During my recent meditation, I recalled a question posed to Buddhist teacher Bhante Seelawimala. The query was about bringing greater harmony amongst religions and our world. The Buddhist monk said, among other things, that we must not hold onto our point of view too tightly. When we do, it creates an 'I’m right and you’re wrong' mentality that often leads to conflict. Seelawimala went on to note we must have an expanded point of view to see a more excellent array of solutions to the seeming challenges we face.
Having such an expanded point of view can, not only help bring about greater peace and understanding between religions, countries, and cultures, but also help us rise above our problems by giving us access to the “Ideasphere." In the Ideasphere, there are only divine solutions. As spiritual beings, we can self-reflect, giving us the power to choose and access the divine solutions in the Ideasphere.
A Persian proverb about a bug in a rug highlights the value of an expanded perspective. According to the story, a little bug crawls around a rug, and strands of wool surround it like giant trees. It keeps bumping into one big tree after another. The huge strands are everywhere as the bug tries to get to a small crumb of food.
The wool strands seemed like huge problems. Yet if the bug could raise itself above the rug and look down, it would be able to see the problems as part of a beautiful woven plan. However, the bug could not do that.
If we don’t expand our point of view, we will be like the bug in the rug.
However, many people have released their grip on their points of view, enabling them to make a significant contribution to the world. One such person was Nelson Mandela.
Mandela was in a prison cell because he fought to end apartheid in South Africa. He was sentenced to a life of hard labor. Initially, he was tightly holding on to the limited belief that his vision of harmony and an apartheid-free country would never happen. This belief consumed his mind.
Then, one day, a thought popped into his mind like raindrops falling on a parched field. He expanded his thinking by saying to himself, "Maybe my vision can still happen." He nurtured that thought and began to embody the idea that his vision could manifest.
He further reflected on that expanded thought and discovered that what appeared to be a hopeless situation was precisely how it should be. He took it a step further and began to believe that, despite appearances, being in prison was the means to the end of apartheid.
He began to relate to this idea more and more. Once he fully embodied that mindset, the idea of writing letters and getting those letters to the Western news media occurred to him. Correctional officers he befriended mailed the letters on his behalf. A worldwide movement soon started, putting pressure on the government of South Africa to change its ways. Eventually, this led to his freedom, and Nelson Mandela became the President of the country, who had unjustly imprisoned him.
It all started when he expanded his perspective and tapped into the limitless possibilities of the Ideasphere.
We are here to do the same.
Peace and Blessings,
James
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