One of my favorite books is The Kybalion which states that we live in a “mental universe”.
If you have never read this book, I would highly recommend it. Here is a playlist of the free audio book I listened to as I read through the text for the first time.
I have read The Kybalion multiple times, and the idea of the mental universe is one part of the work that sticks out the most to me after all these years. And over the years my understanding of what a mental universe is has evolved.
Here is how I have come to think about this after years of thought, and years of experience that have evolved that thought…
Think about a camera. A handheld machine that captures moments in time for review later on.
You point the lens at a scene you would like to remember. Then you focus to make sure the image turns out clear. And then, *click*, you freeze that moment in time so you can view it again later.
Taking a photograph requires a “good eye”, does it not?
You must be able to envision the final image you wish to capture in order to frame it correctly, and you always want to make sure the composition is balanced.
You snap your shot, and then you will remember those moments you spent watching that majestic waterfall or sunset every time you look at the photo.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but go deeper than that. What kinds of feelings do your old photos inspire within you when you review them later?
Now, think of a memory you are quite fond of. Any memory will do. How are you feeling now as you recall that deliciously delightful memory? Probably pretty good, yes?
What makes that memory so special? Was it a beautiful day? Were you with someone you love? What was your mind focused on at the time the memory was created?
Use your imagination to bring those delightful feelings up as palpably as you can right now and sit within them for a few moments.
How do you feel now?
We live in a mental universe. Our mind is what assigns the significance to each memory we hold. When we assign positive associations to the experience we are remembering, we call it a “good” memory. And the opposite applies to what we call “bad” memories.
But the lines between “good” and “bad” are up to each individual to decide. You might have had an experience that you call “bad” that I would call “good” and vice versa, due to the way that we each choose to perceive the world.
And our individualized perceptions are created by us based on the stories we tell ourselves about our experience.
But what does that mean, you might be asking? Think about it this way…
We have an experience.
We judge it to be either “good” or a “bad”.
We use the memory we retain of that experience to judge and shape further experience.
That said, we use the memories of the totality of all past experiences to inform our overall decision on “how to be” as we interact with ourself internally, and with others externally.
If we get a haircut that we judge to be “bad”, then we will never return to that barber or stylist.
If we eat at a restaurant and feel the food was incredible, we will go back, and we will tell many of our friends how good the food was at that place.
And the list goes on in every way possible. Apply it to any memory and see how those memories have shaped your ongoing actions.
But how do we form our judgement of the experiences we live? We are like cameras in the sense that we use our sensory organs to perceive the world around us.
As we experience the world, our eyes capture visual data while our ears capture sonic data. Then we use our minds to judge the things we liked and disliked, compare them to previous data, and then the output of these actions forms our perception of the experience we have just had.
If I choose to believe that the adversity I face in life is a “good thing”, that all adversity happens to teach me lessons, then I will learn from every experience I have, whether you might judge it to be “good” or “bad”. This is the mindset of a champion.
If I choose to claim victimhood when something I judge to be “bad” happens, then my viewpoint on the totality of experience in life will be much different. Will it not?
By choosing to be a victim, I will see the world through a victim’s eyes, and I will see “bad” things happening to me, instead of for me, as if the world is out to get me. My perception of the world will evolve to be much different than how a champion views it.
We live in a mental universe. We are the judge of the totality of experience that we have under each of our belts. Since that experience shapes how we see the world, it also shapes how we behave in the world.
The quote, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” comes to mind. Think about this right now based on what we are discussing here. Has your perception of that quote evolved at all?
In Article #9 of this publication, we discussed Forgiveness and how to break what I call “The Chain of Hurt”. If you have not read that piece I ask you now to do so.
With our new understanding of how perception informs behavior, it makes a lot more sense how “the chain of hurt” gets formed in the first place.
Hurt people hurt people because their minds are focused on the pain that they felt in the past due to whatever experience they had. Hurt people can only escape from that pain by choosing to step beyond it.
When they continually claim that pain, they keep themselves locked within it by recalling and recreating it over and over through the victim mindset.
When a person uses their mental power to do this they can not help but recreate that pain over and over in their own lives, and in the lives of others.
The only moment we can ever live in is “NOW”, and if we are constantly feeling how we felt when painful things happened in the past, what we are actually doing is consciously recreating that pain over and over again in each now moment.
Healed people heal people because they are capable of changing their focus to see the bigger picture. They recognize that they are the photographer who develops the meaning of the images their minds use to make sense of the world, and they take responsibility to focus their mental creation on the most beautiful imagery they can.
Never forget, my dear reader, that you are the one who chooses how to frame the perception of your experience. You are always in control of your mind, but like any other muscle in your body, your mind must be trained by you.
The untrained mind is easily swayed by external force with your permission. And champions choose to program themselves, rather than allowing external force to influence how they will be.
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During this week’s practice we will train our minds by using goals to keep us focused on what we do want, rather than what we do not want. Goals are one incredible way to stay on track and focused on creating the mental you-niverse that we actually want to live in.
Writing your goals down makes them real. When you can stare at your own intentions expressed in the form of goals in your own handwriting, something beautiful happens in your mind, and you are far more likely to earnestly work toward realizing your wildest dreams.
If you do not write your goals down, they will be far too easy to cheat on because they are still just unrealized ideas floating around in your head.
Ideas are fleeting, but goals are lasting benchmarks that build beautiful experience when attained.
Example: At this time I am training for a bicycle race at the end of July. Because I am focused on winning this race, my mind is at its sharpest. My diet is rock solid, I am exceeding my daily ride mileage goals, and my ability to stay away from alcohol and processed sugars is on point.
If I get a craving for a piece of candy or for a beer, I instantly recognize that partaking in those things will not help me attain my goal of winning the race. So they are easy to skip.
If I feel tired and do not want to ride, I push myself onto the bike anyway, because riding each day will help me win the race.
It is truly that simple.
When you lock your mind on to what you want, you will be amazed at how easy it is to stay away from the things you already know are holding you back.
I invite you to set your own goal to work toward, and to begin the process of checking it off your list this week. Then, once you achieve your goal, observe what happens to the mental you-niverse you live in.
Set a realistic goal that you know you can achieve, even if you know it will require you to push yourself. By setting yourself up for success on your first goal, you make it easier to raise the bar a little higher for your next one.
Trust yourself. You know the way.
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My dear friend, I am imagining you smashing your goals by making dedicated progress toward them each day. I am imagining you feeling as you truly wish to feel at all times.
Now, if you are still here with me then I would like to do something special. I happen to have two copies of The Kybalion, and I would like to send one copy of the book to one of my readers or listeners that will benefit greatly from it.
Please leave a comment down below and tell me why you would like a physical copy of the book, and I will pick one person to send it to. The winner will be announced in next week’s publication on Wed July 13, 2022.
I will pay the shipping, so do not worry about that. Consider the book as my way of saying THANK YOU for being here and for reading the writing that I put my heart and soul into.
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If you are asking yourself, “Who the heck is this guy and why am I sitting here reading what he has to say”, then start here at #1.
And please remember, I am not your guru, you are :)
The beauty you see in life depends on how you focus your attention.