Creating reality is a practice.

Perception is reality. 

This is not an abstraction. 

Nor is it a metaphor or a poem. 

It is a contemporary articulation of an archaic truth. 

Nothing is experienced outside of the mind. Yes reality is infinite, but it can only expand proportional to one’s capacity to experience it.

Reality changes shape to fit within the parameters of our expectations and beliefs.

Again, not an abstraction. Just a powerful truth that most people have no idea how to apply.

Neuroscience proves that-

1. Reality recalibrates to match your deepest subconscious beliefs.

2. You can choose your subconscious beliefs.

Therefore, every person can choose what reality to recalibrate into. And then keep recalibrating until reality fits like a glove.

Yet, so few people exercise this choice.

When you are not actively choosing reality, you are taking a passive role when you should be taking an active one. You are denying yourself harmony. And in denying yourself harmony, you are denying the Universe harmony.

There is a Buddhist parable that teaches this concept called The Six Kinds of Beings. The story is told by a 17th century Tibetan monk named Ngawang Kunga Tenzin in the book The Royal Seal of Mahamudra. (I have paraphrased the parable into my own voice.)

In the parable there are six kinds of beings from six different realms overlooking a flowing riverbank. The riverbank is filled with the same water that fills every riverbank, but each being sees the water as something entirely different. The being from a hot hell sees a river of fire, while the being from a frigid hell sees a river of ice. The hungry ghost being (the “hungry ghost” is commonly referred to in Buddhism and is representative of an insatiable ego) sees a river of blood and pus. Land animals see the river as drink that sustains them, while aquatic animals see it as their home. Gods see the river as “amrita”- the sweet nectar of immortality. 

The six different beings represent the different states of consciousness a human oscillates through when they don't bring intention and awareness to their perception. When we burn in anger our experience is scorching. When we feel rejected our experience is painfully cold. When we are grieving, absolutely everything hurts. When we are falling in love our experience is neon and everything is pleasure. 

Before thought work (the intentional practice of bringing awareness to our thoughts and replacing them with better, more supportive thoughts) reality is entirely dictated by the mind-made melodrama being played out by our brains on autopilot. 

Experience is dictated by perception. 

Perception is dictated by belief. (For more on this science read my e-book Consciousness 101)

Belief is dictated by thought. 

When we bring conscious awareness to our thoughts and begin the process of doing thought work to transform the quality of our thoughts, we begin taking control of our experience.

Before thought work- we are reacting to life. Through the process of thought work, life begins reacting to us.

When our minds run rampant we misassign meaning, we create wild assumptions and generate painful stories- all in our imaginations. 

Worry about the future becomes suffering in the present.

To live with a well-behaved mind is to live with a clear perspective. Like you have returned to live this day from the future. Instead of waking up in your 90 year old body you woke up today in this one. At whatever age you are you are so young and so healthy and everything is so beautiful. When you look back on your life from your death bed you can see how inane it was to worry about your appearance. Or stay in a relationship that isn't right. Or get angry at someone for a mistake. Or worry about something that is entirely out of your control. 

I try as often as I can to see the immense beauty in everything around me. Like the God that sees nectar where others see water. All I know is that every time I choose to see beauty, beauty shows up. When I choose to see malice, malice shows up. 

We are here on earth to use our consciousness to its full potential. Unless we are choosing our thoughts we are squandering this potential. 

Perception is reality. What will you choose to see?