PROJECTION - a powerful tool
Projection is a powerful tool used unconsciously in a world seen in only one dimension. Since we view the world only through our own perspective, everything appears to be dancing in front of us, reflecting the way we feel in that moment. Imagine times in which you’ve gone on holiday. Feeling happy and free, you meet someone special. The place itself is exceptionally beautiful. You feel wonderful inside – satisfied and happy. The world appears magical as if in that moment, time itself has stopped. The next year you return to the same place for another holiday. Maybe you’re alone this time, or you’ve lost your job. Perhaps your health isn’t great. You look at the scenery and it’s a nice view – but the magic has gone. What happened? Same spot; different experience.
The same thing happens with the people in our lives, whether they’re close friends, family, casual acquaintances, or people we encounter on the street. We label them according to the impressions and sensations we are experiencing in the moment. I learned about this when I was living in Gurumayi’s ashram. For about five months, I was directing hundreds of people through daily lineups at lunchtime. I began noticing that many people who spoke to me would offer an opinion about how I was feeling or looking that day. One person would say, “Oh, you look radiant today.” But the very next person would say, “You look sad.” Another would say, “You are so joyful.” The next, “You are so serious,”or “You are so wild.” This continued for some time until I began to realize that each person was projecting his or her own state of mind onto me.
This upset me and I felt terribly lonely. It seemed as though no one truly saw me; I was only a backdrop for their state. I began to wonder if we truly connect as human beings at all. What is the point anyway? It seemed that people believed and saw only what they want to see. For a long time I experienced the emptiness and loss of what I had previously perceived as human relationships. I thought that all humans shared the same reality, but I came to realize that everyone lives in his or her own reality. I began to feel like a prostitute for other people’s minds. Once I surrendered to my feeling of loss and sadness and came to accept it as the human condition, I began to see the love that is the true essence of every human being. Their opinions really don’t matter much. Looking at another person was like looking at a perfect diamond with rhinestones surrounding it; I could put my attention on the rhinestones or the diamond. If I put my attention on the rhinestones, which signify falseness and separation, I would feel sad and lonely. If, however, my attention was on the diamond, the true Self, I would feel Love.
I even learned to laugh at what people said because I saw that they were actually talking about themselves. And I learned that what connects the form to the formless and us to one another is precious, pure, clear Love, which sees only perfection, even in the absurdity of projection.
Sometimes we feel so alone in our longing for another to reach out and touch us. The deepest pain we experience is that we are not seen in our divinity but only for our attributes and accomplishments. We all long to be seen as God sees us. When we acknowledge this longing, we can begin to be of service to those around us; we can look at them and see the God and the love in them, rather than merely focusing on the outer form. This is the true meaning of service.
As an antidote for projection, when you encounter each new person, silently say to yourself, “Thank you Lord for coming to me in this form.” Capture projection itself before it finds a person or object to project upon. Look past the judgments that you may have about what you see and ask yourself, “Who sees?”
Meditation Keys – Projection
Recall a time in which you felt really happy. Remember how the people and surroundings felt to you and how you related to them.
Recall a time in which you felt unhappy. Remember how the people and surroundings felt to you while in this state.
Assuming that everything you see is you, spend a day experimenting with your projections with the awareness that whatever is reflected back to you is your own state of being.
Have the intention to know who you really are. Remember that you are not the projections that others place upon you.
PROJECTION
* Projection sees the world through its own perspective.
* Projection, if happy, sees others as wonderful. If sad or angry, it sees others as cold, harsh or distant.
* Projection judges everything according to its own feelings.
* Projection informs how we relate to others most of the time.
* Projection can tell us that we are beautiful one day and ugly the next based on how it feels.
* Projection is another trick of the negative power used to keep us busy making up realities so we never drop fully into the true Self.
Devrah Laval is the author of The Magic Doorway into the Divine (ISBN# 978-0-9784986-0-3) and the NEW Keys to the Doorway MYSTIC INSPIRATION CARDS.
Please address any comments, purchases or questions to: devrahlaval@telus.net or visit http://www.themagicdoorway.com
