When we understand how things work, generally we can work with them better. For example, when we know how a smart phone or laptop works we can get more out of it, rather than pressing buttons at random and hoping for the best. Similarly, when we understand how the mind works, and how our experience is created, we can (most of the time!) work with them in a better way.
All of life as we know it comes from one formless energy. This formless energy takes form all the time, over and over and over again. It takes form as thought, as people, as cars, as trees, as emotions, as planets, as cells. This energy has been given many names by us humans – the divine, God, source of all that is, universal energy, quantum field….the names we give it aren’t important. I’m sure we have all had a sense that something larger than ourselves is running the show. This energy runs through us but also we live within it. We live within this intelligent energy that powers the whole universe.
The creative aspect of this energy is Thought. The power or principle of Thought. What I mean by this isn’t just our thinking, our individual thoughts or cognition (although it includes that). I mean it’s an energy that brings all of our experience to us; it is the paint and the paint brush that creates the picture of our life. It comes from the one formless energy, through us, every moment of every day. 100% of the time this energy is creating our experience of life, via thought in the moment. And thought in the moment brings feelings with it. I believe this energy wants to be free flowing all the time. However we humans, sometimes innocently get tripped up by it or tend to latch onto it, believing it to be personal and true.
It can sometimes be hard for our intellectual minds to grasp how our mind works, how the energy of Thought works. So metaphors can be helpful here.
Water can be found in three different states – gas, liquid and solid. It is the same substance in three different forms. When it’s in the form of gas its everywhere, but isn’t tangible. In its liquid form it is tangible but fluid, moving. In the form of ice, it is solid and seemingly unmovable.
Let’s imagine that the power of Thought is like water. In its formless state it is pure fluidity, pure potential, pure consciousness. We can liken this to a gaseous state. In its pure (gas) form it is almost inconceivable to our human mind. The vast pure potential and intelligence that flows through everything and everyone can be mind-blowing. Even a tiny glimpse into this majestic energy is awe-inspiring and humbling. It is a space of pure possibility, and infinite potential.
Then we think, we have thoughts. Or experience Thought coming into form. It gets some shape, some form and becomes like liquid. Sometimes there is a lot of it, sometimes a little (busy mind vs. quieter mind). Thought is designed to flow through us like water, and most of the time it does. When a thought gets ‘stuck’ or becomes habitual and turns into a belief about ourselves or a situation – it becomes much like ice. Solid, hard and inflexible.
This is when our thoughts become ‘things’, they become our beliefs, convictions, and ‘what is true’. When we experience thought in this state it tends to be painful, or causes conflict when our ‘ice’ beliefs butt up against someone else’s ‘ice’ beliefs.
In a similar way that heat melts ice, and turn it back into its liquid or gaseous form, the light or warmth of our insight, consciousness, or wisdom has the amazing potential to ‘melt’ the ice of our beliefs, that we innocently believe to be true. I’ll give you an example from my own life to illustrate the capacity of an insight to change everything. In my 30s I went through a divorce. The ‘story’ of this divorce was that my husband left me, not the other way around. It wasn’t my choice, I loved him and wanted to stay with him. Sometime after we had separated I had an insight that said “He was brave enough to do what you weren’t”. Boom! As I felt this new insight within me, I knew that I had not been honest with myself about our relationship and had been believing the story that he was in the wrong and to blame – that was easier for me to believe. However when I saw that he had been incredibly brave to leave our marriage, I instantly was able to let go of the resentment, blame and anger I had been carrying. I fell into forgiveness and gratitude. A place I could never have imagined getting to.
One thought changed everything.
The beautiful truth of how we are designed is that if we can see that thoughts that become beliefs are simply not real, just something we have innocently thought over and over, the light of this awareness heats the ice and it becomes fluid again. And with the fluidity comes new, fresh thought and a new experience of ourselves or a situation.
Thought in the moment is creating our experience and feelings, not events, people or ‘things’ in the outside world. Therefore when thought changes, our experience of the world, our past, who we are also changes. This is how we move forward in our lives, how we heal. As Sydney Banks, who uncovered this understanding said, “You are one thought away from happiness, one thought away from sadness. The secret lies in thought.” And “Thought is not reality; yet it is through Thought that our realities are created. It is what we as humans put into our thoughts that dictates what we think of life.”
I have found it very powerful to know how the ‘system’ works. To know that it is thought, or perception, creating my experience, even of the hard things. But also knowing that this same energy has the potential to bring the next thought or insight that heals it all. To go back to the metaphor, the space of ‘gas’ (the space from which Thought arises) can be gone back to again and again. It is always flowing and available to us. New, fresh thought, consciousness or perspective is always available to us. We can rely on this. It may not come on our preferred timescale but the system is always in operation. When we learn how to navigate this, our experience of life tends to flow with more ease and grace.
Seeing the inside-out nature of life - knowing that it is all coming from within us, and that it is all open to change - takes a lot off our minds. It starts to make sense to stop trying to control life, others and our experiences.
We don’t even have to heat the ice of our beliefs to melt them, this is done for us by the amazing intelligence of life, and the power of Thought.
Lindsey Elliott is a Wellbeing & Resilience Coach, energy healer and meditation teacher working in Brighton and online. She offers one to one coaching in a life-changing paradigm of understanding about how the human experience is created. With this understanding you can move from feeling insecure, stressed, anxious or unfulfilled to happy, secure, inspired, peaceful and filled with love.
You can also book free, no-obligation call on her website: www.lindseyelliott.co.uk/personal-coaching.
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