Here’s a thing I see a lot.
We’re facing a situation; maybe struggling with it a bit.
Then we get a shift in perspective, or have a good idea, or see a way through.
🥳
But then things go a bit wrong, or it looks like the idea we’ve had wasn’t so good after all, and we can’t figure out why, because surely, we’ve had an insight now?
The problem went away… but we still don’t feel right? What gives?!
😖
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Here’s a metaphor that might help
I find the easiest way to conceptualise this is with the notion of a Great Glass Consciousness Elevator (from hereon in to be known at the GGCE ↕️).
I think I read about this in one of Michael Neill’s books, and it’s a very simple idea:
For instance:
- GGCE ↕️ Ground Floor: Problem in our face. Can’t see the wood for the trees. No perspective. Terrible. All seems urgent. No way out. Life is rubbish.
- GGCE ↕️ Level 3: Oh! Look! Bit of perspective on the problem. Not such a big deal after all. I can see the problem here, now I’ve got a bit of altitude on it. I can see a way through it, from up here.
- GGCE ↕️ Level 7: Problem? What problem? 🙈
… and so on.
Crucially:
- We go up and down the levels all day long (much faster than you’d imagine)
- We don’t get to choose what level we’re on
- There are no buttons to press, sorry 🤷🏻♂️
- There are infinite levels: no top or bottom, so all measurements are relative, not absolute
Real life example
To use a real life example, let’s say you were getting seriously angry with something or someone (GGCE ↕️ Level 1) and then you have the realisation that you’ve fallen for that trickster Thought again.
😮
For a moment there it really looked like that person, or that situation was what was pissing you off… when of course, it’s just the data of life’s happenstance rubbing up against your conditioned thinking, and the fact you hadn’t spotted that, is what’s causing your suffering!
🤦🏻♂️
You were, once more, an innocent victim of the outside-in misunderstanding (i.e. the mistaken, societally-conditioned, pernicious belief that feelings could come from anywhere other than the Principle of Thought).
Phew!
You’ve seen something different, the old thinking has kind of just fallen away, and you see the situation with way more clarity, understanding and compassion.
Oh, look!! I’m on GGCE ↕️ Level 4 all of a sudden, awesome!! 🙌🏻 I didn’t have to do a thing. How cool is that?! I love how this works!!
🥰
Oh my god, I feel so much better! Now, why couldn’t I have seen that sooner?! Lordy, I’m such a dufus. That person’s not to blame, I just got tricked by Thought again! Ha ha, what a relief. So easy to fall for. Being human, eh?! Crikey, I do wish I wouldn’t do that. Why do I always fall for it? I’m sure other people don’t get caught out so easily. WTF is wrong with me?!
😞
And before we know it, we’re busy thinking up a storm again.
But… (and this is the crux of it) it’s a GGCE ↕️ Level 4 Thought Storm ⛈️ not the GGCE ↕️ Level 1 Thought Storm ⛈️ we just left behind.
Why does this happen?
I think this is because we feel the change between levels, not the level itself (because it’s all made up; it’s all arbitrary; it’s all relative).
To the mind, it really looks like leaving GGCE ↕️ Level 1 behind, having an insight and moving up to GGCE ↕️ Level 4 as a result means we’ve got it sorted. No more worries. Everything hunky-dory now.
In 3Ps-parlance, we “fell out of our thinking” and “returned to presence,” when we spotted that we’d been tricked by the outside-in illusion again.
But GGCE ↕️ Level 4 comes with its own thinking. It’s an actual reality that’s being created and you’re inhabiting. It looks just as true as GGCE ↕️ Level 1 did when you were down there, and everything you see and do and interact with, will be seen and done and interacted with, wearing your GGCE ↕️ Level 4 goggles.
It’s exactly the same at GGCE ↕️ Level 5.
And Level 500.
Even Level 4,725,747,995,235 and beyond…
It’s just that we won’t spot it.
Because whatever level of consciousness we’re operating from, we will experience thought, masquerading as presence.
What can we do about this?
Nothing. There’s nothing to do, only something to see.
Knowing that there even is this conceptual Great Glass Consciousness Elevator (and what it’s doing) is 9/10ths of the battle.
And this means we’re naturally grateful when we experience the high of moving up a level or two.
Similarly, we know not to take the sinking feeling of dropping a few levels very seriously, ‘cos it’ll change again, all on its own.
Importantly, we don’t spend our lives desperately seeking a button to press, to change the level ourselves. (If there were buttons, they’d all be for lower floors, lol.)
Crucially, we get to enjoy the ride, appreciative of the fact that staying on one level would be boring as hell and we’d never get to experience the wonders of the human condition.
💟
Giles
Related
Giles P Croft
Different metaphor, pointing to the same thing ✨