Connecting with true reality

With billions of people creating their own realities, will the ‘real’ reality please stand up!

I saw a video recently of astronauts viewing the earth – the beautiful blue ball rotating in the darkness of nothingness, and how that view changed them forever. It kicked an absolutely new reality for them. The reality of their minuscule-ness, though paradoxically placed with their oneness with the vastness of the universe.

The unique vantage point for the astronauts gave them an access point to fully perceive what they already knew. Knowledge is clearly not everything. And that’s a bummer. Especially since we spend much of our youth focusing on knowledge.

Definitely knowledge is not everything. For if it was, a person struggling to quit smoking for example should have done that, with just the knowledge of it’s harmful effects. No matter how passionately he thinks about ‘kicking the butt’, it creates no new reality for him. He is stuck forever in an old one.

Perceiving true reality does not lie in realms of our cognitive faculties alone. So what is the trigger point for people? What is that “Earth – gazing effect” when people experience an “aha” moment? When they make a deeper connection to something they already know? When they genuinely perceive the nature of true reality, even though they had ‘known’ it all along?

Why are these trigger points important? Because perceiving true reality creates shifts. And shifts channelize energy to create a new reality. It empowers a certain kind of action. This action could be to do something less, to stop doing something completely, to do something more or to perhaps start something new. All of these actions seemed hard if not completely impossible before. But the shift makes them possible. Imagine the addict to smoking, perceives what genuinely lights him up, will he ever have the need to look for that ‘light’ again outside (pun intended).

The trigger to creating this BIG shift is rooted in feelings.

But how may you stir these up  in yourself, your community or your team to help create a new reality or to perceive the true nature of reality?

Being on this path for my personal and professional development, I have discovered the crucial role of words, visuals and stories. They are like the wise sage who speaks directly to your heart. These devices paint a perceivable picture from abstract possibilities. They build your strength to continue on a path of creating a new reality. They shine light when we tread through our darkest moments. When we trek through unknown territories they show us the light at the end of the tunnel. Remember how Alice felt when she fell through the rabbit hole and found herself in wonderland. They make us see that wonderland. The possibilities they create are endless.

Knowledge that is intrinsically placed in our heads, but not fully downloaded in our system is of little use. The power lies in how skillful we are in communicating with our hearts. I am reminded of a beautiful saying by Rumi “If words come out of the Heart, they will enter the Heart”. And once words are placed in our hearts they help us see the true nature of reality.