Projection

 “I have given everything I see… all the meaning it has for me”

A Course in Miracles. (Lesson 2).

Lotus by Simon

One of our guiding principles at Light Tree is that elements of Truth can be found among most spiritual traditions and modern thought systems. It is helpful when a principle repeats itself across a variety of traditions; this usually reveals an aspect of universal truth that is worth paying attention to.

For example, Buddhism, modern psychology and A Course in Miracles discuss the idea that humans tend to project seeming unpleasant thoughts outward on to others. Projection appears to be a common way in which aspects of our mind can be viewed when we look at people and places that seem to be apart from us.

If we are sincere about self exploration, the easiest way to see what is going on within our mind is to notice what is being projected outward onto the screen we see all around us. The projections are merely neutral, but we create our own meaning based on our past experience. They serve to show us the places that are yet to be healed from guilt and fear.

Many of our projections seem to revolve around ideas of guilt and unworthiness. When we perceive any kind of scarcity or ugliness outside ourselves we can be pretty sure it’s our own mind showing us places of fear. We often judge and label others when all we are seeing are aspects of ourselves that are crying out for acceptance.

This is why it is important to dwell in equanimity and forgive ourselves for believing in the illusions we have created. We may have believed that fear keeps us safe in some way, but in reality it is only by bringing gentle awareness to these frightened parts of ourselves that we can find real peace.

The key word is gentle. Our terrified inner self will only relax and open to healing if it does not feel rushed or threatened. Anger and threat of punishment only make it hide or lash out in defensiveness.

If we are ruthless at all, it is in our determination to see what is true and apply all our resources to send love to that frozen part. When we start to thaw these aspects of ourselves that seem cut off from the rest, we find the deep peace that is part of our wholeness. We know ourselves to be worthy and invulnerable when we hold our projections with ‘utmost gentle affection’ and are willing to see ourselves in a new light.  

Love Without Conditions

“When you establish conditions on love, you experience the conditions, not the love”

From Everyday Wisdom by Paul Ferrini

Esquimalt 2013

This week at Light Tree we looked deeply and noticed that we had surrounded ourselves by a fortress of things we believed made us safe or comfortable in some way. While this may be helpful in the short term, it does not help us to undo our dependence on external objects to make us feel happy and secure.

We became aware that our relationship to these ‘good things’ such as special food, clothing, people, animals, cars etc. are all ways we think we keep ourselves safe. While we believed that we were embracing life as fully as possible, in reality we were making sure we were doing it from a place of familiarity and safety. This kind of thinking comes from the ‘little me’ or ego self which is limited in perception and feels utterly powerless, despite its efforts to appear tough and in control.

This is why it is important to keep the practice of resting in the peace of our True Nature at the forefront of our endeavour to find real happiness. We cannot pick and choose only the good bits. This only leads to an endless cycle of desire and disappointment. We can only move through life loving and blessing everything that comes into our awareness while forgiving ourselves for believing that the seemingly undesirable has any real power to hurt us.

We are learning to live life without conditions. When start to notice that we only want something for what fleeting happiness it might bring us we can simply sit back and be curious. What seems to be charming me into believing it has special powers, when in fact it has no real ability to bring lasting happiness and peace?

We don’t need to feel guilty when we are fooled, once again, into riding the merry-go-round of desire and disappointment. It’s only another opportunity to heal a confused part of our mind. We don’t have to engage with it, or try to tweak it somehow. We simply notice and let it go with compassion and forgiveness.

This is the power of resting in our creator, however we might perceive them. When we remember that we are part of a cosmic whole that supports and sustains each breath, we do not need to love with a vast range of conditions and preferences.

Its all ok, nothing is missing that needs our ‘little me’ to try and fix or improve it in some way. We can surrender to what feels true in our hearts and let go of the rest. We are unconcerned about outcomes because we know it’s handled by something wiser and greater. What a relief!

We can relax and be at peace, anywhere, anytime. No conditions required.

Don't believe everything you think!

“The mind has an experience, and we translate it into an image. There is a deeper sense of something that’s happening, but the mind can only experience it in terms of thoughts and images”.

Gabor Maté  (When the body says No, 2004)

Melanie 2012

As a person living with chronic illness I have noticed that it is tempting to let the mind follow the body’s symptoms and make up stories about what is happening, or what may happen in the future. It likes to be dramatic at times and I am reminded of the bumper sticker that says, “You don’t have to believe everything you think”.

If we can just sit and witness our minds frantic attempts to make sense of its perceptions, it’s easier to touch into the deeper knowing that lies beneath the discomfort. It’s tempting to get hooked by the drama of the story, but most of the time it is only thoughts and images trying to get our attention to a deeper layer of meaning.

If we are able to remember that we are spiritual beings having a human experience it’s easier to come back to center and get back in touch with our true nature. Perhaps we can hang out with the panicking part and hold it in our mind with love, just as if we are comforting a small child. Sometimes we need to call on someone else to assist us because we feel too overwhelmed to cope.

When I am consumed by fear and dread it’s a sure sign I think I am cut off from my source. I cannot hear, see or feel clearly. The doorway to my inner guidance seems closed and I feel alone and scared.

This is when I am grateful to my regular meditation practice. It makes it much easier to come back to center and not run around outside of myself looking for answers. When I do this, my worst fears are more easily confirmed because I invite others to join my fear experience in order to confirm it and make it appear even more real.

Instead, I can sit with my own dear Self and be curious about what wants to happen. I use my felt sense to dive a bit deeper down and ask Spirit to guide me, teach me, show me.

In this way infinite possibilities are available to me and I am more likely to see the situation differently. I don’t paper it over by having a ‘positive attitude’ but look honestly and with trust that I will be shown what I need to know. I don’t have to rush off and fix anything because it will reveal itself when I am ready. I am deepening my awareness that I there is much more to me than just a body.

Perhaps it has been trying to remind me about this all along….

Equanimity

"The traditional image for equanimity is a banquet to which everyone is invited. That means that everyone and everything, without exception, is on the guest list. Consider your worst enemy. Consider someone who would do you harm. Imagine inviting them to this feast.

Training in equanimity is learning to open the door to all, welcoming all beings, inviting life to come visit. Of course, as certain guests arrive, we’ll feel fear and aversion. We allow ourselves to open the door just a crack if that’s all that we can presently do, and we allow ourselves to shut the door when necessary.  

Cultivating equanimity is a work in progress. We aspire to spend our lives training in the loving-kindness and courage that it takes to receive whatever appears—sickness, health, poverty, wealth, sorrow, and joy. We welcome and get to know them all."

Pema Chodron (The Places That Scare You) www.shambala.com

Welcome to 2013! As we suspected, the world did not disappear along with the end of the Mayan Calendar. However, at Light Tree it does seem as though a new era has arrived. As we have been collectively clearing away some of the heaviness there seems to be a new clarity emerging. We want more transparency, accountability, truthfulness. We don’t want to participate in the BS anymore because it just keeps the story spinning even longer.

One of our practices has been the acceptance, blessing and transformation of things we have have held in judgment. Pema Chodron might call this dwelling in equanimity. We simply take what appears on the screen of our awareness and view it with benign curiosity. We witness. We 'feel into it' to find out what might still linger there for us, waiting to be healed.

It has been helpful to join regularly to share how we are doing with this process. It can seem difficult sometimes, especially when we feel stuck or triggered by something that seems unjust. Perceiving others as left out of society, physically violated, or impoverished can be viewed as our inner self crying out for some kind of recognition. For us, joining and asking Spirit to show us another way to see the situation is essential. We want to see with new eyes…

We don’t have to do it all at once. We can go at our own pace. Sometimes the images seem terrifying and overwhelming. Instead of turning away, we can practice hanging out with them a while. After a while, the boogie man isn’t nearly as powerful or scary; we notice how he is simply a reflection of our inner world waiting to be transformed.

Unity Consciousness

Sometimes words get so confusing. You just have to toss them away and get quiet.

It doesn't matter what you call it when you get quiet. Call it being. Call it witnessing. Call it time-out.

The idea is to sink down beneath the layer of mind that wants to define everything and know what to expect from life before it happens.

Unity consciousness is not dualistic or exclusive. In unity consciousness, black and white are mutually valid assumptions, and there are infinite shades of gray.

People ask for a step by step approach to unity consciousness, but all you can give them is step one: get quiet.

Turn your attention inward. Breathe and be. The rest will take care of itself.

Paul Ferrini 2012

As the year draws to a close we have been reflecting upon how we have deepened our awareness in the last 12 months. There have been many events that have challenged us to stay present with unconditional love in every moment.

These are exciting times because we are given many opportunities to practice. Many teachers have come into the mainstream to give us tools and techniques that are both helpful and easy to use. Ancient wisdom has become accessible at the touch of a button and we are able to share our ideas and experiences as never before.

Christine offers once again this illustration of how we can rejoin with our Greater Knowing. It can be helpful to hold this image in our minds and breathe it into reality whenever we are tempted to forget the truth of who we are and join with fear and guilt.  

Thank you for joining us on our journey back to our Selves.

Facing Pain

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

 

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

…Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within heals your sick self.

Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen.”

Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet, 1923).

 

Melanie 2012

 

As the year draws to a close, Light Tree has been reflecting upon the nature of the challenges that have arisen in our collective lives recently. Like many of you, we have felt deeply into the discomfort that arises from participation in daily life. It is clear that In order to deepen our experience of love, we inevitably feel pain too.

We have found that the way to transcend pain, (fear, guilt or anger) is to turn and face it squarely. As long as we turn away from our unseen hurts, the healing power within them remains evasive. Self pity often serves as a distraction to the unfolding of this process.

Instead, we must approach them with equanimity, neither avoiding nor clinging to their seeming selves. Yes, this takes real courage and sometimes we are gripped by confusion, but if we stand firm and keep affirming our innocence, it’s surprising how quickly we can move through it.

If we can hold an attitude of love and gratitude in our hearts while affirming that we forgive ourselves for buying into an illusion, we make room for the miracle to occur.

Deep down, if we are committed to remembering our true nature the dross of unreality falls away and we intuitively know what to do. The hand of the Unseen guides our actions and we are amused when we view the dramatic comedy that we have created to render our unhealed parts visible.

     

 

 

  

Awareness

Beneath the judgment layer of the mind
is the witness who sees what is going on
without judging it.

The witness neither resists thoughts
nor identifies with them,
but simply observes them as they come and go.

When we get quiet, we become the witness.
Thoughts come and go, but we know
that we are not those thoughts.

We rest in something larger than thought,
You can call it awareness.
You can call it silence.

It is the place from which thoughts spring
and to which they return.

There, mind is clear, like the surface of a lake
when there is no wind.
There, mind is at peace. 

Paul Ferrini 

 

Melanie 2012

 

At Light Tree we have been sharing ways that we stay with awareness, especially when the world calls us to anger and judgement over situations that appear to be unfair. Certainly there are no shortages of opportunities to practice! 

We have come to see that it is futile to keep joining the victim-hood merry-go-round to keep the story going. The sooner we recognize what is happening and move on the better. Why keep mucking around in the pain for longer than we have to? Yes, we may need to feel the bodily sensations as fully as we can, but then we move on.

When this happens and we begin to turn our confusion and misunderstanding over to Spirit there is not always the immediate relief that we might hope for. But if we stay with our forgiveness practice we join the flow of life and choose not to join with the obstacles that appear on our screen.

 

We keep choosing love over and over until we suddenly realize there has been a shift. Just when we least expect it healing occurs and we have crossed the stream that seemed as if it was blocking the way. We laugh when we realize that we had almost convinced ourselves that we will drown this time for sure.

Nope, just another bad dream that seemed real at the time. We have become the witness and are not a victim of the world we see….What a relief.