbol, reminds us that it is the nature of physical manifestation to be polarized, to see one side or the other. However, the truth is in the totality, the whole circle. We can’t know darkness without the light. We can’t know right without wrong, female without male. Without the immature, we can't know our level of maturity. To be aware of this polarization is to be conscious. Without the awareness that the total picture is the truth, is to be unconsciously polarized.
We are the most conscious beings on the planet, as far as we know. It is up to all of us to look within and ask ourselves, “Am I at war with anyone?” Am I at war with another’s politics? Am I at war with another’s style? If we are condemning, criticizing and complaining, we are at war. When we replace criticism with proper judgment and understanding; condemnation with acceptance and curiosity; complaining with a sincere desire to act from a place of clarity or if appropriate, allow, “what is”, at the moment, to “be” until it is not, we are at peace.
It has become my practice to visualize “light” on myself regarding any situation with which I am dissatisfied. In my mind, this is an attempt to align myself with the truth of the situation. I cannot see the total picture and even the partial view I have is filtered through the lens of my particular conditioning. If we, at least, realize that it’s possible that we aren’t seeing the bigger picture, we are less likely to be caught in the yo-yo world of unconscious polarization. When we admit that we can’t know for sure why anything is the way it is, we open to seeing a bigger truth. Relaxing our position puts out a new kind of energy that loosens the tension between us, and that to which we are opposed. How can we expect the other to loosen their position, if we can’t?
When I envision the “Light of Alignment with Truth” regarding the disturbing circumstances, things either change or I see them from a more expanded viewpoint. It always delivers a greater degree of harmony by bringing me out of my unconscious polarized position and relaxing my mind and body so that any action I take comes from a place of clarity and maturity rather than reactivity. Not only does this feel healthy for me, it also stops me from radiating negative energy out into the world in which I am living.
As within, so without, it’s up to each of us as individuals to look into our own hearts and be honest about what and with whom we are going to war. We must become conscious of the quality of energy we are contributing at any moment. When we change ourselves from within, we change what is reflected back from the outside.
While not abandoning judgment and discrimination, we can radiate to the leaders of our country the “Light of Alignment with Truth”. We cannot know, absolutely, the TRUTH of any situation. We can only know our preferences and our intentions. If we radiate from our minds and hearts, to the minds and hearts of those in the position of leading, our intention that they be aligned with the Highest Purpose, (and we can’t know for certainty that they are not) and ask for our own understanding to expand to see the Highest Purpose for all involved, we are doing our job. We are accomplishing this according to the law of attraction, by creating a different quality of energy for those people and for ourselves. In this way, we radiate a quality of energy which enhances the condition of harmony and well-being, rather than adding to the dysfunction. Complaining and projecting are powerless ways of dealing with situations in which we want to effect change.
When I ask myself what I can do, I realize I can work on becoming more consciously aware of my own projections, radiance and vibration. I can remember that what I reap, I sow, not only for myself in my own life, but also for the entire world. I can visualize the “Light of Alignment with Truth” on myself and on those who need guidance. I can act from that place of conscious response rather than unconscious reactivity.
I feel an empowering paradigm shift, in my life when I take responsibility for my own thoughts, words and actions. It helps remind me that the quality of my thoughts, words and actions return to me in like kind and create my experience in every moment. We can each make a contribution to that paradigm shift and change the world one person at a time by vigilant and conscious awareness of the quality of thoughts we cultivate, the quality of the words we speak, the quality of our intentions and the quality of our actions. As I experience the difference in the quality of my life when I live these principles, I know this difference extends out into the world, one moment at a time.
Right Thinking
Right Speaking
Right Intention
Right Action
As the spiritual axiom goes, what we focus on expands and what we give our attention to grows. If we are critical and demonizing of the leaders in office, we will continue to find people to criticize and demonize if that is what we are in the habit of doing. Habits tend to keep showing up. This is not an effective strategy. We certainly can use discrimination and proper judgment, give feedback and protest actions taken by our leaders. However, unless we give conscious, mature feedback and take conscious, mature actions toward solutions we will keep manifesting situations to complain about and continue to be dissatisfied, unconsciously polarized and out of balance.
We as individuals are at different levels of maturity. I believe it is the responsibility of the more mature to help guide the less mature. We must act with conscious maturity to stop injustices or dangerous actions as we would if we were watching a child about to hurt him/herself. Just as we would not let a child run dangerously in the street or play with fire, we must speak out and do what we can to prevent and protect those who are less mature from causing irreparable damage to other humans and our planet as a whole. We must do this with balance, discrimination, and kindness. Just as a mature parent would gently guide with care and compassion rather than harshly criticize and condemn, so we must do to those less mature.
Through our thoughts and actions, we individually make our contribution to the world. The quality of the energy of any thought we cultivate or action we take creates a vibration which we personally radiate out to the world each and every moment. The state of the world is the result of the sum total of the radiance of every person on the planet. The quality of the energy we each individually radiate becomes the quality of our own individual experience and, ultimately, the quality of the energy on the planet. To quote Deepak Chopra, “Every action we take generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. We reap what we sow. When we consciously choose actions that bring peace and happiness to others, the fruit of our karma is happiness and success.”
Contemplating a profound symbol can sometimes aid us in developing deeper understanding. The Tai Chi or more popularly called the yin/yang symbol, reminds us that it is the nature of physical manifestation to be polarized, to see one side or the other. However, the truth is in the totality, the whole circle. We can’t know darkness without the light. We can’t know right without wrong, female without male. Without the immature, we can't know our level of maturity. To be aware of this polarization is to be conscious. Without the awareness that the total picture is the truth, is to be unconsciously polarized.
We are the most conscious beings on the planet, as far as we know. It is up to all of us to look within and ask ourselves, “Am I at war with anyone?” Am I at war with another’s politics? Am I at war with another’s style? If we are condemning, criticizing and complaining, we are at war. When we replace criticism with proper judgment and understanding; condemnation with acceptance and curiosity; complaining with a sincere desire to act from a place of clarity or if appropriate, allow, “what is”, at the moment, to “be” until it is not, we are at peace.
It has become my practice to visualize “light” on myself regarding any situation with which I am dissatisfied. In my mind, this is an attempt to align myself with the truth of the situation. I cannot see the total picture and even the partial view I have is filtered through the lens of my particular conditioning. If we, at least, realize that it’s possible that we aren’t seeing the bigger picture, we are less likely to be caught in the yo-yo world of unconscious polarization. When we admit that we can’t know for sure why anything is the way it is, we open to seeing a bigger truth. Relaxing our position puts out a new kind of energy that loosens the tension between us, and that to which we are opposed. How can we expect the other to loosen their position, if we can’t?
When I envision the “Light of Alignment with Truth” regarding the disturbing circumstances, things either change or I see them from a more expanded viewpoint. It always delivers a greater degree of harmony by bringing me out of my unconscious polarized position and relaxing my mind and body so that any action I take comes from a place of clarity and maturity rather than reactivity. Not only does this feel healthy for me, it also stops me from radiating negative energy out into the world in which I am living.
As within, so without, it’s up to each of us as individuals to look into our own hearts and be honest about what and with whom we are going to war. We must become conscious of the quality of energy we are contributing at any moment. When we change ourselves from within, we change what is reflected back from the outside.
While not abandoning judgment and discrimination, we can radiate to the leaders of our country the “Light of Alignment with Truth”. We cannot know, absolutely, the TRUTH of any situation. We can only know our preferences and our intentions. If we radiate from our minds and hearts, to the minds and hearts of those in the position of leading, our intention that they be aligned with the Highest Purpose, (and we can’t know for certainty that they are not) and ask for our own understanding to expand to see the Highest Purpose for all involved, we are doing our job. We are accomplishing this according to the law of attraction, by creating a different quality of energy for those people and for ourselves. In this way, we radiate a quality of energy which enhances the condition of harmony and well-being, rather than adding to the dysfunction. Complaining and projecting are powerless ways of dealing with situations in which we want to effect change.
When I ask myself what I can do, I realize I can work on becoming more consciously aware of my own projections, radiance and vibration. I can remember that what I reap, I sow, not only for myself in my own life, but also for the entire world. I can visualize the “Light of Alignment with Truth” on myself and on those who need guidance. I can act from that place of conscious response rather than unconscious reactivity.
I feel an empowering paradigm shift, in my life when I take responsibility for my own thoughts, words and actions. It helps remind me that the quality of my thoughts, words and actions return to me in like kind and create my experience in every moment. We can each make a contribution to that paradigm shift and change the world one person at a time by vigilant and conscious awareness of the quality of thoughts we cultivate, the quality of the words we speak, the quality of our intentions and the quality of our actions. As I experience the difference in the quality of my life when I live these principles, I know this difference extends out into the world, one moment at a time.
Right Thinking
Right Speaking
Right Intention
Right Action
Thursday, January 11, 2007
What can I do?
Imagine if our leaders based all their decisions on the teachings of Lao-Tsu, Buddha, or the real teachings of Jesus Christ. It seems our world leaders are not aware of the true spiritual principles and universal laws which govern our lives. I know the difference self-inquiry and living in alignment with universal laws and principles has had on the quality of my life. What if our leaders actually led from that wisdom.
Now when I ask myself what I can do, I realize I can work on becoming more consciously aware of my own projections and radiance. I can remember that what I sow, I reap, not only for myself in my own life, but also for the entire world. I can visualize myself in alignment with Truth. I can act from the place of conscious response rather than unconscious reactivity.
I feel an empowering paradigm shift, in my life when I take responsibility for my own thoughts, words and actions. They return to me in like-kind and create my experience in every moment. We can each make a contribution to that paradigm shift and change the world one person at a time by vigilant and conscious awareness of the quality of thoughts we cultivate, the quality of the words we speak, the quality of our intentions and the quality of our actions. As I experience the difference in my life when I live these principles, I know this difference extends out into the world, one moment at a time.
Now when I ask myself what I can do, I realize I can work on becoming more consciously aware of my own projections and radiance. I can remember that what I sow, I reap, not only for myself in my own life, but also for the entire world. I can visualize myself in alignment with Truth. I can act from the place of conscious response rather than unconscious reactivity.
I feel an empowering paradigm shift, in my life when I take responsibility for my own thoughts, words and actions. They return to me in like-kind and create my experience in every moment. We can each make a contribution to that paradigm shift and change the world one person at a time by vigilant and conscious awareness of the quality of thoughts we cultivate, the quality of the words we speak, the quality of our intentions and the quality of our actions. As I experience the difference in my life when I live these principles, I know this difference extends out into the world, one moment at a time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
