When Paramahansa Yogananda taught people about the nature of the soul and its relationship to the mind and life experiences, he used the example of viewing a movie to illustrate his point. He compared our experience of perception in the world to that of being in an old movie theater where you can see the light shining from the projection booth. The light from the projector is like the soul or the Self, shining forth the light of pure awareness. This light shines through the film with its imprints which then produces what we see on the screen in the “movie of our life.” The images on the film are the patterns in our mind that show up on the screen as our life experience.
Using his metaphor, we can see that criticizing the screen, or even replacing it with a new one, will not produce any change in the movie. Yet this is frequently how people approach change in life—they blame conditions, or other people, and invest a great deal of energy trying to change appearances. But to effect real change, we have to change the film. We must change the cause of the perception we are having. And this is the good news, because we can—by changing the contents of our mind.
People ask me: How can I tell if what I am thinking and feeling about another person is projection? My rule of thumb for the sake of spiritual growth is: it’s always about us to some degree. A good indication that there is some inner work for us to do is when our observation is accompanied by unsettled emotion. And when we can observe that most other people are not having the same experience of another person that we are. Our experience arises out of our own mental equivalent, that’s why it is in our field of perception. It is a representation of the imprints that are in our mind and consciousness.
Noticing that we are blaming, criticizing, or judging others can be an indication that we have lost our conscious contact with God. When this awareness arises, it can be a helpful signal to return to wholeness, to see through conditioned patterns and instead abide in spiritual realization—remembering the underlying truth about ourselves and others as spiritual beings.
It is useful to note that projections aren’t always negative. We may project out our own power, our own goodness, our own beauty, and even our own competency. We may project out our own spirituality. When we place someone on a pedestal, we might consider asking ourselves, “How am I being invited to grow in order to embody that which I am seeing in someone else as my own quality?” We can reclaim what is inherently ours.
To learn more about ourselves, we can practice self-examination and intentionally turn projections around. We can do this whether the projections are positive or negative. I’m not suggesting that we take the criticism or blame or even the adulation we have placed on another and turn it toward ourselves. Rather, I’m suggesting that we can use discernment while abiding in spiritual awareness to see what a projection may reveal about the patterns in our mind or the beliefs we hold. None of this should be confused with the essential self, which is free of any imprints. But what we observe at the level of personality may provide a useful learning. It may be time to let it go of an old idea, or perhaps, embrace a new one.
Think About It: In Zen Buddhist meditation the master tries to teach his pupil how he can forever keep the inner mirror free of dust. To the extent that he lives in complete accord with the rhythm of psychic energy and with its regulator, the Self, he has no projections anymore; he looks at reality without illusion and more or less continuously reads the meaning of all the synchronistic events happening around him. He lives in the creative current or stream of the Self and has himself, indeed, become a part of this stream. –M.L. von Franz
Be Inspired: Mines of power lie unexplored within you. You use this power unconsciously in all things you do, and you achieve certain results; but, if you learn how to consciously control and use the powers within you, you can accomplish much more. –Paramahansa Yogananda
No comments:
Post a Comment