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Reality Design Series # 9 by Flemming Funch, 14 August 1992
Universes
People get stuck in realities mostly because universes get mixed up.
We could say that there are two kinds of universes, at least. There is your inner universe, and there is an outer universe.
In your own inner universe, that we sometimes call your mind, you can in principle create whatever you want. You are completely in charge there, completely at cause. You might not quite realize it, and you might need a little exercise, but you ARE completely at cause there. You don't need anybody's permission, you don't need any external conditions to be in place in order to be cause in your own universe. The inner universe is the primary playground for reality design.
The external universe, the physical universe, is a different matter. It isn't your universe and you aren't directly cause in it. You can make things happen in it, but it is always done indirectly by invoking the forces that are cause in that universe. In the final evaluation the physical universe is probably created in a very similar fashion as your inner universe, as a piece of reality design, and some form of "You" is the source of it. However, it is created from different perceptual positions than what you are currently occupying, it is very complex, and it is shared by a great many beings.
The trouble is that the outer universe kind of looks and feels like the universe one expects to be cause in. Beings instinctly expect that they are full cause, and they continuously get surprised when it is demonstrated that they aren't. People instinctly "know" that they are creating the whole universe around them. That is not completely wrong. However, they aren't creating it from the position they are currently consciously occupying. What they ARE creating from that position is their own internal universe, their world of imagination.
If you walk around thinking that you ought to be in charge when as a matter of fact you aren't, then certain phenomena are likely to develop. Particularly when things at one point or another aren't going your way in the outer reality. If something drastic happens that you didn't want to happen, then you are likely to assert your cause in an aberrated way, by creating facsimiles.
For example, your puppy gets run over by a truck in the outer universe. You didn't want that to happen and sub-consciously you "know" that you were supposed to be cause. You make an inner facsimile of the outer events, and you pretend that it is the real thing. You then make the facsimile disappear, or you add something to it that somehow makes it allright. For example, you might add the false datum that you "didn't like dogs anyway", which makes the event bearable.
In other words, when you fail to change outer reality, you change inner reality and pretend that it is in fact outer reality. That keeps you afloat to some extent, but it isn't very healthy.
Twisted inner representations of outer realities would tend to trip you up later on. If you respond to them as to actual outer realities, then you would tend to do the wrong things externally, and you would get into more trouble.
The thing is, the outer universe will tend to accommodate what you focus on in your inner universe. That is, if you really want something is the outer universe, the best way is to make it really intense in your inner universe, and act according to that, and the environment would tend to supply what you want. That is, you get what you want in the outer universe by attraction to what you emphasize in your inner universe. And you are total cause in your inner universe.
In other words, you create your own reality. In your inner world, you can create it directly, by simply designing what you want. Based on what you design in your inner world, you would attract circumstances in the outer world that will approximate them. So, direct creation internally, indirect attraction externally.
To live happily, it is crucial to make the distinction between the two kinds of universes: the ones where you ARE the central source, and the ones where you are operating sub-ordinately to the controlling forces.
If you are in charge of your own universe, then you might just as well find out how to do it better. How to create more of what you want, how to create new things, how to change what you don't want, how to make more vibrant realities, and so forth. You might also want to locate all the contexts where you erroneously concluded that you weren't cause in your own universe, and change them back to being cause.
As far as the outer universe is concerned, if you aren't the direct cause anyway, you might just as well enjoy the ride, no matter what happens. Learn to flow with the circumstances and allow things to happen. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't find out how to improve things, or that you should be passive, just don't try to insist that you are in full control when you aren't. If good things happen, be appreciative that they do. If bad things happen, be sure to learn from them. What happens is what happens, get the best out of it.
The inner universe is the real you. The outer universe is a playing field you can explore and play on. The outer universe is rigged to provide you with experiences that approximate your internal makeup, conscious as well as sub-conscious. You don't really have to be in the outer universe if you don't want to, you are just there to have fun and learn.
The outer universe could be regarded as an ocean with waves and currents. You can surf over the surface and based on your internal reality you will pick different waves and currents to follow. Go wherever they take you. If you want to go somewhere else, change your thoughts. All the experiences are already there on the ocean, you don't need to create them. You just need to create the idea of where you want to go, and the currents will take you there.
Keep in your own universe only what you want there. Realize that it is completely your own and you are in charge.
Let the physical universe be what it is, let it flow the way it flows. Realize that no matter what happens, it isn't you and you don't have to worry about it.
Keep in your mind what you want and you will flow towards it. What you want is in the future, what happened is in the past. What you want is in your mind, and the results are in the outside world. Keep these ideas separate and life will be easy.
Reality Design Series # 10 by Flemming Funch, 15 August 1992
Heightening Understanding
Whenever there is something you have somewhat of an understanding of, it is an opportunity to understand more fully.
For example, if you think you understand something, but it is a somewhat theoretical understanding that you aren't necessarily applying instinctively. It means that there is something to heighten and explore about your understanding so it can become more real and integrated.
A full understanding would be an automatic instinct. You would just DO the right thing because it feels right, and you would also know why and how.
It sort of goes through these steps:
Sub-conscious lack of understanding - you don't know that you don't understand.
Conscious lack of understanding - you know that you don't understand.
Conscious dissociated understanding - you can explore and discuss your understanding.
Sub-conscious associated understanding - you can act on your understanding.
Conscious and sub-conscious associated understanding - you act and you know why.
If you are at the point of knowing the elements of some understanding or skill, but they aren't quite integrated yet, then the thing to do is to heighten and explore your understanding until it becomes integrated.
A way of doing that is to use it and keep using it and handling it until something clicks and it becomes really simple and doable in present time without having to think about it.
One way of exploring it is to make models until it becomes totally real. You can for example make clay models of concepts until they transform from theory into practice. Or drawings, or exercises, or you can write about it, or talk about it, or act it out.
Theoretical understanding is inadequate. Practical understanding and applied understanding is the thing to strive for.
The things you already sort of know, but that you don't yet quite apply should be the things to start with. They are the closest to fruition.
For example, if you believe in the theory that you attract in the physical universe what you keep in your mind, but it isn't quite happening for you, then you can explore and heighten that understanding. You can make it more practical by making models of it, or doing experiments of it, or just doing it and noticing what happens. Sooner or later it will be come a practical understanding rather than a theoretical one.
Reality Design Series # 11 by Flemming Funch, 15 August 1992
The Ocean of Possibilities
You are floating in an infinite ocean of possibilities. Anything and everything that you can think of is happening somewhere in the ocean. It will happen whether you are there or not.
The ocean has waves and currents. Wherever the currents take you there will be events to experience. The events will be provided for you by immense forces beyond your immediate comprehension and control.
If you don't know where to go you will still go somewhere. If you don't care where you go then just hang on and your path will develop a meaning in itself that you can study.
If there are places you want to go, then the ocean is at your complete service. It will take you wherever you need to go, and it will provide suitable experiences for you. However, it is a requirement that you must let the streams take you, you cannot control the ocean.
You tell the ocean where you want to go by providing a blueprint. The streams will move you towards the location best approximating your blueprint. The more complete and the more intense your blueprint the better the ocean will accommodate you.
You won't get to your destination right away, you need to be carried by the currents for a while. If you change your blueprint in the meantime you will then be taken somewhere else.
It is not the destinations that matter, but the journeys. Experience the scenery, enjoy it and learn from it.
You can ask for whatever you want without limitation. If you ask for things you don't want you are still likely to get them. If your blueprint is inconsistent you will get inconsistent experiences.
You are in full control of your own blueprint. You can put anything in it that you desire. Designing blueprints can be an end and a satisfaction in itself. However, if you want to get matching experiences on the ocean you must follow along with its currents. You are not in control of anything in the ocean.
Other travelers design blueprints too. The universe will carry everyone along the currents that best approximates their blueprints. Everyone can therefore interact with others with similar plans.
What you get from the universe that you don't get from your blueprints is the unexpected surprises and wonderment that develops from being carried along in ways you didn't know in advance. The excitement and discovery that is available makes it worth existing in an ocean that you don't control.
Don't let the ocean control your blueprints, it really has no control over them. Make up your own mind on what you want. You can imagine anything you choose. In exchange, don't try to control the ocean. Trust that it will accommodate your desires, but don't try to force it.
The ocean and your blueprints might appear similar. However, always know which one is which. You are a master in designing blueprints and a master surfer, but you would perform poorly as an ocean. Similarly the ocean would perform poorly as your personal drawing board. It has to accommodate zillions of wishes, so it wouldn't allow you to just rearrange things arbitrarily.
Let the ocean do its job and trust that it will. The ocean is made out of unlimited love, it will have no judgment about what you desire.
Remember that the ocean is serving others too. They might have desires that would be contrary to yours and the ocean will accommodate them. But remember that as long as you know what you want you can't be harmed. You can only be harmed if you attract yourself to a stream that leads to harm.
Let your guidance come from within, not from the paths you observe others following in the ocean. There is room for everyone, you don't have to feel obliged to agree.
As long as you can imagine by yourself and as long as you are willing to travel you will remain free. If you start imagining yourself being stuck you will be. All you need to do to remedy that is to imagine something else that you will rather have.
You will be exposed to experiences that will confuse you. But remember that you don't have to understand the ocean or the experiences it supplies you with. Nothing is lost if you don't. Be willing to let whatever happens happen and just let it go.
Your imagination and your blueprints is your own territory. You don't have to accept any inconsistencies or confusions there. What you want is what you want. You don't need to explain or justify anything, just be clear about what you want.
So, wish for a course but don't worry about if you get there. Enjoy the ride wherever it goes. Don't ever take anything seriously. If you want to go somewhere else, then wish to go there. Never look back with regret, what you experienced is what your experienced. Dream of what you want, without ever being obliged to dream of what you don't want.
Keep these things in mind and you can go wherever you want and get whatever you want.
Basics Essay # 1 by Flemming Funch, 19 August 1992
Spheres of Activity
We can divide life into a series of wider and wider spheres of activity. That makes it easier to discuss many things in that there is a frame of reference one can place them in. And also, when one has given something a name it tends to become easier to notice it and to think with it.
We are free to use any imaginable categorization and any number of categories. This model presented here is just one of the possible representations, albeit it is a very useful one.
Here are the eight spheres of life, presented going from a narrow to a wide scope:
| Sphere 1: | An individual. You as one human being. Whatever else is part of your personal, individual existence. The perspective from which you usually experience life. |
| Sphere 2: | Interaction between individuals. You cooperating with somebody else. The temporary or ongoing relationship you have with another human being, and the activities you might share. |
| Sphere 3: | Group activity. Work projects or games that you are partaking in. Organization with a common purpose. |
| Sphere 4: | Mankind. Global activities and issues relating to the common state of the species as a whole. A planetary population and its management. |
| Sphere 5: | All living creatures including plants, animals, and humans. Issues relating to the activities and well-being of any species of life. |
| Sphere 6: | The whole physical universe and everything in it. Matter, energy, space and time. |
| Sphere 7: | The universe of spiritual expression and ideas. You as a spiritual being and all spiritual beings. |
| Sphere 8: | All-that-is. Infinity. The totality of all possibilities. |
One way of visualizing these categorizations is as concentric circles or spheres. You can encompass a bigger and bigger chunk of life. Each sphere includes the spheres before it and then some. So, it is not a matter of either or, but rather of how big a scope of attention do you want. You don't have to choose between favoring your personal life (S1) or your business activities (S3). If you structure them as concentric spheres, so that your personal life is a natural part of your business activities, and so your business is a natural extension of your personal interests, then things will be much more harmonic.
Each sphere is a unit one can think and operate AS. That is, you can regard these spheres as bigger and bigger manifestations of yourself.
You can regard yourself as just one person (S1) without any need to take anybody else or any bigger perspectives into consideration. You might personally be doing very well, but others might regard you as somewhat self-centered and egotistical.
If you take responsibility for specific other individuals also (S2), then you sort of expand your size to include them. To some degree you encompass their actions and responses as your own. The strongest example of this is between parents and their children. A mother will protect her child as herself, and will attempt to keep the whole family happy and content. But any other situation where one person aims for mutual well-being when dealing when somebody else is also under sphere 2. It includes the intention to create a win-win situation when dealing with somebody else.
Expanding to a whole group activity or game, Sphere 3, one can also regard that as a unit. In a group sport, one member of the team might do the actions that he deems is best for the overall team. He might disregard what would make him look better or worse than the other players and just do what would work best for all of them. Incidentally, if the team wins, he wins too, so his sphere 1 is included. Likewise, the most successful companies in the business world are the ones that engage its employees to be responsible for the overall well-being of the company. Companies where most of the employees are just concerned about looking good and getting away with as little work as possible, will do less well.
One can as well have a global frame of mind, encompassing Sphere 4. One would take responsibility for not only oneself, one's immediate relations, and one's business, one would also include the continued well-being of the whole human species. One would aim for doing things that would benefit mankind. For example, one would be likely to be involved in a business that helps the overall scene, rather than one with a short term gain at the expense of other groups and at the expense of future generations.
Going out further, one might encompass not just humanity, but all life forms, Sphere 5. This could be called the Ecosphere. In one's actions one would also be responsible for the effects on the overall ecology of life on the planet. One would try to establish a win-win situation for all species of animals and plants, so that they can live together in harmony.
A bigger perspective yet is to take responsibility for the well-being of physical space, matter and energy, Sphere 6. That might be more difficult to comprehend. There are certain natural cycles and phenomena in the universe. The universe is organized as a playground for the games we might wish to play here. It is wise to operate so that the natural order of things will keep it being a fun place. For example, misuse of atomic energy or carelessness about allocation of resources are ways of NOT being responsible for Sphere 6.
You can also encompass all ideas and spiritual manifestations, Sphere 7. You can regard this as the higher level blueprints that form the physical reality into existence. By allowing different ideas to exist and by acting to ensure the overall well-being of all viewpoints and ideas, one can be responsible for the 7th Sphere.
Finally, you can take anything and everything into consideration, all viewpoints, all possibilities, and you can assume full possibility for creating an overall win-win situation for the mutual good of all-that-is. This is Sphere 8, and that necessarily gives you the responsibilities of God.
You can say that any of these spheres really ARE you. As a matter of fact you become more the real YOU as you expand to encompass the higher spheres. Sphere 8 is much more your real self than sphere 1 is. That might sound kind of far-fetched at first, but think about the potentials and possibilities it opens up for you.
One can focus one's attention on any or all of these spheres. It is quite common to focus on just one of them and to experience things from there. The most common focus for humans is probably Sphere 1, but 2, 3, 4, and 5 are quite common also. Focusing on one sphere doesn't necessarily mean that you have encompassed the ones below it. As a matter of fact, it is common to see imbalances where a person attempts to focus on just one sphere to the exclusion and detriment of the other ones. Somebody might take great care of animals (5) but not care about other people (2,3,4). Or someone might be very helpful in taking care of the needs of others (2) but will not take care of themselves (1).
The most harmonic situation is to have the spheres be inside one another, aligned with each other. If you try to make them separate, mutually exclusive entities there will necessarily be friction. You would basically create opposition within yourself. You don't really have to. You can have a harmony between the spheres by having them aligned. You can satisfy your personal needs, at the same time that you are getting along with and helping others, while you are having success in business ventures, that benefit mankind as a whole, while taking our overall environment and all living creatures into consideration, and you can do this in an atmosphere of openness to different viewpoints and ideas, and that will give you a very harmonious relation to all of existence. So, you see, it really all has to do with you. What is better for higher spheres will be better for lower ones, if they are aligned.
The higher numbered spheres aren't just bigger, they also imply more power and more willingness to cause bigger and bigger effects. Someone totally focused on S1 might create a small but pleasant life for themselves by giving up on taking responsibility for anyone else. However, that would necessarily put you at the receiving end of everything else that is going on. You are dependent on that other people take care of your surroundings so that there will be food to eat, and somebody will help you if you get in trouble.
Somebody who can act in a coordinated manner with somebody else can accomplish much more. Together they can have a bigger effect of the surroundings. If they were then also part of a group working of worthwhile purposes, and you were willing and able to encompass that group as a member of manager, then you would have even more power and could do more good things. If you can think and act globally you wouldn't leave anything about mankind up to chance. Stepping up from there you would again increase your sphere of influence, awareness, and responsibility. You could encompass all of life, the physical reality, be flexible enough to deal with any idea and viewpoint, and finally all-that-is. This necessarily leads us to the Source of whatever you might experience in life, the forces that make it all happen. The more you encompass and become responsible for those forces, the more you can create the reality you want.
We could also look at the spheres from above. Out of the infinite sea of possibilities (8) we crystallize certain ideas and viewpoints (7). Based on those ideas and viewpoints a physical reality (6) is created. In it certain combinations of elements are organized into life forms (5). Out of those life forms there will be a number of units of the same type forming a species (4). Members of the species focus on certain activities and form groups (3). As part of their activities the individual life units relate closely to each other (2). The results of all of this is experienced from a single focal point (1).
The Spheres of Life are a very useful tool in relating to life. They provide a frame of reference of any desired magnitude, making it easier to discuss the scope and consequences of decisions actions. They provide a guideline for ethical behavior. If you are at a crossroad, the path that provides the greatest benefits for the greatest number of spheres in the most balanced way, would be the path you would be wisest to choose.
Basics Essay # 2 by Flemming Funch, 21 August 1992
Games
Imagine that you are all-knowing and all-powerful. Whatever you wanted to happen would happen instantly the moment you thought it. There is nothing new to do or learn because you already know about it. Now, what would you do for entertainment?
It would rather quickly get boring to know everything and to be all-powerful. There is really no challenge in it, no surprises, no joy of learning new things, no satisfaction in overcoming obstacles. In short, there would be no game.
What makes life fun is generally the pleasant surprises and successes you get by struggling with the issues of life, and winning despite resistance.
If you always got your way and you always knew in advance what would happen, it wouldn't really be fun.
What it comes down to is that life is meant to be a game, with all that it implies.
First of all, games are fun. Life is meant to be fun and exciting too. If it wasn't, then why bother in the first place. If life gets too serious then you have lost track of what you are playing, you are playing something you don't want to play. Restoring the game will bring back the fun and excitement.
What makes a game a game is that it has a purpose, and it has a balance between freedom and barriers.
There has to be something that you want that you don't have, which is the goal or purpose or object of the game. It doesn't really matter if you have it before the game starts. You give it up in order to win it back through the rules of the game. For example, if you are going to run a race against somebody else, it doesn't really matter if you are standing on the finish line 5 minutes before the race. You are still going to walk away and pretend that now it is important to get back to that finish line very quickly.
A game has to have some restrictions, barriers, obstacles, opposing players, hidden elements, surprises, and so forth. That is, you need to give up some knowledge, control, and responsibility to play a game. You have to go along with the idea that part of the playing field is now not under your control, but possibly under somebody else's. You have to go along with the idea that there are things you don't know, and possibly shouldn't know about. You have to allow mysteries to exist and allow yourself to be surprised when you find out something new. That allows you to learn.
A game also has rules. These are barriers that outline what one is supposed to do or not do to play the game. Again, these are artificial limits to freedom, to create an exciting challenge in playing the game. For example, in soccer you can't touch the ball with your hands, and you are supposed to stay inside the field. Life is really not much different.
There also has to be freedoms in a game. Those are the things you can do by your own determinism, the actions you can take to get ahead in the game. If there were no freedoms in a game it would be just as boring as if there were total freedom. So, there has to be enough freedoms to have a chance against the barriers.
For the game to be interesting there has to be a suitable balance between the freedoms and the barriers. They don't have to be exactly equal, but it shouldn't be too far off. There has to be the real threat of losing the game, but the fun comes out of actually overcoming the obstacles and winning.
Part of the freedom/barrier balance is also the amount of action, randomity, or variety in the game. That is, how many different kinds of things that can happen or that you can do, and also how fast they are happening. A game tends to get more interesting if there are many different elements and there still is a balance between barriers and freedoms.
Having a game is more interesting than not having a game. However, the catch about it is that it is by definition a lower state of awareness than the state of not having to play a game. You have to forget things to play a game, you have to give up control, pretend that you aren't in charge. That is fine and dandy as long as you know you are doing it. The trouble is when you forget something in order to play a game, and then you get confused and forget that you forgot it, and you never un-forget it again.
It is necessary to know enough about games to be able to remedy them if they go wrong. The ways they can go wrong are mostly:
¥ Taking them serious and forgetting that they are fun.
¥ Playing something you don't want to play.
¥ Forgetting what you forgot in order to play the game.
¥ Too many barriers in the game.
¥ Too much freedom, too few barriers.
¥ The rules have been forgotten.
The remedy of any of these things in regards to life would tend to make it more rewarding in many ways.
Reality Design Essay # 12 by Flemming Funch, 24 August 1992
Perception of Space
There is a sense that is probably more important than any of the other senses. It is usually not thought of as a sense, and it is generally quite overlooked. However, it provides the key to a great many abilities, and it also provides the emergency exit out of any reality. It is the sense of space, the ability to create or perceive dimension.
Space can be considered in several different ways. We could either say that it is the stuff between things, or we could say that it is the stuff that things are put in. But then again, space isn't "stuff" either. It is generally not much thought of in the human civilization. One would usually concentrate on whatever is IN the space, rather than on something that "isn't there" anyway.
Space has very interesting properties. It is sort of both there and not there. It is a nothingness that can contain anything. It is a zero with infinite potential. It has maybe been best described in metaphysical and mystical contexts, as for example the "Void" out of which everything comes.
Space is equivalent to the creative possibilities in the number zero. Based on zero you can create an equation of absolutely anything you can imagine. This is done by splitting the zero into two opposite halves. These will always balance each other out and the result will be zero. For example, we can take zero and split it up into plus and minus one. The sum is still the same:
(+1) + (-1) = 0
However, we now have two "somethings" that we can do stuff with. We can split them up further, combine then in various ways, and so forth. As long as the sum remains zero everything is possible. This simple principle has been kept secret as part of mystical traditions for eons. Any school kid knows it of course, the "secret" is that it has a whole lot to do with making realities. It is probably the most important, fundamental, and powerful thing to know about universes.
Now, space has much of the same magic. It is a nothingness that you can make an infinite of somethings out of, or inside of if you will. Conversely, it is the key to the resolution of any and all somethings.
One can get trouble with things one focuses too closely on. There is a universal principle of balance which the zero symbolizes. If you go too out of balance, then you might lose track of where you were and get stuck.
Any datum or object of attention must be seen within a context. There must be something to compare it to. If not, you couldn't really do anything intelligent with it.
Space (or zero) is a reminder of this. If you can sense space, then you know that there is something else than just the object of direct attention, you know that there is more of a whole situation there, and you are likely to see things in their context.
This ties in directly with peripheral perceptions. With peripheral perception you pick up the context, the space, the comparable data. If you lose your sense of periphery you would tend to become myopic, confused, fanatic, or any other manifestation of being out of balance.
In modern human society there is no danger that we should forget to focus on things. The demand is continuously for a tight band of attention on things. One has to concentrate and strain one's senses to catch up with what is going on. The abilities that atrophy are the peripheral perceptions. Therefore, the reversal of the trend, regained ability to perceive peripherally, should be expected to cure a long list of ills of various kinds.
It might be tempting at first to think that if one could just focus MORE, if one could just perceive one's object of attention MORE clearly, if one could just concentrate harder, and think in a more controlled manner, then one might understand better and succeed better. However, that is not useful as a general solution. Sometimes you get more out of concentrating more, but that doesn't mean that if you concentrate MORE and MORE then things get better and better. No, the solution is to also relax and take in the context, the space
around your focus of attention. THEN you are likely to start comprehending the whole situation.
So, how can we increase a person's sense of periphery and space?
Any exercise that increases attention span spatially should be useful. For example, one could look at two or more objects at the same time, and gradually increase one's ability to look at more and more objects further and further apart.
One could do that with matches on a table. Laying out two matches a short distance from each other, and then observing them until one is comfortable that one perceives both of them simultaneously. Sequentially doesn't count. Staring at one and just theoretically "knowing" that the other one is there doesn't work either. One would have to be able to have attention on the periphery without directly starting at it. That is easy with two matches close to each other. But, then we add more and more, until one can have attention on 20 or so matches spread across the table.
Anything in one's environment that provides a way of having attention on several things at the same time is useful. I am sitting writing this at a computer. The computer screen has four corners. By maintaining awareness of those four corners simultaneously while I am typing I develop my sense of periphery. And that is also very beneficial for alleviating eye strain.
One can mentally create anchor points marking off space. One can start with two marking the end points of a line, four marking a square, and eight marking off a cube. You can do it either in front of you or you can do it around you. You can also grab on to the eight corners of the room you are in, that might make it easier. You can hold the points for extended amounts of time to increase your comfort and stability with them. This kind of exercise increases your ability to create space for yourself. It would also tend to change your relation to your body and might have other more spiritual effects.
You could also just start being aware of noticing the space between stuff instead of just the stuff. If you walk into a room, notice that there is space between things. If there are sounds, notice the silence.
The visual system is easiest to notice space in, and it is the easiest to create dimension in. However, you can separate sounds from each other as well, notice the distance between them, and notice silence as well. Kinesthetics are more tricky, but that is probably where you could really do magical things with space. If you can start feeling that there is something else to feel than what you are feeling right now, then you would be less stuck in your current situation and you could become able to travel elsewhere.
Spiritually speaking one might say that the space is more the real you, the truth, the real reality than anything that might be found in it. That tends to go against western intellectual instincts, but is found at the basis of several eastern religions. The Void, the Nothingness with infinite potential could be said to be the origin of everything, i.e. your own true nature. The eighth sphere of life.
The Void, the Zero, the Static is the only true eternal existence. Everything else is just a balance in an equation that will ultimately be zeroed out. And there is really nothing scary about the Void. It is not like an unconscious nothingness that is dead and forgotten. On the contrary, it is total consciousness. Anything and everything is possible. It is the source of an infinity of possibilities that can manifest. Whatever comes back to the Void comes out again in whatever else is created by it. And that includes individual personalities and experiences. There is no loss of individuality, the Void is total individuality. And total everything else. And YOU, the real you, are ultimately in charge of it. You can't possibly disappear, because YOU ARE IT.
When understood, that ought to be the most comforting thought there is. You can't disappear. Or rather, if you do, then you are just more YOU. You can disappear and come back as much as you want and in as many different ways as you want. You are an integral part of both what is there and what isn't there. There is no way to go wrong. Whatever might appear to die or disappear or be in trouble isn't really you. You can still put it back later if you feel like it, but you don't have to. You are the space in which anything can happen.
Simply by perceiving and contemplating the simple truth of space you can regain awareness of who and what you really are. It doesn't have to take anything very complicated. The truth is always there, written between the lines, in the silence between the words.
The ability to shift scope of attention is one of the most important there is. Shifting from big to small, from general to specific, from context to content, from periphery to focus, etc. all are extremely important. The ability to do it in the field of logic is called intelligence. Generally speaking it is flexibility and fluidity of consciousness. You shift your attention down when you wish to create a more limited game and experience it from the inside. You shift your attention up when you wish to be at cause and experience the whole scene.
Shift of scope of attention, fluidity in consciousness of space, and the ability to perceive multiple spheres of attention simultaneously -- these are key abilities in the navigation of reality. They can all be practiced and increased.
Basics Essay # 3 by Flemming Funch, 31 August 1992
Fear and Joy
There is an important choice that we all have to make. We might have to make it many times for many different aspects
of life. These years it is becoming increasingly difficult NOT to make the choice. Everybody on the planet will
become forced to make it one way or another.
The choice is about how one will relate to life and about which direction one is taking.
Simply put, the choice is between FEAR and JOY.
There are many nuances and manifestations of this and we can select different words to describe it. But what it comes down to is that you can respond to the world around you out of fear or out of joy. That is, you can get afraid and worried, get freaked out about terrible things you hear about, hope that it doesn't happen to you, and frantically try to protect yourself from the dangers around you.
Or, you can take whatever happens as opportunities to learn and to have fun, you can select the activities that are most exciting to you, and you can enjoy your experiences no matter what they are, and you can continuously look for better ones.
No event is inherently good or bad. It is your choice, and only your choice how you will experience it. And it is not just a matter of taste. Your further experiences in life will depend on how you choose to experience things.
The thing is that you will tend to attract into your life whatever you put a lot of attention on in your mind. If you intensely think about things you are afraid of, don't like, etc., most of the time -- well, that is what you get then. The universe will oblige and will produce the experiences you are asking for.
Many people relate to the world in a rather upside down way. They try frantically to control the world around them, and when they fail they feel forced to think loads of fearful thoughts. And little do they know that what they do makes it much much worse.
As a matter of fact there is not much that a single human can do to directly control the universe. You can't really ensure that you won't be hit by a meteor in 5 minutes. There is no safe place to stand where meteors don't hit, you couldn't possibly calculate the trajectory of all meteors in the solar system, and if one is heading your way you probably won't react fast enough to run away. You could try to hide in a bunker a mile below the Earth's surface, and that would keep you fairly safe from small meteors. But, then you might unexpectedly vanish in an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, or you might choke on a hot potato.
Humans are vulnerable little creatures, aren't they? Nothing much one can do about anything, except being afraid of what might happen, right? Nope, wrong! There is a whole lot one can do, if one just realizes what is what.
The creative power a human being has is in the mind. You have total freedom to think whatever you choose. And the interesting thing is that the universe around you will try to approximate what you keep most intensely in your mind. It will not give you what you want instantly. It needs to be coordinated with the reality of others. However, it is still at your full service and will without judgment channel the requested experiences towards you.
Managing a whole universe with many players in it is a big job. Luckily it is already being done. You don't have to do it, and you couldn't possibly do it from the perspective of being a human being. You would have to keep track of how many atoms there are in a paperclip, you would have to continuously calculate the path of trillions of planets, cars, people, bullets, galaxies, and so forth, so that they don't run into each other unless they want to.
It would be reasonable to say that whatever runs the universe is a higher level aspect of yourself. You are part of it, and it is part of you. It is probably your true self. However, it is probably a different level of awareness than the one you are currently focusing on.
People seem to instinctly feel that they somehow ought to be controlling the universe, that it is their job. That is what creates part of the confusion. However, the part of them that should control the universe already is doing so. All you need to do as a human being is to appreciate that the universe is in good hands and you don't need to worry about it at this point.
The universe that is your mind operates by different rules than the external physical universe. It is when you mix up the rules that you get in trouble. First of all, you are fully in charge of your inner universe. You can think whatever you want, and you don't have to answer to anybody.
In the inner universe, like is attracted to like. That is in contrast to the physical universe where opposites attract. But, in your inner universe, if you think certain thoughts you are likely to get more of what you think of. And the outer universe will reflect that. So, if you fill your mind with fear, you will get something to be fearful about. If you fill your mind with joy, you will get something to enjoy.
It might be difficult for people at first to fathom that they have the power to attract experiences just by their thoughts. They mix up cause and effect. Because there is so much "bad stuff" going on, one HAS to be fearful. They don't realize that there is so much to be fearful of because people react in fearful ways to events.
You will continuously be tested. You will be supplied with experiences that you can respond to in different ways. You are the one who supplies the fear or the joy. The external events are what they are, you are the one who makes them "good" or "bad".
Any belief will automatically prove itself. So, if you believe that the world is dangerous, you will be proven right. You will get lots of dangerous events and bad news in your life. You might then conclude that you were right, and you can become really sure that the world IS horrible. And then you will attract even more horrible events into your life to show you that you are absolutely right.
The funny thing is that it works just as well if you are optimistic, excited, and accepting. If you think the world will produce nice experiences and fun surprises for your, it will. If you believe that the world is a friendly place, the proofs will be supplied for you.
Now obviously, if you get whatever you believe it doesn't really prove anything. It proves that you believed something, but that is about it. Beliefs don't say anything about the world, they say something about you.
A belief isn't something that is really true or not. If you believe it, it is true for you -- if you don't, it isn't. So, the easiest approach is really to believe the stuff you would like to be true. If you want to have fun, then believe that you are supposed to. If you want more interesting abilities, then believe that are getting them, and so forth.
Now, to believe something isn't just to think it casually once. It isn't saying the words either. Some people will tell you "But, I only expect the best, I am really very optimistic, I didn't expect anything to go wrong". And then they will spend the rest of their day being afraid of succeeding and grieving past losses and so forth.
There really isn't much to get out of proving that you can't possibly be cause over your life. Personally, I think it is a pretty dumb thing to believe. I'd much rather believe that I can get what I want, I can have more fun, I can learn a lot, I can get new abilities.
The paradoxical thing to understand is that you are full cause in your mind, but basically no cause in the outside world. You can get what you want in the outside world by causing it in the inner world and allowing it to be attracted to you. You need to trust that will happen, and you need to allow it to happen whichever way it will. Control your mind, not the external universe.
The funny part of it is then that you will appear to really be on top of things in the physical universe, getting what you want, having things come out your way, causing your own reality. But the trick is that you really do it by designing your inner reality the way you want it, and flowing with the outer reality the way it goes.
There is nothing very complicated that you have to do. You just need to be aware that you have a choice. A choice of how to respond and a choice of which direction to move in. There are many possible directions, but currently the choices are often polarized into one of two directions. Here are some of the aspects of each:
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Joy Excitement Acceptance Freedom Choice Love Expansion |
Lack of choice and having a hard time are just symptoms of having chosen the restrictive, fearful route earlier. The lack of choice is only an apparency, the depressing events are only a test. If you can accept events for what they are and you can choose fun, love, and freedom despite any reason not to, then you are changing the reality right there.
Your external world can change quite rapidly. It is really only limited by how quickly you can change your mind. If you change from a negative to a positive outlook, the world will quickly follow along. After that it might seem that your hardships never existed.
The only thing that can keep fear in place is the suppression of the knowledge that have full choice of how to respond. You can choose freedom and excitement instead, and nothing fearful would be able to harm you.
The only thing there is really reason to fear is the state of being fearful. Steer clear of that and you can have an enjoyable and exciting time. You have got everything it takes, you just need to take the decision, and you will get what you want.
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