Expanding possibilities

"As you are, so is the world" Ramana Maharshi

Prevention is easier than cure, and more important than wanting more

To me, the most important implication of the outside reflecting the inside is not trying to get more of what we want but avoiding mishaps.

The No.1 most important key to staying healthy is avoiding accidents. Staying healthy is pretty important for quality of life and makes financial, relationship, social and other success more likely. Good relationships and avoiding poverty are also major contributors to both health and quality of life and avoiding ‘accidents’, like choosing the wrong person, group or investment or losing the right one, has a huge impact on relationship and financial health.

Believing that the outside reflects the inside is a ticket to regret and mental anguish unless we notice where we are not clear and do something about it.

How do we notice?

1. Look inside. This is ideal because then we don’t need to experience and recover from any mishaps and, once we can directly perceive what is happening inside, we are well on our way to being able to change it.
2. Learn from the outer reflection.

Everything outside me reflects my inner state

For maximum learning, I first have to accept that everything that shows up in my reality, even things that appear to be down to someone else, reflect something in me. Any limit I set, like my health, wealth and happiness all reflect my inner state but my friend’s problems do not , seem to  be arbitrary, imaginary and simplistic, since everything is inter-related. It tends to reinforce our sense of separation from others and it limits how much of what happens we use to get and keep ourselves clear.

‘You find yourself automatically thinking ‘Brother George has the flu - I’ll have to work inside more’ The Inner Guide Meditation’ by Edwin Steinbrecher

That said, if our friend asks for our help and we have genuine, specific insight to share or are able to help them gain a new, positive perspective, that might be helpful. It is not, in my experience, helpful to say or imply that another person must have done or thought something inadvisable (like - What were you thinking?). Many people with chronic health problems hear this a lot, without any useful pointers to change, which simply builds resistance and, in many cases, avoiding groups where they are likely to hear it yet again.  The suggestion that they did or thought something wrong is itself negative and, often, in itself, wrong!

More to life (and reflect) than thoughts

Our inner state is also influenced by such things as collective karma, ancestral and genetic patterns, conditioning, unresolved emotions, whatever we are exposed to (including things we pick up from others) and choices we have taken either unconsciously or for valid reasons. I, for example, have had an enormous amount to clear from the traumatic last years of my husband’s life. That does not necessary imply I should not have stayed with him. Having needed to find and master the most effective means of clearing available, I am now able to help others clear and learn how to stay clear.

"There are more things in heaven and earth than are written in your philosophy" Hamlet, Shakespeare

While changing thinking can be useful for some, many positive people attract things they do not want.

"Useful until it’s not" Richard Bartlett, Matrix Energetics

Thus, to change our inner state and its reflection in our outer reality, we often need to work at a deeper level, using symbols and images or working with energy directly. Since verbal thoughts have a high level of abstraction, i.e. they are, at best, vague approximations to what is ‘real’, these other ways of working tend to be more precise and accurate. They also tend to be less susceptible to our ‘making it up’ from our minds (see my last post).

Archetypes

Gabrielle Roth (creator of the Five Rythms movement practise) uses archetypes to help her students deepen their work out of their body and soul. The archetypes she uses choose her. (More about this in "Sweat your prayers" by Gabrielle Roth.)

The Inner Guide Meditation by Edwin Steinbrecher, uses archetypes from the western mystery tradition, which gives the inner guide meditation depth, richness and an authenticity :-

"…the archetypes are living energies. … these archetypes are creating and sustaining us, not vice versa. … The archetypes are first, we are second, the rest of reality is third."

Matrix Energetics and unlimited archetypes

Steinbrecher suggests alternative archetypes, especially for thisose from different traditions but Matrix Energetics takes this one step further so that, rather than looking for traditional archetypes we allow whatever archetypes are helpful to come to our attention. As The Inner Guide Meditation advises, we ‘receive rather than look’.

Our outer reality is rich and varied. If it is simply a reflection of our inner world, then that inner world must hold many rich and interesting surprises. Let’s not limit our perception, experiences and progress with any beliefs!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 at 3:55 pm and is filed under co-creation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.