Chapter 2, part 14, Perception and Focus, Letting Go.

Before we go forward I would like to tell you a story…

There was once a young boy in a school yard who had other students standing around him in a circle. They were laughing, pointing, and making fun of him. Maybe it was because he looked funny, had been a geek, or maybe he was just different. Regardless, there he was.

As the masses poked fun at this boy he began to cry. With his head in his hands those around him felt a certain type of victory yet they still kept picking on him. The boy had nothing left to defend himself, yet it was here that something wonderful occurred.

Within the boys soul something shifted. He didn’t know what it was nor did he understand it. Instead, he simply felt the change, and this is all that was required. Slowly the boy rose his head to witness all of those around him.

Rather than asking questions the boys mind went silent. He simply witnesses what was occurring whilst the emptiness, humiliation, anxiety and torment moved through his body like the wind. He could now feel the emotions, though they did not belong to him anymore.

As the boy looked around he began to recognise the faces of those making fun of him. They were not faces of individuals at peace, nor were they free. The faces were filled with hate, anger and rage. But over what?

As the boy looked deeper into the children’s expressions he witnesses their inner torment. They were reflecting their own inner pain outwards to him. He himself was reacting to the other children’s projection of themselves.

Although the boy understood, this knowledge was not provided to him by thought. The present simply was. He was as much in control over it as he was his own heartbeat.

As the boy continued to look around the group, watching their pulled faces and random expressions, he began to laugh. He didn’t know why. He was not laughing at them, he was just… laughing.

The audience were suddenly at witness to something they couldn’t comprehend. Some of the children were frustrated and ran over to push the boy, yet the boy didn’t react. He continued to smile without malleus or hate.

The group around him, one by one, began to disperse. They were no longer getting the reaction they required. Eventually everyone that was around him had left him behind, and yet the boy felt less alone than he ever had in his entire life.

 

I have had a few discussions over the past week about what I wrote regarding control. The main object of thought was that there is no control. Instead, once we relinquish the idea that control even exists, the pressure valve can release and the mind can relax. It is at this point that we stop trying to take on the whole world. We break down the barriers in our mind which make it all seem too much. And finally, we start to focus more on the immediate things that we can actually affect.

Once again this is a reflection of perception. Our reality has not changed, yet our mindset has. Taking control and releasing control are in many ways the same thing. Whilst we get wound up in other people’s projections we can forget that we have our own. We need to let go of the idea that we can control everything, and it is only then that we may realise that we actually do…