Gazing in the Mirror

October 21 - The Divine Reality

Understanding that the outer
world is a manifestation of our
actions, thoughts, and feelings,
we can immediately affirm our
good, develop the habit of keeping
our minds and emotions in the
bliss zone, and from there focus
on what we desire to manifest.
~ Terry Cole-Whittaker

This is the secret I hold with
the Invisible. Alone with God,
I make my claim; and in the
integrity of my own soul,
I fear no opposition to it.
~ Ernest Holmes

There is a reoccurring controversy about the New Age concept that we create our own reality. I believe it is actually a matter of degree and not a matter of whether. So in a conversation, a person asserted that humanity's self-awareness led to a realization of insignificance which was a cause of depression. Another person replied to that with their belief that it's our choices and our thoughts that create our reality. This further escalated with the standard denial of responsibility technique of offering a whole litany of reasons that are hard to dispute as to why this is not so. Here's the related example –

"Oh I love it when someone tells me I couldn't be farther from the truth and then spews out her idealized mythos ending with how my thoughts create my reality. I wonder what the millions of people in the world who wake up starving would respond to someone that informs them that their thoughts created their reality. I wonder what the torture victims or the rape survivors or the multitudes living in slums would say to the statement that it was their thoughts that created their reality. I wonder what the many people who find themselves in war zones or the millions of women who live in cultures where they are treated as chattel would say to someone who said it is your thoughts that created your reality."

I've heard these kinds of refutations before. The originator of that thread of concepts was undaunted. She replied – "Yes all the things you listed here are horrible, and we live in a world of duality at the moment that allows these atrocities to happen. But the truth is we have created it all. Not only as an individual consciousness, but also a collective consciousness as well. We are all 100% responsible for what we experience. Whether it is on a conscious level or a subconscious level, we are choosing our experiences through the thoughts and beliefs we have. There are no victims, not really, but that is a lot responsibility for one to accept. It's much easier to blame someone else and point your finger at another person or some situation. As a soul, we choose to experience the whole spectrum from our very dark lives to the very light. How else will we learn?"

I also felt compelled to enter into that fray with – "It is NOT that our thoughts CREATE our reality – reality is what IS evident to the senses, our interpretation of that 'reality' is our own. It is ALL either the co-creative effect of the whole collective of humanity; or something of an origin that goes way beyond any individual human being. Our only 'control' is in how we respond or react to our reality. The examples you give are commonly used by many people to apply 'guilt' to the perspectives of people now enduring the worst that Life is able to 'dish out'. I'm not justifying the bad; but I am saying that regardless, our perspective on 'whatever' is always subjective and individually influenced."

The reality is that the "bad things" used as examples in this exchange ARE created by human beings. An individual may find themselves swept into a situation that they would not have consciously chosen but I agree with the belief that it all serves some purpose, even if we cannot be consciously aware of what that purpose is. There are people I am aware of, with such clear concepts of their own ongoing good, that they believe that nothing "bad" can happen to them and I don't doubt that. There is a reality to the idea of vibrational alignment.

Ernest Holmes notes that – "This is equally true of our faith in God. Since something does react to our faith, there must be something real which can react to it." He goes on to use the biblical example of the strength of Jesus' faith. "Even after Jesus had demonstrated the authority of his faith in God through so many wonderful acts, one of his disciples asked him to show them the Father. He told them again that his words and works were the Father, or else to believe him 'for the very works' sake'." Holmes was able to take at face value all of the miracles ascribed to Jesus, for Holmes had demonstrated to his own self the Principle and its unfailing response. He concludes – "When we make our affirmation in the silence of our own consciousness, we are facing the Divine Reality, dealing with it directly, using Its power consciously."

~ perspective

Through experience I have
proven the reality of my
faith in an indwelling Presence
that actually does respond
to my beliefs and desires.
I do not need other people's
acceptance of my beliefs to
use them for my own self.
I understand that there is a
process which circulates the
matter of this world and creates,
destroys and re-creates
infinitely all that is seen.
By attuning myself to my own
inner guidance, I am able to
mediate the circumstances of
my own life in such a way that
I am able to create a happy
existence.
The only barriers to my self
expression are the obstacles
that I place in my own way
through the beliefs that I
choose to have faith in.

#beliefs #choice #consciousness #creation #duality #faith #individuality #power #reality #victim