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"Imagine
for a moment your own version of a perfect future. See yourself in that
future with everything you could wish for at this very moment fulfilled.
Now take the memory of that future and bring it here into the present.
Let it influence how you will behave from this moment on."
- Deepak
Chopra, M.D. ...
Co-founder of the Chopra Center, Author
I learned early in work as a
Practitioner that most of us do not understand our relationship to God,
Infinite Mind. God Is Mind, and our mind is part of this Greater
Mind, always. If I am seeing the "cause" of anything
outside of myself, then I am not ready to demonstrate my Good.
These three things I must realize within myself in order to demonstrate
Principle:
1)
Everything that happens to me, happens in my mind ... first.
2) There is no one to forgive.
3) There is nothing outside of me
but that which is within me.
These are strong statements of Principle, but without this
realization, nothing changes in our lives to any great measure.
Let's examine these statements:
1)
Everything that happens to me, happens in my mind ... first.
Thoughts create pictures in our mind, and these "out-picture"
in our physical, mental, and emotional experience. In the ancient
scripture we have clear examples of this: Job stated, "that
which I have greatly feared has come upon me" ... and the Master
Mind Jesus stated, "it is done unto you as you believe" ...
what we believe we think about, and our thoughts create our beliefs ...
and our beliefs create our experiences. This is basic science of
mind ... but let's take it to another level. I HAVE THE POWER TO
THINK MY WAY OUT OF ANYTHING. It doesn't make any difference in
our lives that we know these things if we do not believe that there is a
Power that makes this so. This Power indwells us ... and we can
use It in a powerful way to change everything by changing the
thought-pictures in our mind ... first. But, we must do it ... no
one can do it for us, for no one can "think" for us.
2) There is no one to forgive.
Since All Is Mind, then I must know and realize that all that happens to
me, originates in my mind. This isn't always easy to accept when
we are in the "midst of drama" or pain, or loss. But ...
it is true ... and it is Good. A good example is a woman that I
was counseling recently about the break-up of her relationship.
She was in so much pain, she wrote, because he had treated her so badly
when he left her. She wanted to forgive him and was struggling to
do so. As I opened a dialogue with her to understand her
relationship I found that the man really was not well-suited to her at
all. As a matter of fact, she wanted someone who was successful
and self-reliant, and he was neither. And underneath all the hurt
she was feeling she realized that he was greatly less than her ideal.
Knowing that Spirit always gives us our Good, I knew instantly that this
woman had demonstrated this break-up so that she could pursue her ideal
rather than being bound to someone who was not. We have been
taught to forgive, and for many of us we have struggled with this and it
always points to blame or shame in some form. But, in Truth, what
is there to "forgive" but to "give-up" our feelings
about a thing and then open our mind to the Truth that God Is All and
All Is Good? No one does anything to us but ourselves ... but what
we do is for our Good, always. We must just trust in the Principle
that All Is God and All Is Good ... that the Good for All will always be
made manifest ... no matter what the appearance may be. To see
someone "outside" of us as "cause" is denying
Principle.
3)
There is nothing outside of me but that which is within me.
What I see, is what I think about the "thing" I see. If
I have beliefs of good and evil within me, then I will see good and evil
in my world of experience. This is deep ... but it is our ultimate
Truth. If I am witnessing poverty and illness, then I am
"believing" in poverty and illness. Whatever I am
experiencing, I have "matched" the experience with belief at
some point in my life experience. Most of us intellectually do not
accept "duality" ... but in truth, we have been influenced by
the world's belief in duality to some degree. The Master Mind
Jesus taught that we are to "be in the world, but not of the
world" ... and in doing so, we will no longer believe in duality or
good and evil, only Good. But for most of us, the world's
attachment to duality will surface in our experiences to some degree.
But, the good news is that we can continue to strive to develop a
greater belief in the All Good, and our lives will be better for it.
As we are reminded by these three things, we
can work with the words of the enlightened Deepak Chopra and increase
our capacity for living in a more powerful way. Let's look at his
words one more time: "Imagine
for a moment your own version of a perfect future. See yourself in that
future with everything you could wish for at this very moment fulfilled.
Now take the memory of that future and bring it here into the present.
Let it influence how you will behave from this moment on."
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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