What‟s Wrong With This Picture? – Stephen Davis
―Virtually all human adults have gathered together in various groups in the back of the theatre, each group trying to discover how to change their reality, usually with a leader providing guidance to the followers, often with some written text or rules or guidelines.
Each human adult has achieved at least a modicum of self-responsibility at this point; and some of the groups even give lip service to individual change, although the main focus is still on them, out there, who continue to involve people like us in movies full of pain and suffering. But as I said earlier, being a human adult is not a bad way to spend your life; and there are some amazing results that can be achieved by belonging to one or more of these groups.
It‘s possible, for example, the content of the ‗3D Movies‘ (1) in which you are still immersed might appear to change slightly after applying something you learned in a group. Some human adults might see more changes than others.
It‘s also possible the movie content doesn‘t change, but you find certain techniques of how to better deal with the pain and suffering inflicted by the movies. Some human adults might learn to deal with it better than others.
You can even have all kinds of mystical or extrasensory or paranormal or psychic experiences, moments of union with God or oneness with all that is or cosmic consciousness or so-called enlightenment.
You could learn to control your heart rate, lie on a bed of nails, move objects and bend spoons, make parking spaces appear where you want them, do psychic surgery, have out-of-body experiences, become telepathic or clairvoyant, and even levitate. If these are your goals, you can accomplish them all as a human adult in the back of the movie theatre, assuming you find the right group and apply yourself diligently to the task.
But there‘s a problem – A BIG ONE - Several big ones, as a matter of fact!
When they arrive at the back of the movie theatre, most human adults believe, ultimately, life should not include any pain and suffering at all, that your reality could actually be one of constant and abiding joy, abundance, power, and love
– Heaven on Earth, if you will.
But you‟re not there yet, despite all the work you‟ve done and all the
techniques you‟ve learned and all the meditating you‟ve „sat/sang‟ through.
Why not?
Page 19 of 179
The Meaning of Life & Who Is Your Infinite I?
For two reasons - One is the belief in life without pain and suffering is just that
– a belief; and there‘s no evidence this belief is true. Have you ever met (I‘m not talking about hearing or reading second-hand stories from the past) anyone in present time living in constant and true and abiding joy, abundance, power, and love (constant and true and abiding eliminates those few who spend their lives trying to fake eternal bliss)?
If it were possible, don‘t you think it would have happened just once to some human adult in the back of the theatre whom you know, or your friend knows, or your friend‘s friend knows? After all, many of these groups claim it‘s possible for everyone to achieve.
The second reason is that life inside the movie theatre is not designed to include constant and abiding joy, abundance, power, and love, as we‘ll see in a later chapter. It will never happen there. True, you might be able to have more financial success, for example, as a result of joining some group; but your love life then goes to hell. Or you might find your ‗Soul Mate‘ and have years of marital bliss, but for some reason you can‘t make enough money for the things you want. Or many circumstances around you can seem to be going well, but then you or a family member or a loved one suffer an unexpected accident or illness and everything changes again. You might even develop a mystical power or two and have moments of oneness, only to have the high wear off eventually and discover you‘re still not happy with your life most of the time.
The truth is, as a member of a group in the back of the movie theatre, you will never change the basic storyline of the movies, at least not in any significant and lasting way, or in the way you think you want to. Many have tried, but virtually none has succeeded; so you‘re not alone in your desire or in your frustration. Put very simply, a human adult in the back of the movie theatre can never get all its ducks in a row at one time, no matter what it does or believes or pretends. It‘s just not possible.
Why?
The first huge problem is that none of these groups actually work – none of them produce the results they claim they can. Before you slam this book closed and try to defend your personal choice of a particular group or two, please take an honest and objective moment to consider………
When you look at the world today, do you really think the human race as a whole is more peaceful, more loving, more tolerant, more fulfilled, happier, safer, better fed and better housed than it was ten years ago? Or fifty or a hundred years ago?
Page 20 of 179
The Meaning of Life & Who Is Your Infinite I?
When you watch the evening news, doesn‘t the opposite appear to be true? Doesn‘t it seem like the world – as portrayed in the ‗3D Movie‘
surrounding you – is heading in the wrong direction, away from constant and abiding joy, abundance, power, and love and into greater depths of pain and suffering despite all the efforts of all the different groups that have grown exponentially over the same period of time?
After hundreds upon hundreds of years, of hours upon hours of meditation by millions upon millions of people, not much has been achieved, other than maybe a few very isolated cases. After that much meditation, where are all the so-called enlightened ones, and why don‘t they comprise a bigger percentage of our population?
If ‗The Secret‘ or the ‗Law of Attraction‘ actually worked, we should see a large number of their followers manifesting wonderful things in their lives on a regular basis. I wouldn‘t even require a 100% success rate to consider these kinds of techniques effective. ‗The Secret‘ or the ‗Law of Attraction‘ worked 50% of the time for 50% of the people who tried it; I might deem it worthy of attention and praise. But when only a very few people get results only a very few times out of many when they use these techniques………
After all the positive thinking and compassion and pilgrimages and prayers and altars and sweat lodges and stone circles and ceremonies and rituals and sit-ins and demonstrations and protests and endless
‗Course in Miracles‘(2) meetings, we‘re still no closer to peace on this planet than we‘ve ever been. Even the ‗Hippie Movement‘ (3) had little or nothing to do with ending the Vietnam War, and at the moment we‘re involved in two more wars just like it.
All the profound changes in human history have come from a single individual, not a group – both good (Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Moses, Confucius, Martin Luther, Copernicus, Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Cai Lun – who invented paper in China in 105 AD) and bad (Ghengis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc).
I repeat, none of the groups in the back of the movie theatre produces anything close to what they claim for the overwhelming number of their followers. I do not say any of this judgmentally; I am not blaming them, or criticising them, or saying they are wrong for their lack of success (in fact, I know their lack of success is perfect for the way the movie theatre is designed). I am merely stating fact, pointing to the elephant in the room, explaining that the emperor is naked. Nor am I saying none of these groups work because they didn‘t work for me.
Page 21 of 179
The Meaning of Life & Who Is Your Infinite I?
As you read, I was involved with a lot of so-called spiritual and self-help groups for more than forty years, involving hundreds if not thousands of people. I have never met one person out of those thousands whom I would say has achieved what the group promised!
Have you?
I also want to remind you that I decline to be a ‗Guru,‘ (4) teacher, coach, mentor, or leader of any group, so I have no vested interest in making them all wrong and myself right in order to get you to follow me instead. I am not interested in followers, so I am completely free to tell you the truth as I see it, and as anyone else can see it if they look closely and carefully and honestly.‖
☼☼☼
My Impression On Above Chapter: „The Parable of the Rope‟
We are like a person holding on to a piece of rope………We hold on for dear life, knowing that if we were to let go we would fall to our death. Our parents, our teachers, and many others have told us ―that‘s the way it is;‖ and when we look around we can see everyone else doing the same.
Nothing can induce us to let go!
Along comes a ‗Wise‘ (5) person. She knows that holding on is unnecessary, that the security it offers is illusory, and only holds us where we are. So she looks for a way to dispel our illusions and help us to be free.
She talks of real security, of deeper joy, of true happiness, of peace of mind.
She tells us that we can taste this if we will just release one finger from the rope.
One finger, we think; that’s not too much to risk for a taste of bliss . So we agree to take this first ‗Initiation.‘(6)
And we do experience greater joy, happiness, and peace of mind.
But not enough to bring lasting fulfilment.
―Even greater joy, happiness and peace can be ours,‖ she tells us, ―if we will just release a second finger.‖
This, we tell ourselves, is going to be more difficult. A little voice in our heads asks us: ―Can I do it? Will it be safe? Do I have the courage?‖
Page 22 of 179
The Meaning of Life & Who Is Your Infinite I?
We hesitate, then, flexing our finger, we feel how it would be to let go a little more ……… and we take the risk.
We are relieved to find we do not fall; instead we discover greater happiness
and inner peace.
But could more be possible?
―Trust me,‖ she says. ―Have I failed you so far? I know your fears; I know what your mind is telling you but please, trust me (this feels crazy, that it goes against everything you have ever learnt). Look at me, am I not free? I promise you will be safe, and you will know even greater happiness and contentment.‖
Do I really want happiness and inner peace so much, we wonder, am I prepared to risk all that I hold dear? In principle, yes; but can I be sure that I will be safe, that I will not fall? With a little coaxing we begin to look at our fears, to consider their basis, and to explore what it is we really want. Slowly we feel our fingers soften and relax. We know we can do it (we know we must do it). It is only a matter of time until we release our grip.
And as we do an even greater sense of peace flows through us.
We are now hanging by one finger. ‗Reason‘ (7) tells us we should have fallen a finger or two ago, but we didn’t. Is there something wrong with holding on itself? We ask ourselves. Have I been wrong all the time?
―This one is up to you,‖ she says. ―I can help you no further. Just remember that all your fears are groundless.‖
Trusting our quiet inner voice, we gradually release the last finger……… and nothing happens.
We stay exactly where we are.
Then we realise why. We have been standing on the ground all along.
And as we look at the ground, knowing we need never hold on again, we find
true peace of mind.
Page 23 of 179
The Meaning of Life & Who Is Your Infinite I?
FOOTNOTES
1. Wikipedia – 3D Movies;
2. Wikipedia – Course in Miracles;
3. Wikipedia – Hippie Movement;
4. Wikipedia – Guru;
5. Wikipedia – Wise;
6. Wikipedia – Initiation;
7. Wikipedia – Reason;
☼☼☼