Which View Do You Want To See?

Our third floor window looked out onto a stand of trees. During the summer they provided a beautiful green curtain, and in the fall a glorious riot of color.

Then one day, fall ended, and the leaves were gone, revealing a different view.

Some of it was delightful. I could see the paths through the trees, shade loving plants, and hidden animal homes. One day I even saw branches in the middle of a tree forming a heart, and blowing in the wind.

Some of what stood revealed wasn’t pretty at all.

I could see the wires and generators from the electrical plant, and lights from the parking lot next door shone in our windows at night. Without leaves on the trees that lined the highways, I could see the river, but I could also see the strip malls, rows of homes, and factories.

Our perceptions are like the leaves, when we lose them, the view changes.

We love the glorious changing of the leaves, but are often afraid to change our perceptions. Perhaps it is easier with leaves because we know what to expect when they change. We know it is time to get out the winter clothes and put ice scrapers in the car.

With changing perceptions, we never know what the results will be. However, we do know that as surely as the falling of leaves are the beginning of a season-shift, so the changing of any perception is the beginning of a life-shift.

We may resist changing seasons, and we may resist changing perceptions, but they are still going to happen.

The difference is, unlike my view from the window, we get to choose what we see, by choosing which perception we use.

There are four seasons, but only two kinds of perceptions; the one based on the worldview and the one that springs from a spiritual point of view.

One begins on the outside, and one begins on the inside.

One says, “There is never enough,” and one says, “There is infinite abundance now.”

One says, “Work to get what you want, but when you do you won’t be satisfied,” and one says, “Start within and you are always satisfied.”

One says, “It’s everyone else’s fault that you haven’t succeeded,” and one says, “Success is relative, and begins and ends with you.”

One says, “Fight for want you want,” and one says, “Trust and forgive.”

One says, “Be afraid,” and one says, “Be at peace.”

Which one shall we choose? Shall we choose the first one – the worldview that begins on the outside, or the spiritual viewpoint that begins on the inside?

Remember, no matter which perception we choose, it always results in an outside experience that we call our life.

The worldview perception needs us to continue to choose it in order for us to see the view its way, and it is not often a pretty view. When we stop choosing the worldview, it dissolves into its native nothingness.

This is the reason why the worldview perception is so aggressive. It needs us to choose it in order for it to maintain its illusion of power. It promotes distractions so that we don’t recognize that the view that it is creating is not what we actually want.

It uses fear, entertainment, advertising, and friends; family, obligations, necessities, money, health, social rules, business rules, hate, separation, wars, and even love, to distract us from maintaining and living in a spiritual perception.

The spiritual viewpoint, perception, doesn’t need us to choose it in order to exist. It is. However, when we choose it, our view is always lovely.

The only real “power” we have is our choice of perception. This is a stunningly simple and beautiful truth. With that truth in mind, which view do you want to see?