An Astonishing
Association
One day a computer instructor noticed that he had not secured enough
work for the upcoming Christmas/New Year season. Without the income
generated by the work, he would be somewhat hard-pressed to pay his
forthcoming bills. Though he made some effort to secure new work for
this normally slow holiday season, nothing came of it. On the other
hand, life had presented him with the opportunity to learn a new
software technology. Since this was a slow work period, it seemed like
an ideal time to take up these studies. Unfortunately, his heart was not
into it, as his emotions dwelt on the fact that he didn't have enough
work, and that there could be financial problems down the road as a
result. After considering the issue one more time, he had a change of
heart. He realized that his attitude toward the opportunity life
presented him was mistaken. As a result, he decided to take up the work
in full. He then plunged into learning the software application. The
next day he received a call from his agent informing him that the entire
holiday season had been booked with work!
What we experience on the outside is a direct reflection of what we are
inside. I.e. there is a correspondence between our inner psychological
condition -- including our habits, wants, feelings, attitudes, opinions,
and beliefs -- and how the world takes shape outside ourselves. This
would suggest that if we were shift to a more positive psychological
condition inside, life on the outside would instantly respond positively
in kind.
Such sudden response of the outer life to our inner condition can take
shape in two ways – positively or negatively. E.g. just after I decide
that I will no longer allow myself to feel negative feelings towards
another, I am informed that I've been selected to head an exciting and
lucrative new project. Inversely, a moment after I feel an intense
negative emotion towards a fellow worker, I am informed that an
important project I've been working has been cancelled.
From this perspective we see that our normal views of what is logical
and possible, of how cause and effect should relate, of how space and
time should function, are rendered obsolete. Instead, we develop a new
view, a new perception of the true subtle association and relationship
amongst objects and individuals in the universe.
Remarkably, recent developments in quantum physics confirm this view.
Scientific experiments have shown that two particles of matter can
affect one another even though they may be on opposite sides of the
globe. Scientists have conclusively proven that if an electron of a
single atom shifts its spin direction, a second electron of that same
atom hundreds or even thousands of miles away will suddenly begin to
shift its spin! This phenomenon of “non-local connections” is a
physical version of the wider principle of inner-outer correspondence,
which accounts not only for this subtle, nonlocal association of
material objects, but of the power of our emotions, feelings,
attitudes, and decisions to effect objects and individuals at a great
distance. In this way, our old view of causality is replaced with a new
view in which distance is overcome, time is reduced to
instantaneousness, and where the infinite realities of life can rush in
to replace what once seemed a limited and finite possibility.
Still we are compelled to ask: why does this singularity exist? What
aspect of life enables a correspondence between out inner consciousness
and the world around us? The short answer is that everything in the
universe is related in both energy and consciousness. All existence,
seen or unseen, forms a unity of relation, association, and purpose. The
separation that we ordinarily make between our consciousness within and
the world outside ourselves is an illusion, a falsehood that is rooted
in a fundamental Ignorance of our being. However, as we rise in
consciousness, as we move to a deeper poise within, we begin to perceive
the inextricable association between our inner psyche and the condition
of life outside ourselves. We begin to sense there is an essential
oneness and unity behind all existence that determines the relationships
amongst all objects and individuals in creation.
The Web of Life
And yet if everything is inextricably related, there must be some
mechanism that allows for this harmonic association. There must be a
coordinating system that connects individuals and objects to other
specific individuals and objects across space and time.
We can imagine that all individuals, objects, and energies are connected
in an organized pattern across a vast “web” of life. Along this web of
life, corresponding and associated physical, vital, mental, and
spiritual energies interrelate and interact. E.g. when life presses on
me and I make the choice to make a decisive change in my attitude, I set
in motion a force, a vibration, a disturbance, along one or more of the
strands or pathways of this web that I am related to. When that
occurs, related elements or individuals along that particular
strand respond to the incoming force. These associate entities then
formulate their own force and energy in response, which then track back
along that same strand of the web to the related source object or
individual; in this case, myself.
Just as a telecommunication system moves currents of force very quickly,
if not instantaneously, affecting related points on its grid or web, so
to our changes in consciousness (a) engage and amplify
forces and powers of our being that then move out to related elements
along the strands of the grid or web, and (b) attract corresponding
forces and energies back to us, often appearing to us very quickly or
even instantaneously as responses from life. In this ultra-subtle
organized field, time, space, finiteness, and limitation of the possible
are replaced by no-time, spacelessness, and a limitless infinity.
Mira Alfassa, a woman known to her followers as “The Mother”, and a
partner of the Indian sage and seer Sri Aurobindo commented on this
apparent web of life in the early 1970s:
"I have a curious
impression of a kind of web -- a web with ... like very loose threads, I
mean not tightly meshed, connecting all events, and if you have power
over one of these webs, there's a whole field of circumstances that
apparently have nothing to do with each other but which are linked
together there in such a way that one necessarily implies the existence
of the other ... And I have the impression it's something that envelops
the earth.
And it's not mental.
They are circumstances that depend on one another, in a completely
invisible way outwardly, without any mental logic, and yet as though
connected to one another.
If you are conscious,
really conscious of that, that's how you can change circumstances."
Again one wonders why such a web of life would ultimately exist in the
first place. What could account for such a profound organizing
mechanism, with the capacity to channel, coordinate, and associate all
of life’s energies and all of life’s elements and beings across the vast
span of the cosmos?
Our own view is that behind all existence there is a spiritual
element that enables and supports this ultra organized intelligence.
Every part of our being, as well as every aspect, element, object, and
being in the universe contains, and is supported by a hidden spiritual
essence. From out of this essence has emerged a vast subtle
system of organization, reflecting the essential integral Knowledge,
Wisdom, and Consciousness of the spirit.
And this spiritual essence exists in the first place because everything
in creation is based on, is a reflection of the one original and
still-unfolding Spiritual Reality. That Reality and its permeating
spiritual essence is the power behind the profound intelligent system
that binds related objects across a vast subtle web of existence. That
Spiritual Reality and Source, including its expression through a subtle
web of existence, enables the fundamental Oneness by which life on the
outside reflects our inner status and consciousness.
You Can Make Life
Respond
To perceive the principle of inner-outer correspondence, the great web
of life, and the spirit behind it is a powerful vision, but how can we
use this knowledge for practical benefit in our lives?
We can begin by following this simple application of inner-outer
correspondence: whenever, we experience anything negative in our lives,
we should pause and try to relate it back to something wanting in our
being; or even to a false action or movement in our past. If we figure
out what that is, and then reverse it, the current negative circumstance
will suddenly evaporate. Consider the following situations in which this
approach was taken:
-A
woman's child was acting irritable. She then associated the outer
behaviour to a wrong inner attitude on her own part. Without taking any
outer action, the child's behaviour suddenly reversed, as she became
serene and then smiled broadly.
-A
woman working as a temp decided to put a stop to her negative feelings
towards a co-worker. Shortly thereafter she was hired on full time, her
first full time position on over a decade.
Just as negative circumstance moving towards us is reflective of an
inner negative quality, so too positive moving towards us is indicative
of positive inner movements. If we can identify the positive cause
inside ourselves that enabled the positive effect outside ourselves, we
will have gained a great insight and knowledge that we can repeatedly
use for success in the future.
An individual was
astonished that when he went to several stores, each with large parking
lots filled to the hilt with cars, he was able to park in the very
first space in each lot! He later traced his repeated good fortune
back to an earlier change in attitude, when he shifted from
unwillingness to accompany others on this trip to willingness.
From this perspective we begin to look at life in a very different way.
Not only are we able to attract sudden good fortune through higher
consciousness, but we are afforded the opportunity for inner growth and
progress. Life is then filled with freshness, with dynamism, with
energy, as we move from an ordinary existence to a life of adventure and
joy.
Silent Will Power
Another powerful way to see the principle of inner-outer correspondence
in action is by practicing a simple but profound technique that we call
"Silent Will." If instead of expressing your thoughts to another person,
you withhold it and remain silent, shortly thereafter, the other person
will express the very thing you held back. Consider this experience of a
colleague of ours:
A business management
author and consultant was seeking an interview with high officials at a
very large corporation for a book he was writing. However, when he
presented the reasons for meeting the officials, he was rebuffed by the
contact person. The writer then thought of additional arguments to
persuade the contact to allow him to meet with staff members. However,
instead of expressing these thoughts, he remembered the principle of
Silent Will, and withheld their expression. A moment later, the contact
person began expressing the very thoughts that were on the mind of the
author! Even with this encouraging development, the writer still
remained silent. Subsequently, the contact person completely reversed
his point of view to the point where he acknowledged the great benefit
of the writer's undertaking. In the end, not only did the writer secure
the interviews he longed for, but years of fruitful business association
between the author/consultant and that very large corporation followed.
That is the power of Silent Will to move the outer world from within. It
is but one indicator of the infinite capacity of our inner consciousness
to move life outside ourselves. However, we can take it even a step
further. If one knows how to, one can even change the outer without
taking any physical action at all! Consider this powerful tale of
the East:
There was an Indian
saddhu who lived deep within in the spirit. There was also great king
who lived the expected life of great influence, power, and fortune.
There came about an opportunity to build a great temple. The king
marshaled all of his resources to plan the temple. The humble saddhu
moved into the depths of his being where he had often resided, and
imagined what the temple would be like. He told no one. In the period
that followed, the magnificent temple was built; miraculously matching
in detail, structure, and beauty the same vision of the saddhu.
Moving to the Depths
Within (i.e. Concentration)
It is one thing to comprehend inner-outer correspondence as a principle
of life; it is another to consistently live it. What can we do
then to keep it uppermost in our minds, so that when a problem arises,
we are able to first relate the outer to the inner, and then make the
necessary inner adjustment to overcome the obstacle? In other words, how
can we easily recall this approach when we are caught up in the daily
details of life?
We can begin to accomplish this by moving the focus of our consciousness
away from the surface of life, from the bubblings and churnings of the
outer existence, to a deeper poise within. Stationed in this deeper
poise inside ourselves, we are able to shift our consciousness from
preoccupation with the sense data streaming into our minds from the
outside through our five senses, to a clearer and more rational state of
mindfulness. As we move our concentration from the surface to the
depths, not only do we withdraw our consciousness from the bombardment
of surface visual and audible sense inputs to the clear rationality and
logic of thought, but we move away from our ego sense, of our sense of
separateness from others and the environment. As a result, we develop a
wider view; and we are able to embrace the multiplicity and right
relation of life unfolding around us, enabling perceptions of the true
truth of the life before us. This in turn leads us to perceptions of the
possibilities before us, which provides choices, out of which we can
make the right decisions, resulting in actions that end in perfect
success.
Let's take an example. An individual who is living in his surface
consciousness is listening to a conversation that others are having. He
picks up on one point that is particularly striking to him, which is to
make sure that he downloads the latest updates to his virus protection
software. The rest of the crowd responds loudly in agreement. This
information is very helpful. However, had he truly listened to other
aspects of the conversation; had he had the inner wherewithal to sense
the deeper meaning between the words, he would have perceived other
critical issues being addressed; issues so important that it could have
changed the course of his career. If, through meditation, inner
concentration, or other means, he had established that deeper inner
poise, he would have had the mindfulness to perceive issues critical to
his life. Thus, we see that establishing an inner mindfulness enables a
greater fluidity and connectedness between our inner consciousness and
the world outside ourselves.
Consecration: The
Ultimate Power to Move Life
Changing an attitude, taking an action one was reluctant to take,
developing a new skill, and practicing Silent Will are methods of
eliciting a positive response outside ourselves, indicating that the
inner can move the outer. Likewise, moving our center of awareness to
the depths enables a state of mindfulness that allows for dynamic
relation between what is occurring outside ourselves and our perception
of that reality within. Still one wonders if there is an ultimate
power by which we can control the outer reality from within. We believe
there is; it is called “Consecration.”
Consecration is to offer an act, event, or situation to a higher power
for the Divine's sake; to fulfill Its goals and intent. Results
from a consecrated act are often overwhelming positive, even
instantaneous. Compare that to the slow meandering results we get when
we depend on our own skills, talents, and efforts. Moreover,
consecrating an act generates spiritual results, such as
experiences of deep peace, or a harmony and oneness with others and the
environment, or even descents of intuitions of knowledge insight into
our minds. Consider these examples.
-An
instructor's class was going very poorly one morning. He opened to the
Force by consecrated the afternoon session. Thereafter, every
conceivable thing seemed to right in the class. In addition, there was a
palpable peace and richness in the air that could be felt throughout the
remainder of the day.
-A salesperson opened
to the Force before making a sales presentation to a potential customer.
In the past, all efforts at winning over the customer had failed. Again,
even after this consecrated presentation, the customer still would not
budge. However, the salesperson was given a lead that led to an
enormous sale through another customer!
As we change our behaviors, as we move our center of consciousness
within, as we consecrate acts and current problems, we develop a vast
capacity and power over life. Now we are well on our way to becoming the
Master of life.
Self-Analysis
-Think of one or two important problems that are happening in your
life.
Think about and analyze the problem in the light of a corresponding
weakness on your part (attitude, belief, lacking action, wrong action,
etc.). Think about that weaknesses, and consider if it has appeared before
in your life. Now come up with a plan to overcome the weakness in
light of the current difficulty. Then implement the plan quickly and
fully. Watch life respond, even in ways that defy logic, even in areas
that might be outside the initial problem.
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