Be Careful What You Wish For
Dear friends,
There have been many books written about manifesting, getting what you want, having it all, creating your own reality, etc. These ideas are fine as far as they go, but they miss a crucial point: There is no point in getting what you want if the object of your desire is going to be bad for you.
I have mentioned before that one of our great pitfalls is to live too much in our likes and dislikes. Our lives tend to be outward expressions of our whims and desires. It greatly behooves us to try to tune in to what Spirit wants for us, rather than what our subconscious or even conscious minds want for us.
Yogananda used to say, “The intellect is a slave to the passions.” If we want something enough—or want to avoid something enough—we can generally be quite clever about figuring out a compelling argument that supports our preconceived notion.
There’s a joke I have always liked that makes this point clear… A man dies and finds himself at the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter is checking him in, and during the process the man notices a large pile of attractive new items. He asked Peter what they are. Peter said, “Oh, that’s the heavenly junkyard. Those are the items I tried to give people on Earth. But they turned them down.”
The man said, “That’s ridiculous. Look at all that fantastic stuff. Why, there’s even a Mercedes in there!” Peter said, “Funny you should say. You were the one who turned that Mercedes down.” The man protested he’d never do such a thing. Peter told him he had tried several times to give him that very Mercedes, but the man kept visualizing a new Volkswagen! :)
Babies are often reaching for shiny things that look great but that they ought not to have. Or they are rejecting something they need but just don't want. Are we so different? The laws of manifesting can be made real through application of enough will and discipline. But until we are guided properly, our desire for something may not be well placed.
May we each accept the limitations of our own vision, and seek always, in our hearts, to know what Spirit wants for us, trusting it is for our highest good.
Blessings,
David G, manager
For the gang at East West