"The inner eye, as we might call it, sees by a different, non-physical light. This seeing, too, must run the gauntlet of the mind's preconceptions. If we can achieve the right mind set, it too reaches our mind. There it becomes meaning.
When you have succeeded, you will experience what you see with a sensation as if you were a little distant from the scene that you observe. Some have described it as like watching a movie. You are seeing the world, but you are not really a part of it. When you achieve this, that is it. That is all of it. There is nothing more to train you to do. But as you go from scene to scene looking with your new vision, there will be a lot about the world that you will discover. It will be a fascinating and never ending joy.
The beauty of this mental state is also that it gives you a chance to choose your reactions rather than to have reacted before you even have a chance to think about what you want to do or say. This allows patience to express itself through you. Because love is patient, it allows love to express as never before in your life. ...................
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“There are actually split seconds in which the options present themselves. These are very critical moments to watch for, and with one-pointedness of mind, they will become apparent. These moments of decision last approximately 1/10 000 th of a second, as estimated by kinesiologic testing. The miracle arises in this gap. In this instant, the Holy Spirit is present and available directly by God's grace. In the ego's minute gap, the Holy Spirit empowers the opportunity, and this is the “space” in which free will operates. It is this moment that the warrior can choose mercy or cruelty, life or death.
Prayer and spiritual commitment give assent to the Presence as the Holy Spirit to 'create a space', as it would seem, in the progression of the sequences in temporal time for that critical instant of awareness. Based on the laws of the universe, that split instant does not open unless invited. God forces no one to choose Him. All spiritual progress is by invitation and free choice, which are consequences of prayer and spiritual intention, for these gaps are hidden gifts.”
[Dr. David R. Hawkins; "I - subjectivity and reality", p 101-102]
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".............. You will also find that you begin to see many things very clearly, things that used to be quite unclear. Like my art friend, you are developing a kind of vision that sees unerringly. And you paint on the canvas of life according to the accuracy of what you see. Your life itself will become a great work of art, beautiful for others to behold.
But you won't be thinking about that. And you won't realize that it is happening until after it is well begun. Furthermore, if you seek to create a beautiful life through this practice, you will lose the objective state of mind that is needed to accomplish the task. Therefore, you must only pursue my directions with a sincere desire to see things as they really are.
The biggest obstacle to seeing things as they are lies in your ego tendency to seek glory. Unfortunately, we all want to see ourselves in the best possible light. This will block your seeing. The inner eye, what I call the spiritual eye, cannot accept blinders that limit it's vision. It is all or nothing. You either open the eye and see whatever is there, or you close it. Many close it rather than see what they are really like.
I would like to make a plea with you not to do so. There may be a great fear that you have to overcome. It takes a bit of courage to face the truth about yourself. But when you muster that courage, you will find that the truth is much less than you feared. Yes, you are a nothing. But everyone is a nothing. So what!
We embrace truth, or we embrace darkness. Truth is literally a light by which we see, by which the inner eye grasps the scope of the scene before it. When we reject the truth about ourselves, we become unable to see. It would be the same with physical light. If we kept all light from falling upon us, yes, we would not see ourselves. But neither would we see anything at all. Our physical eye depends upon the light reaching it for sight. Similarly, if we block the light called truth from reflecting upon us, then neither will it reach our spiritual eye. So you must be willing to see yourself and let yourself be seen.
This is the nature of the fear you will face. At one time or another, we have all cheated in order to stand on that pedestal just a little longer. And so we all fear facing reality.
But there are two reasons why, when you get courage and face it, that it will be very bearable. One reason is that the cheating was not a fully conscious thing. This is hard to understand until you let truth in, because without this light of truth, you aren't fully conscious. You think you are conscious, but you are not (the wise call it a dream state.) When you summon the courage to look, you will become conscious and by that experience, will see your previous unconsciousness. So it will not be such a big deal.
But the biggest reason that you will find your fear unfounded is that in the moment that you summon the courage to truly look at yourself, you will find that you've changed. What you see will not be yourself, it will be who you used to be, even if just a moment before. Now, you are still nothing, but you are no longer less than nothing. And the nothing you are is a good nothing, who does not hurt others any more in order to raise himself up onto that pedestal. Be prepared, then, to see your insignificance. It will be one of the first truths you see.
The Mechanics of Inner Self-observation
No one distinguishes in their language, but there are two ways to see. "I see the house across the street." Reflects seeing with the physical eye, revealed by physical light. But, "I see that you're irritated." Is a thing of the spiritual eye. The difference lies in how meaning is attached to the latter revealing that the light of truth always shining has been received by the spiritual eye and perceived as meaning by the mind.
Awareness is a crucial ingredient in this process. It is like the retina of the spiritual eye. Experience somehow slams into us, caught by our awareness as it makes its impression inside of us. It activates certain tendencies to respond, like light fires up rods and cones in the physical eye. And if we can remain objective and watch this process, the experience translates into meaning in the mind.
All too often, we cannot remain objective. Then we go on automatic pilot. There is little awareness. We react instinctively (and in character, I might add, a character we often resist seeing, for which reason we have shut out truth.) And we see nothing. No meaning congeals except later, we will have a sense of failure for our overreaction. And we will react automatically to that, too, trying to do something about it rather than just seeing it and not reacting further.
And so, seeing outwardly with meaning depends on clearly seeing inwardly. And this is the secret.
Gaining Attitudinal Altitude
Remember the goal. It is similar in nature to the goal of the artist who seeks to see what he is about to paint in that special way that allows him not to be affected by preconceptions. It could be described as achieving a certain "distance" from his subject. It is a frame of mind that isn't very much by itself, but which enables a process that would be impossible or very difficult otherwise. It makes something easy.
The state of mind consists of seeing the world with a little distance between you and the scene. You draw yourself out of the scene. You see as if looking through a camera that lies slightly behind and above the physical eyes. You see from here whether you look inwardly at your thinking or whether you look outwardly at the world.
But to begin with, you look inwardly so that you can arise out of your dream state and raise your awareness. Your awareness is essential to help you know when you are seeing in this special way. Notice the "distance" between yourself and the scene you see with your eyes. This is the objective way of seeing.
Love is a power. But you will not feel it come through you. It just will. And it will affect everyone around you. Some for good, some not. Be prepared for possible fireworks. Your patience and love convicts those who have no love. They will feel condemned. And if they aren't ready to face themselves, they will externalize their feeling, blaming YOU for condemning them.
You, of course, have done nothing of the sort. You have just watched the scene in this objective way you now have. But you need to understand this response. Be ready to forgive them and overlook their reaction. They cannot help themselves. They are on automatic pilot. They have never understood how to turn it off. But you give them a chance now. Your love in its perfection, if you overlook and don't judge their error, gives them the first chance that they may have ever had. This is the nature of the effect you will forever have once you commit to this way of patience."
[C.N. 09/01/2002]
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June 30, 2008
