Inspiration is everywhere. Mine came in yoga class today. While struggling in the inevitable down dog pose, I heard “Oh, mirror in the sky / What is love?” via Fleetwood Mac and, between sucking in air, I began to think of the Principle of Correspondence.
As The Kybalion says, “As above, so below; as below, so above.” This principle embodies the truth that there is always a correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life.
Moving into plank position, staring down at my mat, I thought about the Universe looking down and what it was wanting me to do, how did it want me to move, is it going to help me hold this plank without passing out? Then, moving into up dog, staring off toward the ceiling, it hit me: we project up, not the other way around.
I started to question: Should we look to the heavens for help or should we look to ourselves knowing that all that is divine projects from us?
Lying prone on my mat at the end of class, I realized that instead of looking to a higher power, or to a politician, or anyone else “in authority,” I should start with myself. I am the ocean in a drop, the universe in a star, and all the beaches in a grain of sand. Not the reverse. And so are you.
But what can one person do? Does focusing on one’s thoughts and actions really have an impact?
I believe that yes, they do. All is connected through energy, so many single movements build energy and become synergistic. You too can see this right now.
Go outside and watch a single bird land on a wire or fence. Watching this bird, notice all of its individual movements: a flap of a wing, a hop, preening behavior, twitching gazes… Then watch another bird land and you see the same thing: two individual birds doing their own thing, not seemingly connected.
Continue to watch the wire or fence as more birds congregate and you will notice a group energy emerging and WHOOSH, they all take off at the same time, in formation, swooping and diving and flying in formation, seemingly synchronized effortlessly.
But does this happen in humans? You bet. We are connected. Energy blends with energy. Like attracts like. You’ll see this in the grocery store when everyone seems to gravitate to the checkouts at the same time or at the amusement park when the one ride you wanted to get on suddenly develops a following.
We can use this energy and start the ripple that will build to collaborative movement.
So, how to start?
- Keep an eye out for small movements: small things you can do and affect only you, or seemingly so.
- Then, look to what you can do for ONE other person. Watch the chain of events your kindness prompts.
- Keep up the individual thoughts and actions even when you see no mass results.
- Focus on the good in others and amplify it by adopting it. Shun that which doesn’t raise the vibration of your soul. (Hint: if it makes you angry, queasy, afraid, or dejected, it’s not raising your vibration.)
- Mirror that energy back and soon there is a tipping point where individual energy has melded to the point of movement.
I’d like to leave you with some wise words. They’re not mine, but I am taking the individual action of sharing them with you, and I hope you’ll do the same:
We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.
—Mahatma Gandhi
