"As above, so below."

Life as a Mirror

“If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.”

“We cannot change anything unless we accept it.  Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”

                                           Carl Jung

         I have been pondering of late the way we view life through a particular lens and often assume that it is the “right way” because it is our way.  Yesterday, I wrote about forgiving others and received a question, ‘How do I do it?’  I think it’s a good question and one we might all be asking ourselves.  First, it is important to state that I am not a person who believes that ‘anything goes.’  Some lifestyles are healthier than others, and there are people who oppress and harm everyone around them.  And, true evil does exist.  That being said, I want to explain myself a bit further.

         In my worldview, most of us are clannish in that we have adopted a particular way of living that suits us, and believe that it should suit others as well.  It is as though we sit in our chair of choice, be it democracy, Christianity, autocracy, liberalism, conservatism, or voodoo, and think that the rest of the world is simply missing the point and wrong headed.  The truth is that our way is simply our way, and not necessarily ‘the way.’  Jung also said, “There is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”  We know this and yet we hold it against others for not thinking and being like us; furthermore we condemn and criticize and feel sanctified in doing it.  I do this as much as anyone else.  The question for me is why? 

         Here is what I believe---and it is only that.  I am here, and you are here, to further human consciousness; to shed some light into the darkness.  To the extent that I can look at myself and realize that the world is a mirror of my perceptions, I assist with this purpose.  Other people are reflections based on my particular lens of seeing.  If my perception is that the world is a bad place, then I will see badness in all and everything and if I perceive it to be essentially good with a few flaws, that is what I will see.  If I find something in another person, or group of people that deeply disturbs me, the first question I should ask myself is, how are they like me?  What do they reflect in my mirror?  If I don’t like what I see, the change begins with me.

         The first step, then, is accepting ourselves with as much heart as we can bring to it.  We are a cosmos unto ourselves—light and darkness, joy and sorrow, anger and love.  And so is everyone else—even our enemies.  I am who I am, and you are who you are and when we meet and reflect one another, both of us are transformed.

                                  In all things give thanks,

                                  Jane