Attention energizes; Intention transforms.
Deepak Chopra
Examining Core Collective Belief
Still thinking about doubt versus faith, scarcity belief versus abundance belief. I am thinking of the collective unconscious in "me"...so full of doubt, limiting ideas, unworthiness, self-punishment and self-denial. I have an internal battle, it seems, going on inside between scarcity consciousness and abundance consciousness as manifested on the outside. I go between accepting and finding peace with things as they are and this idea that possibly I deserve and can have less challenge/more ease from the external circumstances I encounter.
I so often have doubt and see the scarcity/undeserving -of -more -belief wrapped around my memory cells, wrapped around every cell in this body. The experience I erroneously call "my life" is a screen on which this subconscious movie is projected again and again and again. I love most of it but am getting sick of some of it lol
I know this belief system I , for some strange reason, adhere to is not "mine". It is a collection of all the beliefs, voices, ideas, and learning I ...and my ancestors...have picked up. I think Carl Jung's definition of the collective unconsciousness extends beyond this incarnation. I think it also refers to all that has been passed onto us by our ancestors, as taught in so many traditions ( Thich Nhat Hanh, 2015).
This belief that I do not deserve more is mutely transformed into a beautiful acceptance of what is with practice...which certainly brings peace and it is a wonderful, wonderful place to be. It truly comforts and soothes the part of me that has Buddhist inclination in it. I honestly believe in the core of me that accepting the suchness of Life as it is, brings true peace and that nothing "out there" is needed or beneficial to our fulfillment. I do have to question, though, as to why some seem to have more external world challenge than others and I question if our minds are responsible for manifesting such realities. Why do external life circumstances seem to differ for us? Why, as the question was asked to Thich Nhat Hanh, do some people have different karma?
Different Karma?
Thich Nhat Hanh was quick to answer in the below linked video that karma is neither the same or different for any of us "individuals"and that any Karma, be it collective or individual, affects the whole....in the collective, there is the individual and in the individual there is the collective.
Karma is simply cause and effect. We can't have cause without effect and effect without cause. One individual action affects all, and one effect is experienced by all. So what seems to be happening to me is really not happening to "me" nor is it something "me" is doing with my thinking. It is happening to all and is the result of all collective input. What I do about it, then, does not just affect me, it affects the whole.
Beyond the Superficial Me
Looking at this idea takes me beyond the "me-ness" of my perception of Karma and Life circumstance. What brought me here to this present situation has so much to do with my beliefs...yes...but they are not just "my' beliefs. They are "collective" belief. I am responsible , however, for what I do with these beliefs and this version of Life. I am responsible for whatever action I take. Yes...it begins with accepting, allowing and embracing whatever enfolds in front of me, knowing that it is partly a projection of collective belief, but whether or not I go beyond my external situation is up to me. If I accept an external life process of "sucking it up and settling in limitation " ...as I have been accused of doing...what does that mean for the whole?
I am fully aware that what is truly important in Life is internal. Nothing I "do, become or have" out there will bring these things to me. It is a matter of opening up to all that is within me. Yes peace, happiness, joy and all that are within me...and I can find and own those things at any time regardless of how life circumstances enfold in front of me...but...if my external world reflects my internal one...would it not benefit me and therefore all if I transcend the notion of limitation and scarcity for the notion of abundance. If I transcend the notion of unworthiness, fear and this belief I am being punished for the notion of worthiness and being loved and supported by the universe, wouldn't that lead to a better, less fearful world?
What would my action be then?
Whatever I "do" needs to be free of striving, grasping, and clinging. It needs to be free of attachment to outcome. As much as possible, it needs to be free of ego.
Attend and Intend
The action to take then, would be to energize my life experience by attending to the idea of possibility and then transform my so called challenges and lack with intention. I need to be aware and mindful of the abundance already in my life and intend specific changes from the external world. I do not need to spend all my energy working to manipulate and change external events so they give me what I think I need. It is more about being open and trusting that the universe will provide in its own way as I attend and intend. After I intend, I need to let go, trusting that the universe has my back.
Can We Experiment?
Right now, I have one moderately big thing/change I will place my attention on and intend. I am putting it out there...mostly as an experiment...to see what will happen. I won't share that "intention" with anyone. I will make it specific and place a time frame on it ( not sure if that is placing demands or conditions but I will give it 30 days). We will see.
Anyway...I am not sure what Thich Nhat Hanh would say about someone in my situation asking for "more". I still practice with great commitment...the accepting of what is...right here, right now.
Does it do any harm to send out an intention from this place of calm, acceptance? As long as I am not attached to specifics or outcomes; as long as my happiness is not dependent on the obtaining of this thing...should it not be harmless?
I hope it okay to say...From this day forward I invite unlimited abundance into my life. (Deepak Chopra)
All is well!
Deepak Chopra (March 2021 ) 21 Days of Abundance. Spotify
Plum Village (January, 2015) Why do People Have Different Karma?Thich Nhat Hanh Answers Questions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7I4jP9s8bQ
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