I am sure you have had an experience of several events happening almost simultaneously or close together that seem coincidental. For example, you may be thinking of someone and “out of the blue” they call you or drop by for a visit. Or maybe your friend starts to share a story with you and you acknowledge, “I had just been thinking about that, too!”
Such
experiences are common and we often give them little thought after the fact. There are, however, other “coincidences” that offer the possibility of gaining greater insight regarding what is going on in our lives. As you regular readers will remember, I have been referring to several books I have read recently and sharing some of the insights they provided me. Today I was reading for the third time from a chapter in The Matter of Mind1 having to do with Karma. When I finished the chapter, I opened my email and had a nice item about Karma sent to me from a good friend. Just a “coincidence.” No need to give it any greater importance, one might think. Several days before as I randomly chose a chapter in the book it turned out to address another issue I had been thinking about. That led to connecting with a friend about the “coincidence.”
In The Matter of Mind Karma, as it appears in our life, is presented as an ego projection based on past experiences. (Simplified here.) We have built up a reservoir of experiences through lifetimes and our ego uses those experiences to form our responses to our current events. For example we may go through lifetimes of experiencing a relationship with someone, without consciously realizing it. Yet whenever we are around that person we get certain feelings about them, or seem to “remember” something about them that we know did not happen in this lifetime. This recall is Karma offering an opportunity to perhaps resolve some issue or complete some aspect of the relationship. It really is not coincidental that we have come together again. My belief system concludes that there are no coincidences, that everything is interrelated and is for a purpose. It is our responsibility to get beyond what appears to be the facts of a matter to the essence of the potential for creating a new reality. In short, we are to learn, to grow and to transform our lives.
As I was reading and thought about this, “coincidentally” a person I have known for quite some time came to mind. I am sure we have experienced other lifetimes together. He had what he considers a difficult childhood. His parents divorced and as a result he moved quite often and never got to establish the roots he wanted. As I observed his life in retrospect it seemed that it was unraveling in some ways. I wondered why that was occurring, since he had obvious skills and was very intelligent. Then it seemed to me that he had never seen himself as whole cloth. I felt he saw himself as loose threads, not yet woven into the potential that he knew was possible for his life. He felt disadvantaged by the influence of adults who made decisions he did not like. One could believe this was all an “accident” of fate. But is it really? Is it random coincidence that his particular life events came about or that he was involved with his particular family, friends and associates? Further, is it a coincidence that he came to my mind at this particular time?
One thing is certain, for me. The coincidences that appear in
our lives do have a way of coming together with meaning. If we react to life as though it were happening to us instead of through us we will miss the opportunity for transformation. Also, if we choose to feel we are at the mercy of decisions others make, we have abdicated our responsibility to fulfill our own potential for change within those situations. Our ego, acting mainly out of past experience, will constantly find reasons to blame others or circumstances for our problems. This will never lift us beyond our limitations. People, conditions, and events are in our experience in order to provide us with the opportunity to see through any apparent limitations they present. Remember, Karma is seeing a projection from the past. It is overcome by seeing these projections as an opportunity to use our talents to transform the experience and bring about healing. As we get beyond feeling that circumstances are against us, we will see a confluence of opportunity, things are coming together to strengthen us and call forth from us the spiritual insight to see all things working together for our highest good.
Such
experiences are common and we often give them little thought after the fact. There are, however, other “coincidences” that offer the possibility of gaining greater insight regarding what is going on in our lives. As you regular readers will remember, I have been referring to several books I have read recently and sharing some of the insights they provided me. Today I was reading for the third time from a chapter in The Matter of Mind1 having to do with Karma. When I finished the chapter, I opened my email and had a nice item about Karma sent to me from a good friend. Just a “coincidence.” No need to give it any greater importance, one might think. Several days before as I randomly chose a chapter in the book it turned out to address another issue I had been thinking about. That led to connecting with a friend about the “coincidence.”In The Matter of Mind Karma, as it appears in our life, is presented as an ego projection based on past experiences. (Simplified here.) We have built up a reservoir of experiences through lifetimes and our ego uses those experiences to form our responses to our current events. For example we may go through lifetimes of experiencing a relationship with someone, without consciously realizing it. Yet whenever we are around that person we get certain feelings about them, or seem to “remember” something about them that we know did not happen in this lifetime. This recall is Karma offering an opportunity to perhaps resolve some issue or complete some aspect of the relationship. It really is not coincidental that we have come together again. My belief system concludes that there are no coincidences, that everything is interrelated and is for a purpose. It is our responsibility to get beyond what appears to be the facts of a matter to the essence of the potential for creating a new reality. In short, we are to learn, to grow and to transform our lives.
As I was reading and thought about this, “coincidentally” a person I have known for quite some time came to mind. I am sure we have experienced other lifetimes together. He had what he considers a difficult childhood. His parents divorced and as a result he moved quite often and never got to establish the roots he wanted. As I observed his life in retrospect it seemed that it was unraveling in some ways. I wondered why that was occurring, since he had obvious skills and was very intelligent. Then it seemed to me that he had never seen himself as whole cloth. I felt he saw himself as loose threads, not yet woven into the potential that he knew was possible for his life. He felt disadvantaged by the influence of adults who made decisions he did not like. One could believe this was all an “accident” of fate. But is it really? Is it random coincidence that his particular life events came about or that he was involved with his particular family, friends and associates? Further, is it a coincidence that he came to my mind at this particular time?
One thing is certain, for me. The coincidences that appear in
our lives do have a way of coming together with meaning. If we react to life as though it were happening to us instead of through us we will miss the opportunity for transformation. Also, if we choose to feel we are at the mercy of decisions others make, we have abdicated our responsibility to fulfill our own potential for change within those situations. Our ego, acting mainly out of past experience, will constantly find reasons to blame others or circumstances for our problems. This will never lift us beyond our limitations. People, conditions, and events are in our experience in order to provide us with the opportunity to see through any apparent limitations they present. Remember, Karma is seeing a projection from the past. It is overcome by seeing these projections as an opportunity to use our talents to transform the experience and bring about healing. As we get beyond feeling that circumstances are against us, we will see a confluence of opportunity, things are coming together to strengthen us and call forth from us the spiritual insight to see all things working together for our highest good.
1 comment:
Like your stuff Dan, I really do. In fact, to the point that I am going to add your blog to my blog roll, which I describe as other blogs which will stimulate thought amongst my readers.
Nice work. I came across your blog while blog surfing using the “next blog” button on the Nav Bar of blogger.com. I am continually fascinated by the types of blogs that exist on the Internet, and the various, creative ways in which people all over the globe express themselves. Thanks for sharing.
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