We clinicians, both veterinary and human, are steeped in science. Science gives us confidence because it is based on what is real. When we know what is real, then we can analyze it, see how it works and try to manipulate it for our desires. There seems to be security in knowledge and since our knowledge is based on science, it is easy to see that if you threaten our science, you threaten our security.
Since the time of Copernicus, medicine has focused on science and throughout the years, science has been a remarkable tool for learning about the body, how it functions and what happens to make it diseased. As technology has caught up to theory, we find ourselves even more convinced in the reality of science. We now see things that a short while ago, we could only imagine. But, how real is real?
I love to talk to clinicians about reality. When the logic of the reasonable mind starts questioning itself, there can be some hilarious reactions. Our mind has convinced our self that what we perceive is real and since it is real for me, it must be real for everyone. Tell that to a frog who sees with eight eyes or a bat that is navigated by infrared radiation (that we cannot detect with our senses).
So, what is real in your reality? Let’s start by looking at your mind and how it creates the sense of reality. Research tells us that when we see something, we don’t actually see its reality. Our mind, in order to be efficient, sees something, separates it from the other things around it, conceptualizes it, remembers the concept of the object and the mind creates a reality based on that concept. The mind gives you a picture of that object, not how it currently exists, but how your memory remembers that it is supposed to exist. The same goes for hearing something, tasting something, feeling something, and all of the sensory input that goes into the brain. It appears (no pun) that your reality in the moment is not actually real. Instead it is just a compilation of memory-induced perceptions projecting from your mind. Remember the old tv commercial, “Is it live or is it Memorex?” Well, it’s Memorex.
The mind cannot even perceive what is real and what is memory. Want to prove it to yourself? Close your eyes and imagine biting into a sour pickle. See yourself holding the pickle and taking a big bite. Chances are, you will start salivating. The mind believes it is happening and it informs the body to react. There are many examples of this, from running in bed while dreaming of being chased to visualizing your heart rate to slow down and it does.
Ask a visually-impaired person to describe the color, green, or a hearing-impaired person to describe the sound of a trumpet. Obviously, they can’t, at least in a way that you are familiar. It is because they have not experienced the sensation we perceive and their brain can’t project a memory of a never-existing experience. It becomes pretty obvious that either one of these person’s reality would be far different from ours. Their real and our real is relative.
If I am creating a reality that is based on my mind’s memory and you are creating a reality based on your mind’s memory, and knowing how inaccurate our memories can be, is it wise to even imagine that my reality and your reality are even close to being the same? Probably not. What appears to be real is that the only real in reality is relative (a pun).
After the discovery of the electron microscope, two physicists were studying the effects of subtle energy. Subtle energy is energy that our senses cannot perceive. They were trying to isolate the smallest perceivable energetic unit. This unit was called a quanta. The story goes, when the first scientist isolated the quanta under the microscope, he was amazed at what he saw. He jotted down his notes in detail. After he finished, the other scientist looked at the same unit under the microscope. He too was in awe and meticulously wrote down his notes, detailing the quanta’s characteristics.
The two scientists began to talk to each other about their findings. They soon realized that each of their descriptions were completely different. Even though they were looking at the same quanta unit, they perceived two distinctly different units. It turned out that in order for the little energetic unit to become real, it required the scientist to participate and project his beliefs on it. Reality seems to be relative to our perceptual beliefs. It is the final cog in the event of creation. Nothing can exist in our reality without our awareness and our awareness is based on our beliefs. Beliefs actually become our reality.
If this doesn’t rock your world, it should. All throughout religious and spiritual history, there is referral to our ability to be co-creators of our world. Now, science has appeared to prove it. When we realize this, all we have to do is to look outside and see our perceived reality and we can experience our beliefs. If we see a fearful, unhappy world, this would suggest that we have an inner belief that our life is unhappy and fearful and then we project it onto our reality. This, in turn, confirms our inner beliefs and re-enforces them, creating a vicious cycle.
If we are experiencing painful events in our reality, we have obviously created them. The good news is that if we created them, we can re-create them. This is what we call healing.
The mind, over the many years, has convinced us that “out there” is separate from “in here.” There was a time that our mind convinced us that the world was flat and that universe revolved around the earth. We cannot depend on our conditioned mind for the Truth. If we do, it gets in the way of our creative potential. Remember, to paraphrase Jesus, “If you just have enough faith in a mustard seed, you can move a mountain.” This basically means, get the mind out of the way and create your desires. It appears that you are creating them all the time, you just weren’t aware. Now that you know, you can start working towards creating a life that is not so fearful. Do you want to create illness or do you want to create wellness? It appears that it is your choice.
