Like beauty and happiness, the world itself is in the eye of the beholder. This is a result of differences in perception. Every human being sees the world in a unique way. Perception is influenced by a person’s history, experiences, beliefs and feelings. The movies offer a good example of this.
Film and Influenced Perception
Think for example of the film The Matrix. A person just emerging from the theater after seeing the film might experience a feeling of ultimate power and possibility. This is not because the world somehow changed during the time of the film; the person’s perception changed. The movie temporarily influenced the person watching it to induce a feeling of possibility. The only change was within.
Or what about a horror film? After seeing The Grudge, the movie-goer may feel that her house is particularly dark, and that the ghost of a little boy is lurking in every corner. In reality, there are no more (or fewer!) ghosts in the house than there were before the film. The change is all in the mind and the feelings of the person who watched the story.
Perception is fluid. It can be changed by external factors such as films, or it can be changed from within as the result of an experience or realization. Each human being has the power to change his or her perception and resulting experience of the world. In short, if you change your perception, you change your world.
What is Perception?
In short, experts explain perception to be a view of the world and life that is unique to each person. It is influenced by a person's experiences, emotions, and beliefs; all of which were cultivated in the past. You are a product of your past, and as such, view the world and all that's in it in a certain way. Conversely, your perception of the world also influences your experiences of the world.
After seeing The Matrix, you are infused with a sense of power. When seeing The Grudge, you see ghosts everywhere. Neither view has anything to do with “true” reality. Your experience of the films influenced your view and experience of the world. In the light of this, there are two important things to realize about perception:
- It is seldom accurate
- It can change
Using Perception to Create Reality
Joining some of the great philosophers, some spiritual leaders promote the idea that there is no ultimate reality; no reality that exists outside of perception. There is only person A's perception of reality, person B's perception of reality, and so on; there is no ultimate reality that exists beyond this, thus everything is perception.
It's thought that human beings create and understand reality through perception. This is as true of the physicist as it is of the spiritualist. People observe things that happen and create explanations for them. These explanations become a person's reality. If explanations meet certain criteria, a person can even get many people to accept their reality, making the illusion of the "real" even stronger. This is how people create reality.
Perception, Reality and the Law of Attraction
The good news is that reality does not need to be something that happens to you because of things you experience. Anyone can create reality by understanding the fluid nature of perception. This is also the main idea that is promoted by the Law of Attraction – you can attract what you want by harmonizing your perception with your desire.
The first step is to recognize that your perception of the world is a choice. It is not necessarily true or accurate. You can choose to see the world in the way you do, or you can change your mind. When you understand this, you can begin to actively create your world and your experience.
Let’s take the example of a job that a person really desires. Thinking negatively about one's ability to get the job will negatively influence his ability to land the position. It is a cycle: negative thought leads to negative results, which leads to further negative thought. So if a person wants the job, she must change her feelings and thoughts to reflect this.
Negative perceptions of how the world works limit one's ability to get what one desires. But you can change the thought behind the perception, and eventually the emotion and belief ruling it. When you accomplish this, there is no limit to what you can achieve.
Perception and Desire
When your perception and desire focus on the same things, you can have or achieve anything. Once you realize that you have a choice of reality and experience, there is literally no limit to your world and your happiness in it.
Resources:
- Matrix of Mind Reality - See the World in Code. Retrieved from MindReality.com
- The Power of Perception. Retrieved from Abundance-and-Happiness.com
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