Humans live in relationship to the world around them. Everything we perceive is something we create relationship with through all our senses. And that relationship is reciprocal, even if we are unaware of reciprocity. Relationship, in its basic form is an energy exchange. We build on that exchange by use of our mind, which creates a pattern for us of what this ‘thing’ we perceive is, can do for us, and how we should interact with it. When we perceive another entity that is consciousness (which consists of many things most people believe to be inanimate, like rocks for instance), that entity perceives us through its own system of awareness. The exchange of energy is mutual.
The hardest ‘thing’ for us to be in relationship with is another human. Human beings add filters to their perception over the course of their life, that skew that perception, and so skew their relationships. These filters come from the things experienced in life. Some of these filers are so deeply woven that they have become our personalities. They create the way in which we experience new events and ‘things’ that we encounter.
If you grew up in a strongly religious household for instance, you would have certain conditioned beliefs about spirituality that act as filters to how you view the world, make relationships, create your values and live in the world.
Every single one of us, no matter the inner work we have done, sees the world through these filters. This is part of the human experience that is inescapable. You could say we are designed this way. What these filters are however, and how we allow them to distort our perceptions and relationships, are things we can work on. We can create healthier, more just, peaceful and loving filters. Our filters can allow others to be who they are, without us being threatened by that. We can choose to see them as different shades and colours in the painting of life, the great canvas painted by the creator. We can see they are part of the same whole as us, and choose to learn from them, love them and accept them without judgement. Without them the painting would be flat and boring. Something would be missing.
In turn this shifts our vibration, and we start to perceive more of the colours around us that harmonize rather than clash with our energy. Even within those we judged, we find where we come together. As we perceive others differently the energy we project onto them, becomes part of who they are, and helps them to work at improving their own filters, or, if the energy we project is negative, it helps them to build filters around being unlovable, judged, not accepted for who they are. All filters have a purpose. They are built by the mind to protect us.
See if this analogy helps. If you lived thousands of years ago, in a cave, the front of the cave would be the brightest and lightest. Here the colours of all you perceived would be true. The scents and tastes would be perceived as they were intended by whatever created those scents and tastes. But then you scent a sabre tooth tiger, and you retreat a little way back into the cave to protect yourself. Now the colours are diminished, and some of the scents don’t reach you. Your perception of your surroundings has changed.
Fearing the tiger might still know you are there; you retreat even further back. Now the outside work is jaded. You begin to imagine other things out there, hear noises that the mind creates to keep you in the back of the cave where it is safer, and you won’t be seen. You stay there for three weeks, eating food that now tastes different to how it should do, but becoming used to the differences. After three weeks you grab your club and your courage and creep to the front of the cave. It is so bright outside! You cower because all your senses are overwhelmed with the intensity of life without the protection of the cave. Now you have chance to make a decision. Do you venture into more of this light? It will take every ounce of courage you have to do it. Your mind will be screaming all the dangers at you. Your body may well begin to shake. Your mind will tell you to listen to your body. That world is unsafe. You will be vulnerable to attack; your life depends on the cave. You will be too exposed. If you retreat into the cave, you can venture out under the cover of darkness, into a muted world, grab what you need, then retreat once more.
Do you keep your filters, or do you choose to be vulnerable and experience a different world?
Of course, we constantly create new filters when we ditch the old ones. But we can choose if they are dark sunglasses, that give us a distorted view of the colours of the world, or clear lenses that allow us to experience love and beauty.
There is a part of our mind, the mammal in us, that keeps us stuck in the protection mode that our ancestors used to survive. As we have evolved, this part has remained strong.
We are not just a mammal. We are a soul using this body as a vessel to experience the physical world in ways that only a flesh and blood body can. This mammal and Soul in unison is called HUMAN. As we evolve, we have greater capacity to allow the Soul to fully embody the mammal, to become FULLY HUMAN. Think of this as a puppeteer versus an actor. A puppeteer is creating the role from outside of the puppet. An actor embodies the role to tell the story. We are evolving into actors, by allowing the Soul in. The more a Soul can embody a body, the more enlightened a person can become.
But the dark filters don’t just protect us externally, they also ‘protect’ us internally. They don’t allow us to trust in new perceptions, or those nudges of intuition. They don’t allow us to be who we are, because we would become highly vulnerable, and that would hurt. That experience was hijacked in childhood, and the protection around it is thick and almost impenetrable. And the more these filters stay put, the more the Soul acts as puppeteer, and not actor.
It takes courage to defy the mammalian mind and become aware of the filters. It takes even more courage to begin to break the habit of being yourself by removing these filters. But the effort is worth it. And the more you tiptoe out to the front of the cave, just for a peek at the world of colour and light outside, the more you realise that the threat is far less than you imagined. Each day you will strengthen muscles as you venture further. You will become stronger in creating boundaries organically, rather than thick stone walls. These boundaries may even blossom into flowering hedges that smell divine! Others may wish to investigate these boundaries because they bring them so much pleasure to be near. And gradually you will create gaps for some of those people to step through into your beautiful world. They will be scared at first, because the beauty is overwhelming, just as you were when you stepped to the front of the cave for the first time in three weeks. You will support them with love and understanding because you remember the journey. One will become two, then three, then four. Your world will expand outwards and each person you help will become part of your energetic network. Each of them will begin their own network, and bit by bit the world will become full of Souls experiencing through the filters of delight, love and abundance.
Gradually, over many years, the mammalian brain will cease to function. The Earth and the human’s living with her will be very different. They will live in full appreciation and understanding of reciprocity. And they will discover with far more attuned senses, new colours, scents, sounds, sights and feelings on a spectrum we cannot yet imagine.
We are here as part of this evolution. It is an evolution that begins in awareness. It is our responsibility to nurture our awareness, beyond the mind, to evaluate our filters that create our perceptions, and gradually remove them. It is our responsibility to allow our true self to get off all fours, to stop crouching in fear, to stand tall and walk, embodied by Soul, eager to experience life in all its varied forms.
I can share with you, that the world is a beautiful place. It is full of love. Even where fear lurks, love and beauty can be found, perceived, added to and expanded on. Have you begun your journey yet? Or are you crouching at the back of the cave, wondering when it will be safe to come out, if ever?
I hold out my hand to you. I send you courage. I will be your light that guides you home. You only have to say yes.
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