Chapter 4
The Outside as Mirrors
Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.
—A Course in Miracles
To succeed in your journey to the center of your heart, it helps to fully understand the terrain on your path. We’ve seen that vibrations reverberate like a drum within your body, sending out an emotional signal so that you can pay attention and then respond and release any slower or unsupportive belief energies. At first, these signals might make you stumble, but there is really only one thing that will actually stop you from going forward, and that is closing your eyes or going unconscious. Even when you are not looking, the path to the center of your heart is always there. Walking that path is just a matter of learning how to move forward, eyes open, so that you won’t stray from your path or find yourself stuck.
On your journey, you are given a feedback system, a mirror that lets you see what is going on inside of you. The concept of the world being a mirror for self-reflection is often misunderstood. When people or situations appear in our lives, they provide us with experiences in which our beliefs and emotions emerge into our conscious awareness. In the Talmud, a central text of mainstream Judaism, it is written: “We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”6 In other words, the reactions or responses you have to experiences that happen outside of you are your mirror or feedback system, assisting you to become aware of the beliefs and emotions you carry within.
Often, these beliefs and emotions are so familiar to us that we aren’t aware of them. As we look out upon the world, the people and situations we encounter hold up a mirror for us. For example, if a troubled person on the street comes over and yells at me, the mir