A course in miracles talks about how we see the past, when we see something new. As an eternal student, I try to remind myself that what I learned in other classes doesn’t always apply to new concepts. But it can be really hard to apply that, and sometimes my own ego get’s in the way (wanting to be right lol) - and not feeling like a newbie.
But back to the concept, why do we see the past? In the first place - I guess on a psychological level, we look for reference points.
My go-to mantra is: Forget what you know. For me, mantras and affirmations serve a similar purpose. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying tells us that mantras are a shield to keep your conscious mind from drifting off into unconscious territory LOL.
Why Would One See The Past?
So for example, if we went for lunch and were introduced to an athlete, instead of viewing that new acquaintance as someone in their own right, we may project the feelings that we had about the jocks at school onto to them, despite the fact that it has been 20 years. If I had a bad experience, I may not respond so nicely. If I was part of the team, that perceived connection may lead me to be warmer, etc.
In either case, we respond to a new person based on the past, and not on what is happening in that moment. It's one of many filters that color the way we view the world and how we interact with others. It is a big stumbling block to overcome!
It Also Blocks Our Learning...
As I am sure you have noticed - I love reading books, attending classes and learning new things. One of the biggest blocks to learning something new is actually thinking that you already know the answer - or an answer. That is why, when I attended my first Reiki class in 2013, I made a conscious decision to check everything I thought I knew about energy healing at the door. This made it possible for me to open up...
I try to do this in every class that I attend, telling myself that there are many ways of working, practicing healing or accessing our intuition. But sometimes our blindness gets the best of us and we see things the old way. All this year I have been struggling to wrap my head around a concept that we learned in my Practical Kabbalah Class, and today it finally dawned on me that I was viewing the material through the lens of the books that I have read, and missing the mark completely.
Ask To See The Big Picture
This Practical Kabbalah class is unrelated to the Kabbalah Centre of red string fame, where I also studied. Developed by Dr Joseph Michael Levry, we use numerology, the Tree of Life and astrology to map out the planets that are most influential in our soul's path. Our main planets are represented on a symbol with five points for Spirit, Air, Earth, Fire and Water. In the books I had read before, whenever someone drew this symbol it was to infuse an object or a space with one of these four elements (or to remove it). Here, we draw the symbol to activate our personal planets.
It may seem silly, but I couldn't understand why we were told to draw this symbol in one direction and not another. This question has been on my mind since November, and our teacher, Dalia, explained it to me twice in class. Very patiently too... Anyhow it wasn't until this morning when I remembered that mantra, that I realized I wasn't working on clearing or activating an object, I was healing myself. The panorama changes and they way you draw the symbol does too. So yes, this was my super stubborn way of learning to see for first time; I'm glad it is done and I can get back to activating my planets!
Interested In Affirmations?
Affirmations are wonderful if we know to pay attention to the feeling that arises when we say them. Is the feeling aligned with the phrase you send out to the Universe??? I like to combine affirmations with colouring, mandalas, music and even Reiki, as laid out in my Chakra Healing & Magick book. It is funny because I feel I channeled my Higher Self into the book and I’m now using it to heal myself. Hope it helps you too! See link in bio or check out the bookstore, HERE.
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Regina Chouza is an energy healer, angel medium and the author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. Blogging at Diary of a Psychic Healer since 2010, her passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. Read her books to unlock your intuition.