Let's suppose that your kitchen sink is blocked. The "mundane" world view says this is just "one of those things", that you have unwittingly allowed vegetable peelings or food scraps to bung it up - and so you probably did. But what a barren, limited perspective. A metaphysical world view suggests that almost any event can be a "Whisper", a message, a stimulus to growth, which you have created - if only you would listen to yourself.
We're so brainwashed into seeing the world as random and meaningless that we ignore countless messages from our Higher Self every day. We discover damp rising from the cellar and dismiss it as "bad luck". Two light bulbs need replacing on the same day, and we say it's just a coincidence.
A flock of sea birds lands in our garden, a hundred miles from the coast, and we call it curious. Yet all of these events are metaphors; helpful signposts upon our inner journey, if we will only learn to read them. Nothing is random. Nothing is meaningless.
If you had a dream about a blocked sink, perhaps you would take more notice of it's intended message (Maybe deciding that you are blocking up your emotions, or refusing to let go of something you no longer need) But when it happens in our waking life, we tend to dismiss such incidents as meaningless. Yet life is a dream-metaphor, which we create just as surely as we create our dreams - and our Higher Self will often communicate through "mundane" everyday events.
If you ignore the "Whisper" of the blocked sink, you might switch on the radio a few days later, and immediately hear of a severe traffic jam in the Dartford Tunnel. Another blockage. It's the same message again. But did you hear it this time.
If these gentle Whispers are not heard, your Higher Self might turn up the volume a bit. After all, as your combined mother and father in consciousness, it is yearning for you to grow. Perhaps you will suffer from a bout of constipation. Another blockage. But you decide to take some laxatives, again seeing it as a "meaningless" incident. So your Higher Self sends you an Emotional Trauma, in the hope that this might release the blocked up Emotions. Instead, you numb yourself with tranquilisers or alcohol, or bury yourself in your work. Eventually, if you continue to stubbornly ignore the message, the Whispers might develop into a loud "shout", such as bowel cancer; the same message again, several years on.
Let's take another example. Suppose you discover your car has been clamped. The mundane world view would suggest that you've been foolish or unlucky, and that's all there is to it. A metaphysical world view raises the question of why you attracted that event. What were you trying to tell yourself ? In what way are you "immobilising" yourself, preventing yourself from moving on or changing ? Perhaps you are blaming others for your stuckness, instead of taking responsibility for your own life ?
If you ignore the Whisper of the wheel clamp, then you might choose to twist your ankle to give yourself the same message again (This isn't to say that twisting an ankle always means that you are immobilising yourself. It might carry a myriad of different messages. Only you can know what your Whispers mean - by going within, and asking.)
Another example: imagine that you buy a bar of chocolate, and later find that you have been short-changed by five pounds. Instead of allowing this to be a frustrating and pointless event, ask yourself why you created it. What is the Whisper from your Inner Self ? Does it reflect your Belief that you are hopelessly absent minded ? Or that people are mostly crooks ? Is it a metaphor for throwing away your resources - your time, money, energy - or allowing others to take advantage of you ? Perhaps you felt guilty about ignoring a charity collection, and so decided to punish yourself. Or perhaps it's an opportunity to be more philosophical, less clinging, over money ? Are you "short-changing" yourself by eating junk food, when your inner guidance keeps Whispering that you should eat a healthy diet ? Or is it an opportunity for you to be more assertive - to go back to the shop, request that they cash up and return your fixer ? Or perhaps several of these ? Which of them feels intuitively right ? Which possibility sends a tingle down your spine or gives you that "Aha" sensation ? Which sounds painfully familiar ? Which makes you feel energised ?
Every event is an opportunity to grow - if only we can learn to listen to the Whispers we are sent. The more we listen, the more Whispers we are sent. When your Higher Self finds a way of speaking to you, it makes the most of it.
ALL LIFE IS TRULY AN EXPERIENCE OF YOU WITH YOURSELF
It's crucial to realise, to remember, to know, that this is not just an intriguing way of looking at our lives. It's the way our system of physical reality works. Life is not like a Dream Metaphor; it IS a dream metaphor. Everyday events constantly mirror our inner world, offer guidance, or provide opportunities to develop personal qualities, skills and talents. Our everyday world is a truly magical oracle.
Of course, this doesn't mean that every cigarette butt on the street has a personal message for you. The Ego clutters up our Reality with a great deal of unnecessary detail, in the hope that we'll miss the Whispers - so we need to be discerning about what we pay attention to.
Since most people still live within a mundane world view, we also need to keep a foot in both worlds, to stay grounded to common sense Reality, to acknowledge that "This might sound crazy, but I think that blocked sink (or flock of seagulls, or broken light bulb) was a message to myself."
Any strange or quirky event is sure to be a Whisper.
A few days after his mother died, a friend recalls that he gazed lovingly at a photograph of his mother, while pondering whether life continues after death. The thought occurred to him "Perhaps the end is just another beginning" Then he sat down to watch a video of a film recorded while he was away at the funeral. The first few minutes of the film were somehow missing, but he watched it through to the end. Then, to his astonishment, the video ran on to the beginning of the same film - which was, of course, quite "impossible". The "End" is just another "beginning" is the message he decided he had been given.
Whispers frequently offer practical guidance in our career, relationships and other aspects of life. A friend was invited to collaborate in a New Age book project. On the way to the initial meeting she had to change trains and soon found that she was travelling in the wrong direction. As a result she had to make an expensive taxi journey to arrive at the meeting on time. Since my friend new that this was an uncharacteristic error, she knew it was a Whisper. Her Higher Self was warning her that the project, though attractive, would take her in the wrong direction, and that it would be a costly mistake. With a lot of misgivings, she eventually withdrew - and within weeks, as new opportunities opened up, it was clear that this decision had been the right decision for her.
Whispers can also point to aspects of our inner world which need attention. Recently, while driving a friend home, I turned a corner to find the road ahead severely flooded. Instead of taking a detour, I decided it would be fun to pass through the flood, and drove towards it. Meanwhile my friend was voicing fears and doubts; "There might be a great hole in the road" "It could ruin your electrics" I ignored him and drove on, enjoying myself. We passed through the flood safely, and later discussed the incident as a metaphor. Water is often a symbol of Emotion (or the sub conscious) and my desire to go through the flood symbolised my conscious willingness and desire to delve deep into my emotions. Yet my friend was mirroring another aspect of myself, a part of me which was fearful and hesitant, which would prefer to "detour" the Emotional depths, a sub personality which I needed to integrate and deal with (I, of course was mirroring another aspect of him). The very existence of the flood - the fact that I had invited it into my awareness - showed that I had Emotional "work" to do.
Messages about Emotional patterns are often expressed through the physical body. The body perfectly mirrors the current state of our Mind and Emotions. If we accept the mundane world view that disease has no inherent meaning or significance, that it is caused by infections, viruses, heredity, biochemistry and the like, and can be cured by suppressing the symptoms with drugs or removing the offending part - then we are throwing away a priceless gift, covering our ears as our Higher Self tries to speak to us.
Any symptom or illness is intended to be a source of growth. Every ache and pain, every common cold, every bout of indigestion, every headache, every broken bone has it's emotional meaning, and has come to help us - if we will listen to it's message. According to metaphysics, even terminal diseases can potentially be cured, by tackling the emotional blocks, imbalances and negative beliefs which are creating the illness.
OUR BELIEFS DETERMINE OUR EXPERIENCES
Suppressed anger and resentment for instant, might emerge as cancer or arthritis. Suppressed love might be expressed as heart disease. Suppressed tears might be symbolised by a weeping skin problem, or chronic rhinitis. Headaches usually represent an inner conflict. Neck problems might raise the question of who (or what) is a "pain in the neck" in your life. If you suffer from constipation, perhaps you are clinging to the past ? If you have cystitis, perhaps you are pissed off with someone ? If you are short sighted, does this represent your reluctance to "look ahead", to plan for the future ? If you have a sore throat, are you blocking communications ?
Whatever the "whisper" from your body, ask yourself what it's message, it's metaphor, might be. What is the hidden Emotion ? What are your negative Beliefs ? What, if you are honest, are the Pay Offs for having this symptom or disease ? Could you give up these advantages, or achieve them in more direct and positive ways ? How can you learn and grow from this illness ?
Exercise:
(1) Think of a situation, event or physical symptom you have experienced in the last few days. Write down this experience as if it were a dream. Try to ignore the clutter and detail, and look for the central themes or metaphors. The ask yourself why you created the experience. Was it a mirror of your inner world - your thoughts, Beliefs, Desires, Emotions, Fears, Choices or Expectations ? Was it guidance from your Higher Self ? Or was it an opportunity to develop certain qualities - such as unconditional love, forgiveness, inner peace, self love, honesty, strength, courage, wisdom or creativity ? Or all of these ?
(2) In the coming weeks and months, ask yourself as often as you can remember: "Why am I creating this ? Is it a mirror, guidance or opportunity ?
The world is a dream metaphor. We mistake it for Reality because we are so involved, so lost in the illusion, so absorbed by the drama, that we forget that we have chosen to be here, that we are willing participants in an elaborate stage production. Since we create our own reality, then everything "out there" is meaningful and significant. Reality is simply a feedback mechanism which reveals our inner world. As the Upanishads state: "What is within us is also without. What is without us is also within." The outside world is not a fixed, solid Reality, but a symbol, a means of communication, a map in our search for Oneness.
If we wish to know what we think of ourselves, we need only ask what we think of others. Buddhism teaches us to love our enemies, since they help us to grow. We have invited them into our lives as our teachers. By recognising that whatever we dislike in others is a mirror, an aspect of ourselves which we have yet to love and accept, we gain self knowledge and move towards Self Love. The more we love ourselves, the more we invite loving, caring, delightful people into our Reality. When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself.
Global events, similarly serve as mirrors of the inner world. Every news report, every global problem which we invite into our awareness - from the AIDS crisis to homelessness - carries a message, and not only a message about shifts in world consciousness and the need for global healing, but a unique personal message. Two people can hear the same news report, yet one hears that the world is full of conflict and hatred and the other hears of the many global efforts towards love, peace and harmony. For some the collapse of the Berlin Wall was a fearful sign that we are letting down our defences; for others it was a joyful, celebratory symbol of the healing of the divisions, the recovery of our lost wholeness.
If you choose to hear reports about terrorists and football hooligans, what is the Whisper about ? That you suppress your aggressive impulses ? That you like to imagine you are better than those you judge and condemn ? That you are afraid of yourself ? Yes, but that's just something that happened in the outside world. It's nothing to do with me. But you chose to have certain thoughts in response to that news. Whatever we become aware of, we have attracted for a reason - because it can help us to learn and grow.
To change your world you must change your thoughts. You must become consciously aware of what you tell yourself is true every moment of the day, for that is the Reality that you project.
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