Can we create our own reality? part 2
Since "all you see in your world is the outcome of your idea about it" (p.75), we are creating reality even when we don't intend to. Even major natural disasters like hurricanes are created by the collective consciousness of the world (p.106). Also, "all illness is self-created" (p.187). The reason the world is in the bad shape it's in is because we've created this reality for ourselves by our choices. All suffering, including that which is caused by natural disasters, is the result of choice. By itself, nature wouldn't hurt anything because "Nothing, nothing is more gentle than Nature" (p.50).
The solution to the problem of evil and suffering is that we simply choose a different reality. "If there is some aspect of creation you find you do not enjoy, bless it and simply change it. Choose again. Call forth a new reality. Think a new thought. Say a new word. Do a new thing. Do this magnificently and the rest of the world will follow you. Ask it to. Call for it to. Say, 'I am the Life and the Way, follow me'" (p.92). To take control of reality, we have to take control of our thoughts, because although we all create reality, "some of you are using it unconsciously, without even knowing what you are doing" (p.92). We must stop thinking negatively. To create something you want, think only that one thought, rejecting all others. "When your thoughts are clear and steadfast, begin to speak them as truths. Say them out loud. Use the great command that calls forth creative power: I am. Make I-am statements to others" (p.92-3).
I wonder if anybody actually believes any of this. It seems like such utter nonsense that to refute it would be to give it more credibility than it deserves. There isn't a person in the world who can walk outside, say, "I am an eagle," and then begin to fly, and it isn't for lack of want. There are plenty of people in mental institutions who are quite convinced that they can fly. In fact, that's why they're in mental institutions. They're a danger to themselves. People who think they can fly have a tendency to jump off of tall buildings and get hurt. But if, as God says, "life can show up no other way for you than that way in which you think it will," then we really ought to let these people out of the mental hospital so they can fly. That is, if we actually take Walsch seriously.
But I'm not sure if Walsch even takes himself seriously. The reason I say that is because on the one hand, he recommends that if we want to change something in reality, the first thing we need to do is think only that one thought, and "When your thoughts are clear and steadfast," the second thing we need to do is "begin to speak them as truths. Say them out loud." So if I want to change the fact that I'm poor, I need to create the reality of me being rich by thinking really hard about being rich and start saying things like, "I am rich." (It's important to say "I am" since the universe responds to "I am" like a genie in a bottle.) But on the other hand, he says, "If you're broke, you're broke. It's pointless to lie about it, and actually debilitating to try to manufacture a story about it so as not to admit it" (p.79). It's as if there's a glimmer of sanity in the book. It's as if Walsch took his views to their logical conclusion and realized they were absurd. But he left the contradiction unresolved.
I wonder if the makers of that movie, Bruce Almighty, were familiar with this book. In Walsch's book, God says that he gave each of us "the same power to create which I have as a whole," so that we can "create physical reality out of thin air." We've all got God's powers, just like Jim Carry in Bruce Almighty. Good grief!
to be continued...
Part 10
2 comments:
Jeff,
First, I doubt if Walsch really believes what he's saying. But even if he does, he's got an out. Since reality can show up no other way than the way in which we think, then we create reality even when we don't intend to. He could always claim that the reason he can't get out of the torturous situation is because he just can't stop thinking about it, and him thinking about it creates the reality of it. He'd rather get his mind on something else--a walk in the park perhaps--but he can't get his mind off the torture.
Jeff,
YES!!! I thought the same thing--that his view would have to reduce to solipsism. Either that, or we're all thinking the same thing, which is obviously not true. Everybody creates their own unique reality, then it's impossible for us to ever interact with each other since we're all living in different reality. If everything around us is a creation of our own reality, then even the people we see are created by us. They're not more real than the characters in our dreams. We're all alone! Good observation!
But I would really like to get his reaction to my argument. My argument is basically that there's such a thing as delusion. There are people who really think they can fly. But if the world can turn out no other way than how we THINK it will, then it's impossible to ever be deluded at all. People who think they could fly should really be able to fly if Walsch were right.
Sam
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