“All is Mind and Mind’s ideas. Every idea unfurls itself from your mind, as the pattern within a roll of cloth unrolls and exposes itself. Every thought we think first exposes itself in our own body, and then in our circumstances and environments.”
~ Emma Curtis Hopkins - Lesson 4 - Self Condemnation
My front yard garden is mostly self-seeded, filled with ‘volunteers’ from last year. I left the plants in the Fall, giving them space for their lives to unfold in natural order. Carrots flowered, fell and reseeded. Sunflowers found new ground to stretch. Kale; once fine, delicate new shoots, matured into woody, tree-like trunks, sprouting new shoots of leaves, over and over again.
There is no hiding what I was up to last year. The garden bursts forth with evidence. Three years ago, I had a packet of daisy seeds that I planted in a neat row. Their first year they grew green and I forgot what they were. Now, 3 years later, I have abundant bunches of tall Shasta daisies throughout my garden.
Think of your mind like a garden, but, instead of plants, see it as a place where thoughts spring up. We are the caretakers of our own minds. No one else can sow seeds (ideas, beliefs, judgements…) in our garden, unless we allow it. AND there is no hiding what thoughts we have chosen to think.
Like the garden at my house, the patterns of the thoughts we most entertain may not reveal themselves for months, or even years. (Asparagus and bamboo need at least 3-5 years to establish, too). But eventually, unless there has been an eradication plan implemented, the lived evidence will reveal the true nature of our mental plantings.
This is an example of “the Law of Mind”. Our thoughts become things (or experiences) in our lives. We can only experience what we already know inside.
So, let’s talk about Self-Condemnation… At one point, I realized I let the mullein in my garden get out of hand. Mullein is a biennial herb that can grow up to 9 feet. Its fruit is a capsule, containing numerous minute seeds. Last year, I had three beautiful plants that grew higher than the first floor of my house! I was mesmerized by their size and beauty. With a desire for my garden to follow its natural path, I left the plant alone. The result… … a dense carpet of baby mullein! Whoops!
Like a gardener, we all have, at times, indulged in self-condemnation or self-blame for our past behaviours. These regrets stem from the idea that we ‘should have’ done our past differently. And here’s another interesting fact: when we condemn ourselves, we also tend to attract other people who blame us. Let me explain…
I have a son who uses guilt quite effectively on me. He leverages his desires by pointing out my weaknesses… that just so happen to tie, oh-so-nicely, into how I self-judge. I respond to the spiral of how I “could have, should have” done life differently. The thing is, my son’s ability to wield such power over me doesn’t come from him, it resides in the regrets I hold within. The GOOD news is, we all have a far greater power than that which works against us!
Throughout the summer, I work many long and hard hours tending to my front garden. I plant, water, weed, prune, harvest and plant again. I spend time bent over in the hot sun, getting intimate with the soil, bugs and sprouts. I carry bags of manure, cans of seaweed, and buckets of wood chips. Time, effort, perseverance, focus and desire drive me forward. It is a creative process I love.
But what of my Life? Upon reflection, I wonder, do I put the same effort into the garden of my mind… in order to create a life that nurtures my desires?
Renowned metaphysical teacher, Emma Curtis Hopkins, wrote:
“No matter what the garden of your mind (where the thoughts spring up), may be full of, just know this… that you are given power to pull up and burn whatever thoughts you have thought. And, if you will close the soil of your mind tightly around one word, (one idea), not allowing another single word to grow up there till the full (wisdom) of this new word is accomplished, you will find that everything in your experience will be different.”
The Most Powerful Word
“Every word carries its own quality of power… with us, and through us, and by us, and for us when we speak it.” Emma continued.
Today, I want you to find your word. This is to be an affirmative word you can say that overpowers every other thought, for you. It may be a person, or a name… What word, to you, for you, is the most powerful word that overpowers any other?
NOW… undertake the great effort (or even more), of a committed gardener, and work that word into the garden of your life. Do it daily, hourly, every minute! Think of the time you put into any other activity, and the results you get that reflect the effort you have put in. Have the same vigilance with your powerful word. Squeeze out any other limiting thought.
I love my garden and people admire it’s natural beauty (so do the neighbourhood animals, birds, and insects)! There is nothing to condemn. Likewise, for the hours I may have spent in self-condemnation, I insist on changing this behaviour by implanting my powerful word instead. I want you to do the same. Ponder Life and Its Infinite Nature. Read spiritual literature, meditate, contemplate the great parts of your daily experiences. Spend time with friends who can help you in revealing the weeds of your thinking.
Lean in and do the hard work! Clear the pathway, plant the seeds of your best life and work it! Work it when you’re happy, when you’re tired, when you are sad… most of all, just keep at it. Keep working this one powerful word into your life, and telling any other thought that doesn’t serve you that it no longer may have room in your life. Then watch, over time… the garden of your life will morph and change and become something entirely different… a thing of beauty you had no idea was even possible! Today I plant ideas of greatness. There is just One Power, Infinite, Whole and Expansive in all Its brilliance. This is the only Reality. I am focused and clear. I continue to find expanded evidence of this Truth. The focus of this good intention expands, my life transforms, and for this I am so grateful. Good is everywhere present, and I surrender to this Truth. As I let go, Life reveals Its beauty through my everyday experience… effortlessly.
And so it is.
~ by Jill Brocklehurst-Booth
Write me, let me know what your word is, and I will add it to my list. admin@theCentreCR.org
Word Ideas:
Love
Peace
Joy
Power
Life
Beauty
Light
God
Spirit
Mother Theresa
Gandhi
Mohammad
Jesus Christ
Buddha