A New Year's Experiment:
Let Go of Assumptions
Lately, instead of writing my Active Consciousness articles to a fixed deadline, I try to wait until inspiration hits me and trust that it will. For me it happened this morning.
I woke up thinking about the fact that it was already January 6 and I had no idea what to write about for my January newsletter. After breakfast, as I usually do, I sat still for a moment and contemplated what I felt
guided to do, and I sensed the urge to do some reading in a book I've been enjoying lately, The Trust Frequency by Andrew Cameron Bailey and Constance Baxter Marlow. While doing so, I came upon this passage:
"Our awareness is profoundly conditioned by our assumptions, by our core beliefs concerning the nature of reality. The nature of our assumptions and their vibratory rate or frequency has a huge effect on the state of our
consciousness, creating a filter through which all of our perceptions and experiences are channeled."
This passage instantly triggered the memory of a dream I had last night. In my dream, I was talking to a child who was telling me that they saw spirits and other beings walking around them all the time. I asked whether they had to do
something special to see this and what it was like. They said, it was just like seeing normally, you just had to stop blocking your perception of it. In other words, instead of doing something, you needed to
remove any assumptions about what you could and couldn't perceive. You needed to be completely open to it.
In the December issue of the Active Consciousness Newsletter, I talked about my idea of the Original Self -- the person you were born to be, before all the stories,
burdens, and assumptions of life and family and culture were layered on you. Reflecting upon my dream, I realized that this Original Self innately possesses a mode of perception free from assumptions. A very young child, for
example, looks out at the world and simply sees all that is there, without filters.
Can you recapture this aspect of your Original Self? Try it as an experiment the next time you meditate. As described in my book Active Consciousness, settle
first using "Feet. Seat. Back" and then leave your eyes open while meditating. Just be open, without filters, seeing perhaps as an infant would. Not only is this relaxing, but you may start to perceive a much more open and energetic
reality around you. It may even feel a bit dizzying!
Of course, it's not just about seeing. Letting go of assumptions can alter and expand your perceptions and understanding on all levels. Not that assumptions are innately bad. Assumptions help us to navigate the world and aid
us in being more efficient while doing so. For example, how could we drive without the assumption that most people will follow the rules of traffic? But occasionally letting go of assumptions can be a freeing exercise that expands and
energizes you.
As you enter this new year of 2014, try playing with this idea -- letting go of some of your assumptions about what your year will be like. Be open to anything! In the conceptual language of
Active Consciousness, expand the possible futures emanating from your choice points and widen your scope of possibilities! This will both enliven you and
fundamentally change the year that you can and will ultimately create.
