For years I think I heard the message of the Three Principles as a version of positive thinking. If I noticed I was feeling less than top notch I would TRY to find a positive thought to put in and would often find myself getting frustrated and the spin would spiral from there. (and not in an upward motion). Over time as I paused and noticed – just noticed – where is this coming from – what I am seeing or hearing- or is it coming from my thinking about what I am seeing and hearing that the fog started to clear and almost as if by magic, my thoughts would drop away and along with my thoughts, the feeling I was experiencing.
With that experience over and over again – I started to gain a new sense of freedom. I started to recall Syd Bank’s words of wisdom – “ If only people stopped being afraid of their thinking, that alone would change the world.” I started to notice that I was making the whole thing up – consciousness was bringing lights, camera and action to all my thoughts and nothing on the outside was hurting or helping.
So here is an example- I am often standing in front of groups – both training on this subject and training on a deeper understanding of poverty and how to work with it. I like to work the room and watch as people hear things and see the shifts they make as the penny drops. So you could say I am studying their facial expressions and body language and in every class there are those faces…you know the ones – they are scowling or blank or have that look that says “you are boring me to tears”. (did you notice how I made up what the look means?) For many years and even sometimes now I will see that face- and go into -what does that mean- they don’t like the training- they don’t like me – they don’t get what I am saying – they don’t like my outfit…who knows…you get the drift and as the thoughts circulate, I start to feel uncomfortable, anxious and concluding this isn’t going to be a good training.
Back in the day I would have told you all of that came from outside – from the expressions – from the way people were acting -from the full moon. I would never have said no they are coming through my thoughts – through the mechanism of the three principles – and I was making that experience real.
Over time, I started asking people on breaks how it was going for them – mostly at first to feel better myself- and sure enough they would tell me they had a bad morning or a phone call that upset them or a stomach ache…they never said oh its you and your lousy training!…..I am sure you are now getting the point – stay with it and we will consider how that all works in slow motion in next week’s entry.
Until next Friday…
