Inspiration
You are a web of relationships out of which you have selected certain pebbles – whether they be thoughts or perceptions or experiences – and you have dropped them into the still clear pool of your awareness in order to create even more ripples. Then, you have chosen which ones will have the greatest value for you. These you lock in to your being and they become your emotional field. The emotional field is the first level of crystallization of the body.
What I learned
Jeshua has drawn a very clear picture for me with this metaphor. I can easily imagine mind as a vast pool, and I see myself dropping into that still pool a thought which causes a ripple to move across the pool even as I drop in another thought which creates its own ripples, some which join with or interact with the ripples from the previous thoughts. They are joined by the ripples from other thoughts, from my perceptions, from my beliefs.
Some of those ripples make only a small disturbance within the pool of my awareness because I do not give them much of my attention, but some of them seem to make small waves and last a long time. This is because I have placed value on those beliefs or those thoughts. They make a deeper impression on me and so I call more of the same to myself. No wonder Jesus told us, through A Course in Miracles, that we are too tolerant of mind wandering. He told us that we need to start paying attention to our thoughts. And here in The Way of Mastery he is telling us the same thing.
There are millions of thoughts, feelings, reactions, judgments, fears, and perceptions at anytime which come into my field of awareness, but it is up to me which ones I focus on, which ones I choose to give my attention to, and which ones I choose to value. In this way I make up my physical, third-dimensional reality.
At one time the pebbles I dropped most frequently into my pool and the ripples upon which I placed the most value were the thoughts which proved that someone else was to blame. And so my world took the form of attack and defend. Everywhere I looked someone was doing something which caused me grief. The world was full of victimizers and I spent all my time trying to protect myself and in trying to change and fix others so that I could finally be safe. It seemed terribly important that I keep this protection in place and so it was very valuable to me. Therefore I chose pebbles which supported it and so it became a never ending cycle of being attacked, defending through attack, and then doing it again. This was my life, and I created it through the thoughts and beliefs I entertained. As Jeshua says, I select what is going to make an imprint upon me.
At some point I made a different choice. I decided that there had to be a better way to live and so I dropped that pebble in and a new ripple was made. I gave it value and so chose like pebbles such as “This was not done to me, but was chosen by me. There is no one to blame.” I chose forgiveness thoughts such as, “I forgive you for what you have not done.” As I chose these thoughts more and more my creation became more peaceful and happy, and I learned to value these ripples. Soon they became the predominant ripples in my pool of awareness, and so I chose them more and more often.
What I learned is that it is absolutely necessary to own the pebbles I toss into my pool.
Jeshua suggests this thought:
I am the one who chooses the effects I experience.
I, alone, interpret all neutral relationships or experiences.
I, alone, place the value upon objects, things, thoughts, and belief systems.
I, alone, am the literal creator of my moment to moment experience.
This, as you can see, changes everything. … Never again can the energy of blame be projected from you to be dumped upon another.
He says: This thought, this one singular pebble dropped into the still pool of your awareness is absolutely essential if you would decide to awaken wholly.
I began changing the pebbles I dropped into the pool slowly and without fully realizing the magnitude of the change I was making. I started out with only a desire not to be in pain anymore. This began the change that made it possible for me to accept full responsibility for everything in my life and so to envision living an awakened life. What a pebble that is!
All quotes are used by kind permission of the Shanti Christo Foundation. To buy a copy of this profound book visit their website at www.shantichristo.com. I invite your thoughts and comments.