An Inside-Out world: Reality and Illusory-Based Thinking

Almost all of us navigate the world through a set of controlled hallucinations. While we should give up these controlled hallucinations, we have all agreed to collectively call them “reality.” Our reluctance to give up our controlled hallucinations makes sense, except that suffering ends up being the consequence.

Regardless of how our thought systems convey and repeat the message, we still seem to miss it. We fail to understand, appreciate, or see that this is an inside-out world. In other words, we continue to navigate the world as if it was happening to us, as if we were victims of it. Understanding that this is an inside-out world entails taking responsibility for our lives, and our circumstances.  Yet this is no easy accomplishment; for many reasons:

1. We are socialized to think dualistically: It’s either/or, it’s all or nothing – and there is no grey area. As such, we are socialized to either blame the outside for our own lives, or blame ourselves for our life situation. Both lead to suffering. And, both are based on an illusory context. If the only two options we have are between blaming “others” or “things” and blaming “ourselves,” then taking responsibility for our lives remains elusive.

2. We’ve spent our life “believing” in an outside-in world. Beliefs direct our actions, which means we act as if things are coming from the outside into our brain instead of the other way around. Because we try to remain faithful to our belief system, we behave accordingly. It is hard to consider what life would be like if we stopped pretending that it was an outside-in one.

3. We are oblivious to the concept of Consciousness. Yes, we experience it all the time and would not be able to experience without it. We would not be able to enjoy a movie, get fully into it, and still know that it is just a movie. Consciousness allows us to do this. Yet, we still have no idea what the decisive factor is; what Consciousness is. It takes a different level and state of Consciousness to see Reality, to shift to Reality-Based Thinking, and to see harmony instead of the effects of Illusory-Based Thinking (controlled hallucinations).

It is very easy to mistake illusory-Based Thinking as meaningful because it is contrasted with Reality. However, its relationship put in context, will help us fully understand how and why it is meaningless. This, in turn, can be summarized as follows:

1. Reality is all there is. Reality is the only Source. And, Reality is the only thing we can see.

2. This means in the absence of Reality, there is nothing. In the presence of nothing, our brain makes up something based on our Ordinary or Normal Blueprint. Our mind creates an illusion.

3. However, the illusion still has its effects, and we do not passively perceive the world. Instead, we actively generate it.

This third point is crucial. The fact that something meaningless, not real, and does not exist, can affect us, is a hard pill to swallow. The reluctance to give up this false belief is not without consequences. Judgment, attack thoughts, projections, and the resulting suffering stem from Illusory-Based Thinking, and they all have an effect, while remaining meaningless.

Many of us make the shift when it no longer makes sense to continue to suffer, and we experience another way that leads to a different result. This is easier said than done. Shifting to Reality-Based Thinking is not a straightforward process. But there is a way to make it happen:

1. Have the desire, decide, be determined, be willing, and be committed, to make the shift.

2. Practice giving your brain a new point of reference, a new Blueprint, a new template to draw from.

3. Practice regularly, frequently, and intensely until your new point of reference becomes more predominant than your habitual Illusory-Based Thinking

4. Use everything you perceive in the world, in others, in yourself, and in situations, as a feedback mechanism, or feedback loop.  Use it to determine if you are operating from Reality-Based Thinking or Illusory-Based Thinking. And commit to making a shift each time it is necessary.

This includes those times when you beat yourself up for not “getting there fast enough.” If this comes up for you, know that you are merely operating from Illusory-Based Thinking, and it is an invitation to make the shift.

For Reality-Based Thinking will, and can only bring you harmony, peace of mind, and an end to suffering.

If there is any skepticism, it is a sign of which context we are operating from, and the invitation is there to be put to the test. Testing it and experimenting with it, allows us to see for ourselves. Then, we become a model to help others and to help our patients and clients cease suffering in their lives, so they too can be a model for those around them. This is how you and SWEET will change the world. First, let us always remember: “Clinician, heal thyself.

Let us start now. We’ll see you on Tuesday, October 27, 2020, 7-9pm at our next class in our beloved and powerful Psychotherapy Certificate Course.

As ever,

Karen and Mardoche