3b Energy - Mirror Laws

Part I, Chapter 3. ENERGY (what we come into). (3) continued

More Properties and Rules which we can use

MAGNETS. (3D)

Magnets and magnetic properties are another property of Energy that is all pervasive. Much of our machinery uses these properties and the Earth itself is a huge magnet with the North and South poles and the flow of energy between them. Even small magnets have these 2 poles with the strange characteristic that the opposite poles attract each other and the same poles repel each other. Thus North and South poles have a magnetic attraction and 'pull' each other together, while two South or two North poles will push away from each other.

Magnets are an example in the physical domain of the absolute opposites of a continuum discussed in Chapter 1d and labelled as the AO1; the poles are the AO1s and the Magnet itself is the AO2; the poles define the magnet.

Life on Earth provides us with Contrasts and Opposites which come from the dualities of Life, and Mirrors; all to enable us to See our internal Selves.

CONTRASTS & OPPOSITES. (3E)

It is terribly difficult to get any sort of handle on anything without having some sort of comparison or contrast. In the absence of knowing anything about yourself, where would you start without having any contrasts or opposites?

Imagine if our day were all daylight. How would we define light or night?

This world of ours is composed of energy in an amazing gamut of contrasts, opposites, polarities and dualities in so many ways. It is the ‘relative’ world as opposed to its opposite of the (said to be) ‘absolute’ world of God (or ‘heaven’). Thus, these contrasts and opposites are properties of Energy. They provide tension (or intensity) within energy itself, and thus within us to varying degrees. Jung refers to this tension as ‘libido’ as a way to describe the internal energy of humans.

‘Consciousness loves contrast’ and in fact cannot do without it, and the structure of Life on Earth provides these in spades. From heaven to hell; nice to nasty; good to bad; and so on.

I used contrasts and opposites when outlining the basic ‘coat-hanger’ which is discussed above in Chapter 2.

The ‘coat-hanger’ of the AO1 and the AO2 is composed of contrasts and opposites, but with the unique quality that the AO2 unifies, but also ‘holds’ or ‘locks in’ the contrasts of the AO1, as well as being the opposite of (or a contrast to) the continuum between the AO1 ‘ends’. So, this is a strange thing. It’s a property of energy where it becomes clear that all 3 'corners' are necessary, and this provides a kind of stability. It also becomes a kind of ‘dance’ as we move through these 3 corners; thesis, antithesis and synthesis, all the time, as we find new things. All 3 ‘corners’ of the coat-hanger are valuable and necessary for life. The unity is necessary for the creation of new life and the duality is necessary for its support.  

The contrasts of opposites are throughout our lives. They are so much a part of our life that we may not realize how useful they can be to clarify for ourselves how/what we are thinking about a concept. When we look at these contrasts we do 2 things.

Firstly, we consider that each contrast is at the end of a linear continuum eg, daylight to twilight to moonlight to starlight to night, as in, we assume that this continuum is a straight line with light at one end and dark at the other. But that continuum's contrast/opposite is singular, and yet it encompasses both ends of the straight line. This is hardly obvious, so it's a pretty interesting property.

Secondly, what we insist on doing is judge the ends all the time. We want one end and not the other. One is ‘bad’ and the other is ‘good’.

GOOD AND BAD. (3E1)

It is a fact of Energy that it encompasses all, from the heaviest, lumpiest, grimmest, darkest, saddest, meanest, cruelest, hardest, ugliest and lowest, to the lightest, finest, joyous, brightest, happiest, nicest, kindest, softest, most beautiful and highest, and we get to choose what we want out of all this.

God/Life presents us with the great gamut of possibilities that we call ‘Life’, but it is difficult to understand that within each end of an opposite is the kernel of the other end. The yin/yang symbol is a much better depiction of this contrast because the Chinese are better at understanding this than we are in the West. Each end contains its opposite, and Jung was always trying to get this through. Sometimes too much ‘good’ leads to something bad, eg taking things for granted or failing to develop resources for changes in life circumstances, and sometimes the really ‘bad’ can lead to something really good, eg, when someone survives a concentration camp to give others hope in dreadful situations, etc. There is also a time dimension here. Bad things can force people to develop aspects of themselves that they would not otherwise have considered.

We prefer to just label whether things are good and bad at this immediate time without considering the potential for change over time in response to these situations. All the more reason to be careful about judging, which see below, under Blame.

However we can use the ‘linearity’ of the opposites to help us look more clearly at these contrasts. This is spelled out further below.

But the best way for us to See something directly about ourselves is to look in the Mirror.

MIRRORS & MIRROR LAWS. (3F)

I have discussed our wish to harness ‘the horse’ of energy for our own purposes, as well as the 4 domains of energy. But the most important property of all is that Energy simply mirrors us, although what is being mirrored is our InSelf/unconscious, not our outself.

To repeat, all life ‘out there’ which is Energy is Mirroring your ‘in here’, your unknown InSelf, always, forever and for everybody, all the time. This is what it does; it is a property of Energy which is very important and really rather amazing. So, in a way, ‘you are alone in a hall of mirrors’ and so is everybody else. (Although, you do also need to remember that you are 2 people inside, and therefore not technically alone; it just looks that way.)

We have been given life because it is so difficult for us to ‘see ourselves as others see us’. It is as if we exist in an absolute world of ourselves, and need the mirrors from others to get feedback for the energy we put out. [God worked out how to do it Herself, but it may have taken a while.] Remember, it’s actually easy to see others; it is only you that is unable to see yourself. It’s as if the real you occupies a point on your back between your shoulder-blades that you have no way of seeing for yourself without a mirror.

We need mirrors (and contrasts) if we are going to know ourselves, which is what we ultimately need/want to do. So, how does this fact of energy being a mirror work?

As a culture we are vaguely aware of..

..’do as you would be done by’..

..’as ye sow, so shall ye reap’..

..’what goes around, comes around’.

And less aware of..

..’you are alone in a hall of mirrors’..

..Jung’s Shadow and the mechanism of Projection, and

..Byron Katie’s ‘Turn it Around’ aka ‘The Work’, from the book ‘Loving What Is’.

But it’s kind of worse than these, because Reincarnation comes into it, so your decisions from past lives are included in your unconscious.

What I am talking about are what I label the Mirror Laws (ML). There are 2 Mirror Laws working all the time behind the scenes, although basically, they are the same concept. They are far more precise than the above and they are very tough indeed. I have called them the Mirror Laws because they come from looking in the Mirror. I also find them easier as a concept than Jung’s Shadow and Projection, simply because they are easier for me to keep my head around.

THE LAWS… (3F1)

The Mirror Laws (MLs) are….

1.       What we do to others IS what we do to ourselves. And….

2.       What others do to us IS what we do or have done to others AND what we do or have done to ourselves, in this life or previous lives.

Mirror Laws are saying that what someone has done to you is what you do or have done to yourself in some form or manner, as well as what you do or have done in some manner to others in this life or in a previous life.

Mirror Laws are telling us how we can tell what we are actually doing to our InSelf = the internal ‘other’.

The first thing they tell us is …

a. That we have an InSelf, and

b. That this is what we are actually doing to it, not what we think is happening, or our ‘stories’ about life. Your Life 'out there' is always Mirroring your InSelf’s actual energy or vibration 'in here'.

Notice here that the Mirror laws are about the whole spectrum of Energy and our relationship to it. Don’t forget that God has had to fit in with (submit to) these laws as well. They are basically, Love (TISP) leads to Life (which feels like ’heaven’ or ‘the garden’), while un-Love leads to un-Life (which feels like ’hell’ or ‘shite’).

[The Law of Attraction is a variation of these MLs, although many try to use it without understanding it correctly. The world ‘out there’ is matching or mirroring the energy of your InSelf, not your outself. Many people think that just bashing the InSelf with sufficient ‘wishes’, wants or ‘commandments’ should do the trick, but it doesn’t. (’If wishes were horses, beggars would ride’.) Your InSelf holds the Truth of You and wants your love and affection for it as it is, not your conscious domination of it or what you consider a good idea. (More in Goal-Setting.)

HOW IMPOSSIBLE IS THIS? (3F2)

But we find these Laws just impossible! It is much, much easier to dismiss them out of hand. Well, why are they so impossible?

We are not taught them per se. They are not really part of our awareness, although they are the basis of the ‘do as you would be done by’ instruction that appears to be fading from social awareness in the infotainment age. Jung’s Shadow and the mechanism of Projection are describing their action.

They really are quite severe, and we don’t like that, but we keep on expecting life to be as we think it ‘should be’, and it may be for some, but they probably take it for granted. While I suspect many people put on a ‘successful’ face (’we’re all having fun here’), I am not sure how many people are particularly happy about the way their life and/or the world is going. Life in the wild looks to be a fairly ‘life and death’ matter for the animals concerned, and it looks pretty fierce to me (’Nature raw in tooth and claw’).

Notice also that I use the words ‘in some form or manner’ and this is to remind us not to take things absolutely literally. Sometimes things in the external world have to be translated to the internal world, and vice versa. By this I mean that for example, emotional ‘violence’ can be as painful as physical violence, as in, the ‘violence’ can be in the Emotional plane rather than the Physical plane. Even Mental violence (untruths/lies) can be painful. The body ‘knows’ and feels the pain, and doesn’t really discriminate which of the PEMS domains/directions it is coming from.

This is also a warning not to take any domain entirely literally. Many things that may appear to us as in the physical external only can have an equivalent in the emotional or other domains.

An example here would be that if you perceived that someone else tried to attack or negate you somehow, that is apparent in the physical world ‘out there’, but that may be ‘mirroring’ your own tendency to attack or negate the other in the mental or emotional domain, but not the physical. However, you are still doing it, and you are still being shown something about how you do it, but you may need to use the metaphors to move to the other energy domains.

One of Jesus’ most difficult instructions was ‘turn the other cheek’, if someone had struck you for basically no reason apparent to you. This instruction is so far away from ‘normal’ behaviour that it is simply consigned to the ‘too hard’ if not impossible basket. How relevant is this instruction to our lives, particularly under the teaching that we only have one go at Life?

We would blame them, attack back if possible, physically or verbally, be a victim if we couldn’t, and so on. Our whole social focus is so oriented on blame and fear that we have a very hard time accepting that we ourselves may have had something to do with what has happened to us from out there, but in a previous life.

Mirror laws are the basis for ‘turn the other cheek’. There is plenty of evidence that Jesus was part of a society that believed in reincarnation. However, we no longer need to physically ‘turn the other cheek’ because we now have psychological processes for learning the lessons without having to experience being ‘bopped’ more than once if we don’t want to.

The Mirror laws as I have outlined them also imply that past lives can be accessed. Although we are taught that this is neither necessary because we don’t have them, nor possible because we don’t remember them in this life, this teaching is not correct. Past lives are quite easily accessed through techniques of talking to the unconscious if one knows how, and many people do. More about that later.

We need these Laws to enable us to understand/comprehend/realize our own energy that is internal to us. We cannot know otherwise. To rephrase this somewhat, we cannot know our own effect on others unless and until we can know their effect on us. It is only in this manner that we can begin to learn that what we do affects our self as well as others.

So much of our social understanding implies that what we do to others has no consequences, especially if we get away with it, and in many instances disrespectful treatment of others is rewarded (see Part III).

So what about when people do horrible things to us, and they can be horrible? These things have a tremendous effect on us, but it can still be a call to understand your own power to affect others and yourself, ie, be powerful for you.

Something horrible such as rape or any other form of major violence will be devastating to that person, but, and it is a big but, if that person can find her internal ‘violence/intensity/anger’ toward others (or herself), it actually transforms that internal energy into something very powerful indeed, and that insight can help the ‘violated’ to mobilize her energy in an effective manner. Further down the track this person could choose to become a very useful therapist for others who have had such things happen to them. Anybody who has looked for a therapist knows what it means to have a therapist who ‘knows’ and has ‘been there, done that’ and come out the other end in one piece, and by that I mean able to go on to build a satisfying life for herself and not needing to look over her shoulder all her life.

It is very difficult not to get stuck in the blame game here. It all looks and is rotten for the person concerned, and as for choice - well, impossible!!!. But our society has no mechanisms or answers to truly support this person in their troubles and ultimately to avoid the victim trap of suffering and being disempowered and consequently living a very fearful and difficult life. Our religion isn’t useful; our therapists are as scared as we are (that’s why they’re therapists), and the basic ‘compensation’ is possibly blame (but what if the perpetrator is not caught or is insufficiently punished?) and maybe lots of pity from someone, and still the person will suffer. But it’s simply not useful for our own growth and understanding. All we know is judgement and blame, and they just make us suffer.

The ML laws are also ‘saying’ that as we judge and blame others we are judging and blaming ourselves; trouble again.

But, and this is a big but, however much we may not like it, they are acting all the time because, not only is Energy a mirror, but,

This is the way in which we are all one. The external ‘other’ IS the internal ‘other’, or ‘they’ is ‘us’.

And,

They are the single most important reason for ethical behaviour on your part at all times for your own sake. (This should really be in capitals, at the risk of appearing to shriek.)

In our ‘greed is good’ society, we are losing sight of the absolute need for ethical behaviour; many people think that we should be this way because religions say so, but really, it’s because of the way that Energy works. Sooner or later, you will ‘wear’ whatever you do to the other, hence, what do you want to ‘wear’?

When you judge, blame, damn or despise another, you are doing that to yourself (your InSelf) as well. Whenever you treat someone badly, you are doing that to yourself as well. If you steal from someone or exploit or attack someone in any manner, you are doing that to yourself as well, and on it goes. This isn’t just other people either; it’s all life. The laws are a primary reason why ‘vengeance is mine, says the Lord’. It is not, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. Any vengeance on your part is acting on your InSelf as well; you are doing it to your InSelf. So, don’t. As someone ‘attacks’ you, they are ‘attacking’ themself; they get to work this out, too.

The best way to short-circuit blame is to consider that there may be something to See that might be of value to you in these circumstances.

Of course, it is also true that when you treat another with kindness and respect, you are doing that to yourself as well. This is the basis for the church teachings of ‘being good to others as the way to learn to be good to yourself (’Love thy neighbour as thyself’). However, there is a problem in the middle of this maxim that is called ‘motive’, which is why I focus on being good to one’s InSelf and loving this internal ‘other’ first, (the ‘as thyself’ bit) which is difficult enough as it is, for most people.

The worst part is considering that we ourselves have done ‘bad’ things in the past. But we have, and there’s no way around it. It may have been inadvertent, but we have still done it. It is part of our exploring and it is part of God’s allowing, but we still need to understand/comprehend our own internal energy, and Mirror Laws are part of how we get to do that. I also wish to reiterate that we are not here because we’ve been ‘bad’ or 'sinners'; we are here because we want to learn to ‘ride the horse’, and God knows that that takes quite a while to work out. All of us have 'sinned'; it's how we find out about Energy and its effects. It also cannot be done in theory; you have to get on and do it if you want to learn.

('Sinning' has so many horrible connotations. We worry that it stops us getting back to Heaven, and it leaves us stuck on Earth which we don't like. I deal with this more in chapter 6.)

AN ASIDE: What is 'the Fall' about?

There really is an awful lot of hoo-hah about 'the Fall', but what is actually being referred to here?

Sinning.

This 'Fall' bit mostly seems to be about how we have all 'fallen into badness' from being 'good', and are now sinners and stuck on Earth as punishment. The Devil is also supposed to be a good angel who has fallen also.

But, to repeat, 'Falling' down to be on Earth is part of our exploring of Energy so that we can use it for ourselves. (It is impossible to be truly kind if we have not experienced unkindness from others and also realized the value of the right/appropriate word or action. Similarly, real courage is in the face of real fear.)

'Falling' in Space.

However, it is also true that Spirit as 'unlimited in Space' is free to flick around as it pleases. But, if it doesn't 'flick off' it is at risk of falling, and that falling feels like it goes on and on forever, which is not a good feeling at all. The fear of falling seems to be very 'built in' to us in terms of instinctive, hence particularly unconscious (and unavailable to our conscious, and probably sitting in the 'old' brain); even very small children recognize a 'drop' when they see one. It's as if we scrabble to find something to hang onto and can't. I consider this fear to be about what matters to us, and is part of our need to 'ground' ourselves, as in, be connected to Earth. 

APPLYING/USING MLs. (3F3)

The main way to use them is as in Byron Katie’s ‘The Work’ where we ‘turn it around’. [It also turns up in the 'spiritual' exercise of 'How am I that (which I am judging)'.]

So for example, if I am cross because I feel that someone is not caring about me, I can turn that around and ask ‘Am I being shown something about how I am not caring about me?’ (as well as how I may not be caring about others), and you may find that indeed you do not, and it is also true that when you care about your InSelf (your internal ‘other’), others may do that also, but it will not matter to you if they don’t.

The extent to which I feel rejected by others is the extent to which I am rejecting my InSelf, and/or the other, and so it goes.

A larger example would be that I could hate someone for the way that I perceived them as having treated me in this life, only to find that I myself have treated others in just such a fashion (if not worse!) in a previous life . I could also find that my behaviour at that past time was inadvertent because I had no idea at all of how to treat other people well, or even take them into consideration in the first place. I can now consider that maybe I needed to be on the receiving end for once so that I could understand that others may not like what I did then. True understanding only comes from experience, and if I choose to consider that I might have chosen this situation simply to understand why it is not a good idea to mistreat others, I can choose again to behave differently in future.

And I think that’s what it is all about. You are looking for ways to ‘love what is’ in whatever way you can for your own ultimate benefit.

The only person you have to forgive in this is yourself. The ‘strange’ thing being that as you forgive yourself you begin to realize that others are doing their normal bumbling and pfaffing around as all humans do. Not to mention learning to be particularly careful about your own motives for whatever you intend to do in the future. Nor do you ‘have to’ do anything either. In the end it’s just so much more enjoyable to find these insights and grow into love for your own self, all of you.

The Mirror Laws are universal laws and are in action regardless of whether you like it or not.

They will make more sense for you under these attitudes..

·         Realizing that there are things we need to See or understand; basically referred to as ‘lessons’. Remember that we are trying to find out what is inside us by using what is outside us.

·         We have multiple lives – Reincarnation. These laws are in action whatever you believe.

·         Complete choice in this life and every life, and that choice is in how you respond to whatever.

You are using and are meant to be using Life to learn how to be apart.

To be apart properly means healing the split within your own psyche and differentiating yourself out from being a part. You are trying to find your own uniqueness, which is what you and God actually want.

Life (=God) provides …

·         Multiple lives

·         Contrasts and opposites and

·         Mirrors

all for you to experience. And asks you to choose whatever you want because God knows in the end you will choose God because you are God, which is the nicest way to be anyway.

Conclusion.

The Mirror Laws are there all the time, because Energy is reflecting your InSelf back to your conscious, so you can See who/what your InSelf/unconscious is. It is also true that whatever you do to others, consciously or unconsciously, you’ll ‘wear’ it, ie, it will be done to you. This is for you to See and Know for yourself what it’s like being on the receiving end. Hence, be aware.

Life brings you what you need to know, not what you think you want. The most useful attitude for you to adopt for your own sake is to work out how you can use that information or even look for what the advantages of your current situation might be. This is what ‘taking responsibility’ is for and about. Use the Mirror. You can always trust that bit.

It’s as if Life presents us with a pack of questions that we have to answer for ourselves.

We just cannot be told – we can’t ‘hear’ what others have to say.

Hence, we have to work it out for ourselves, and we seem to have to own our own behaviour in all lives and all the consequences thereof; this being how we learn.

But we will be extremely pleased with ourselves when we have found our own answers to our own questions. It’s called ‘consciousness’, which = ‘Know ThySelf’.

So, then, how many lives do we get to practice with?