We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.
~The Talmud
At a recent BEabove virtual staff meeting (I think I was walking around the lake while Ursula was having a pedicure — we’re very good at work/life integration — or wait was that just multi-tasking? Shoot. Well back to my point anyway), we started talking about the profundity of this statement. It really fits with our understanding of the Seven Levels of Effectiveness — the world literally shows up differently at each level.
For me, learning this concept (and it’s taken many years for me to understand it deeply, in the core of my being) has contributed hugely to my sanity. Perhaps people aren’t as crazy or irrational as they seem. Perhaps they are simply responding to a world that looks, feels, and to them IS, not at all the same as ours.
I recently heard Deepak Chopra speak about levels of consciousness (not our Seven Levels, but what he said was in alignment). I really liked the analogy he used, which was school. Some people are in kindergarten, others high school, etc. When we are children, the world looks bigger, doesn’t it? I remember visiting my childhood home in Seattle as an adult and thinking “this can’t be the place, there was a HUGE hill leading up to the front door.” We think about ourselves and others in a certain way, which changes as we grow. Our parents can go from being heroes to villains to human. I love this famous quote by Mark Twain:
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
But while we learn and develop, we don’t necessarily change our consciousness as we age. In fact, according to David Hawkins, most people’s vibrational level only changes by about 5 points during their lifetime if they do nothing to develop themselves emotionally and spiritually. This means that most people’s fundamental “home frequency,” the level of consciousness they return to from the peaks and valleys of life, remains set very close to where they were born.
And from this level, our lives unfold. At the level of Frustration, the world looks frustrating. It appears that this is both a perspective–that is, people at the level of Frustration resent standing in lines much more than people at higher levels–and a creative energy. At the level of Frustration, we call things in that give us a reason to be frustrated. More fights, more lawsuits. The energy field creates and shapes this world. Think about someone you know who is always angry and defensive. Generally, if you look at their lives, you will see both perception and “reality.” It’s the field.
The same is true of course at every level. At the level of Synchronicity, standing in a line at Starbucks is an opportunity to talk to someone, meditate, ponder, or simply be. It is what is, and we’ll get our latte when we get it. And we seem to also have more and more magical moments. We decide to forgive someone in our hearts and they unexpectedly call to apologize. The very thing we have wanted (but been peacefully unattached to having) shows up. The lines are actually shorter. When I tap into this level of peaceful openheartedness, I find things come to me easily and effortlessly.
NOTE: this is “the secret” to manifesting what you want. It has to come from the highest place of love, peace, and non-attachment. Many people long for things, but are afraid to not have them, so the vibration of fear pulls in more things for them to be afraid of. What we get, our “reality,” is always a direct match with who we are being. When I am interested and yet not attached to having new clients, they show up on their own. When I am worried about money and feeling frustrated, nothing I do seems to work.
And of course, just as you don’t expect a kindergartner to read or understand Proust, you can’t expect someone who is living in Hopelessness, Fear or Frustration to see the essential spirit in each person and the beautiful world we share. But you can help them shift to the next place. And at BEabove, we believe this is the work of all conscious beings. To see where people are, and help them take the next step. No one is stuck with only a 5 point move in their lifetime. We all hold the seed of peace, love and joy within.