If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition;
if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.
Padmasambhava
Publisher's Note:
Welcome to everyone, and especially to new subscribers!
Another serving of mental, spiritual and metaphysical
nourishment for your pleasure. If you have any suggestions
for future content in this newsletter, please send them to:
One of the seeming paradoxes in the metaphysical field is that we
are told that suffering, death, and even the earthly lives we are
living, are all illusion. Yet, they seem real enough. So, isn't
this position just a cop-out? I've pondered this a lot recently
and, in the first article, give you an analogy that may be of
help in understanding this. It certainly helps me a lot.
Contrary to popular belief, an understanding of the metaphysical
is valuable, and arguably indispensable, to being successful in
everyday life. In order to manifest abundance, we must understand
where abundance comes from in the first place. This is the
subject of the second article.
I hope you enjoy the articles this month. As ever, do drop by at
the discussion group to chat about them and share your views.
Regards,
Asoka Selvarajah
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It is often said in spiritual teachings that the world is an
illusion, suffering is unreal, and that Good and Evil are
dualistic fantasies. Doubtless, this is all well and good. Yet,
how do we reconcile this with the fact that all of this seems
very real indeed to the vast majority of us?
As I pondered this one day, an interesting metaphor came to my
mind that might well go some way towards illustrating this...
Imagine a boy playing a computer game (I am using a boy as an
example because it IS mostly boys who play these games.) This is
not just any old computer game. This is one of those huge
"virtual reality" fantasy role-playing environments that have
been created on the internet. In this strange virtual landscape,
our hero wanders around exploring mountains and caves, fighting
dragons and trolls, and meeting and talking to other players.
The latter are, of course, also all costumed up in their
respective roles. Hence, although in real life, our lad may be
still at school or working on a building site, in this world he
can be Sir Galahad, Luke Skywalker (from Star Wars), or anyone
else he chooses. Indeed, he could even take on a female persona,
if he chose to do so.
As our friend plays in this virtual world, we begin to observe a
change occurring. It begins to get a grip on him. He really
begins to "get into it". Now, he's spending hours every night
wandering around in this fantasy. It's so fascinating, and
there's so much to do and see. As we watch, he begins to spend
less and less time away from the computer screen. Finally, it
gets to the point where he is there 24 hours a day. His mum comes
by to give him food and drink, but he gulps them down without
even noticing, so immersed is he in his interactive fantasy.
Now, we may imagine that he begins to develop a moral framework
about this game. When he sees other fantasy characters getting
"killed" in the game, he judges this as wrong and evil, and
grieves over the suffering that they underwent. In a sense, they
DID suffer since they are just as hooked on this fantasy world as
he is. However, in reality, the other players are all just
sitting alive and well in their bedrooms, also glued to their
computer screens. Hence, there was no suffering in actuality;
only to the fantasy character they had identified totally with.
The boy regards his own fantasy body as real, and hence when he
is attacked by another player, he even "suffers" as his "body"
dies in the game. However, nothing has really been destroyed:
only something that never really existed in the first place
outside the virtual realm. We all know he can just reincarnate
right back into the game, and WILL do so, such is his desire to
get back into play. Maybe he lost a few points, or some of the
weapons he gained last time round have disappeared, but he can
just carry right on from where he left off.
Do you see how this relates to the dilemma of the world, of
suffering, and of Good and Evil? We believe in all of these
things so totally because of our total identification with our
physical bodies and the world which we inhabit. It is only
because we identify so completely with the material world, and
believe this is all there is, that we are haunted by all these
notions. Yet, if we could awaken to the fact that reality is far
more than this, and WE are far more than the limited beings we
mistake ourselves for, then our notions will become to us as
absurd as the boy trapped in the game.
A funny thing sometimes happens (extremely rarely) in this game
world. Once in a while, a player "wakes up" to who he/she really
is. She realizes she is NOT the role she has been playing
lifetime after lifetime in the game. Rather, she is a person in a
whole other universe, staring at a computer screen and wrestling
frantically with a joystick.
She also realizes that she is NOT bound by the limited rules of
the game at all. She can simply walk away, and those rules hold
no power over her whatsoever. And she does walk away, never to
return to the illusory trap of that fantasy world again. She
knows now that none of it was real; the fantasy dramas, the wars,
the killing, and all the mental anguish. It was just a game,
although it seemed so real at the time. Although she died a
million painful deaths (or so it seemed at the time), none of it
touched her true essence. She didn't really kill anyone, and
nobody really killed her. It just seemed that way at the time.
To those who remain, it seems as if she just "vanished". Some say
she attained what they call "Nirvana", and ceased to exist. But
that isn't really true: she just found out who she REALLY is, and
disappeared into realms beyond the game that they, still bound to
it, can never conceive or imagine.
Sometimes, such a person chooses to re-enter the game, but this
time remaining fully aware, undeceived by the illusions of the
fantasy world. She does so unselfishly, with the motive of
rescuing others still trapped within the illusion. She tells them
that this world that seems so real is nothing more than an
illusion, that what they perceive as suffering is not real at
all, and that what they perceive to be Good and Evil is likewise
nonsensical, when viewed from a higher perspective.
Most of the players laugh at her. These ideas are so ridiculous.
They ask her to describe this "Enlightenment" she claims to have.
But she cannot, because THEY cannot conceive of anything outside
of the game world in which their senses are totally immersed. So,
because she cannot relate it to the world they know and
understand, they conclude it is extinction or non-existence. Some
of them ask her to give them this enlightenment, by touching them
on the shoulder, or by physically taking them there. But she says
she cannot do that. Each person has to realize it for him or
herself. Each person must awaken from the illusion alone. She
cannot do it for them, although she can show them the quickest
way to do it.
Hopefully, this metaphor will have helped you to gain some
insight into why spiritual teachings say the things they do about
our everyday experience. It can help you to think of this world
as a sort of virtual reality game. In essence, that is what it
is! It would be false to say that it does not exist in ANY sense,
but it IS true to say that it is nothing like the way it seems,
and it is definitely not all that there is. If you can visualize
the physical world as only the very tip of a vast iceberg that
constitutes reality, you will be far less inclined to take it all
so seriously: least of all your "bit part" in it.
Oh, by the way, in the game metaphor, we were assuming that these
were all separate individuals playing the game in different
locations. That is only partly true. You see, at a still higher
level, there is actually only ONE player who is role-playing all
THOSE people sitting at their computer screens, immersed in their
own fantasy world.
But that is a whole other game!...
Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2002. All Rights Reserved.
Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and
spirituality,
and the author of "The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your
Higher
Self". His work helps people achieve their full
potential, deepen their
understanding of mystical truth,
and discover their soul's purpose. Learn more about his work
If you've not already come across Bob Proctor, he's the
success coach who combines the metaphysical with the material!
Actually, he teaches people how to manifest desired results in
their lives by connecting to the Source of all abundance. His
central message is that if you can get a truly crystal-clear
vision in your mind of what you want, and focus upon it regularly
with 100% expectancy, then it MUST manifest in your life. He
should know. Once upon a time, he earned about $4-6,000 a
year. Now, he earns several million dollars EACH year.
The Goal Achiever system teaches you exactly how to achieve
whatever you desire in life; spiritual or material, the ideas are
equally applicable. There is no better, or more complete, goals
program than this one.
I'm always insisting on how important goals are. Well, I have this
program myself and I can assure you it is one of the very best
investments you can make...
In his book, "The Science Of Getting Rich", author Wallace D.
Wattles talks about the Law of Perpetual Transmutation. Simply
put, energy from the formless realm is constantly flowing into
the material world and taking form. This energy is limitless and
inexhaustible. As old forms are exhausted, they give way for new
forms to emerge from the invisible hidden energy of the universe.
The formless energy is amenable to being shaped by our minds, and
is the ultimate source of all wealth. Hence, in a very real
sense, every person in this world is wealthy by birth because
each of us is connected to that source of infinite supply. The
only problem is that almost nobody knows how to tap into it and
bring it into manifestation. Hence, they remain impoverished. It
is not circumstance or upbringing that does it. It is sheer
ignorance of the reality of our own wealth, and how easily we
could tap into it if we just tried.
It is the mind that does this, and not some sort of "business
strategy". Interestingly, most people who want to achieve
anything in the material world tend to focus almost exclusively
upon "method". They try to make the right contacts, study up the
right books, learn the techniques, and so on. This is all very
well, but it is not the only factor in success, or even the
first one.
In any area of endeavor, you will often find two people with
almost identical talent and opportunity. One is a roaring
success; the other is going nowhere. You may see two almost
identical businesses; one is going from strength to strength
whilst the other is almost bankrupt. Why?
The answer lies in how successfully we can tap into the Law of
Perpetual Transmutation, and manifest from the formless according
to our desires. Rather than constantly immersing yourself in the
world of Effects, i.e. the material world, more of your focus
should go into the world of Causes.
The first step to doing this is simply awareness. Being actually
aware that your first priority should be working in the formless
realm will get you a long way towards manifesting what you seek.
Form will manifest from the formless, regardless of you. That is
simply what happens by natural law. Hence, you can simply work
with this process, and accelerate your progress, or try to ignore
the law and experience relatively random results.
Meditating regularly on the Law of Perpetual Transmutation can
help you make it a living belief for you. In a relaxed state,
imagine a vast space above you, the size of the whole sky, and
filled with energy. This is the formless realm; abundant enough
to create ten thousand universes the size of our own, and still
be nowhere near running out. Imagine it pregnant with potential,
constantly giving birth to new forms in the material world. See
this going on continuously, from microscopic to macroscopic, as a
flow from formless to form. See also the forms of our material
world dissolving right back into the formless energy continuum.
Now, place yourself between the flow. See the vast infinite
energy flowing from the formless THROUGH YOU, and manifesting
into form beneath you. It's like a gigantic hourglass. The energy
particles move from the formless, using you as the conduit, and
flow into the material world, changed by YOUR will! Rather than
simply experiencing the effects of the Law of Perpetual
Transmutation, you are bending it to your will. This is the way
it was always intended to be used. In truth, the whole of
creation is intelligent. Nothing happens by chance. This law was
made to be intelligently used.
If you use a meditation like this each and every day, you will
make this law your own, and begin to realize its effects in your
life. It will become a living reality to you, and not merely a
theory.
Yes, material methods are also important and cannot be ignored.
However, doing this ALONE will most probably leave you as
another "also-ran". However, if you combine working in the
formless realm with also working in the conventional way, your
chances of success will be phenomenally increased.
In a very real
sense , you will be "going with the flow"; the flow from the
formless into form through the Law of Perpetual Transmutation.
Copyright Asoka Selvarajah 2002. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Asoka Selvarajah is the author of "The 7 Golden Secrets To
Knowing Your Higher Self". His work helps you achieve your life
dreams through learning practical, effective spiritual and
personal growth strategies. You can learn more at: http://www.higherselfsecrets.com
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