An example.

Lets say you feel empathy for children in Africa not being fed, should you go to Africa and change it? Or could you adjust this inside your self and this will reflect in the external world?

Or

Your boss at work isn't giving you a pay rise, why would you go try convincing him when you simply change something yourself and he will notice this and give you a pay rise?

asked 17 Dec '12, 23:24

naughtydobo's gravatar image

naughtydobo
18125

Yes :) Change always starts within. If you look in a mirror and want to see a smile, you must smile. Your reflection won't smile first.

(17 Dec '12, 23:39) LapisLazuli

Intriguing. To be the mirror to the world, or let the world be the mirror to ourselves? To change outside first or start within? It can work either way.

Mind doesn't create physical world itself. Mind creates understanding of it. And it is this perception of the world that is reflection of you. It is not outside that reflects back to you. It's you that through perception of outside world reflects back to you.

And hunger of a hungry person has nothing to do with what you think of it.

(18 Dec '12, 02:47) CalonLan
1

Try this, try not believing about your electricity bills and believe that within! tell me how that works out for you..

Its one thing to pray for a material thing you want..but play that game where you effect others minds with loa, to change their perspective about you..its called black magic..

(18 Dec '12, 02:53) mastermind2
1

naughtydobo, one does not perceive what is not awake inside yet what happens outside ought to make one reflect and maybe lead to more conscious awareness

(18 Dec '12, 07:02) fred
1

@naughtydobo- interesting question.. :)))

(18 Dec '12, 09:10) supergirl
1

@naughtydobo - I believe you answered your own question :) Yes, in order for things to change on the "outside", change must first begin on the "inside".

(18 Dec '12, 11:07) figure8shape
showing 0 of 6 show 6 more comments

If everything outside of you is merely a reflection of everything inside of you, then what is the point of trying to change things? Shouldn't you rather change yourself?

Yes, exactly. What is the point of trying to change external things?

Isn't this actually what the whole of this "metaphysical" / "Law of Attraction" stuff is about?

The majority of the people in the world still believe that they need to control and manipulate what happens out there in the physical world in order to make their world the way they want it.

What some of us here on IQ (and elsewhere) have realized is that all you really need to do is control and manipulate your own habitual thoughts into better-feeling places and then, almost magically, your physical world re-condenses around you to provide physical manifestational matches of those habitual thoughts.

I think many people today can probably accept to some extent that they can think thoughts of health, wealth and happiness and have some kind of reflection of health, wealth and happiness in their lives.

But the natural corollary of that is still a stretch for many...that you can, to take your first example, think thoughts of abundance and prosperity for "suffering" people and have those people start showing signs of abundance and prosperity.

It's not that you are asserting yourself into their realities and changing them because that's not possible...we all have absolute freewill to do as we want.

Instead, it's that you are creating a reality for yourself where you are attracting and observing their abundant and prosperous natures instead of the opposite.

link

answered 18 Dec '12, 06:58

Stingray's gravatar image

Stingray
93.7k22143372

@stingray- very appreciable answer,thank you.. :))

(18 Dec '12, 09:08) supergirl

@Stingray - RIGHT ON!! :)

(18 Dec '12, 11:18) figure8shape

excellent points raised stingray thank you

(20 Dec '12, 04:43) naughtydobo

as always my friend,,, brilliance..

(20 Dec '12, 17:15) TReb Bor yit-NE
showing 2 of 4 show 2 more comments

Interesting question from an ontological point of view. Personally I don't see much poverty, or hunger, but I don't go looking for them either. So maybe they don't enter my reality.

Is this my filters allowing me to see only a certain point of view of the actual world?

Does my reality, my world, only contain minimal thoughts of hunger and poverty? Otherwise it does not exist for me?

I have some low income tenants who regularly pay their rent and have good lifestyles, but I hear other landlords have similar tenants who are struggling. But I do focus on my tenants' good and powerful talents.

My wife, Anne and I don't smoke. Her sister smokes constantly. When we are around her, the smoke is very unpleasant. Yet once I saw Anne sitting close to her sister, who was smoking one cigarette after another. Anne had no discomfort.

I asked Anne later how she could stand being that close to her sister's smoke. Anne looked at me, wide-eyed and exclaimed, "But she was not smoking!" Her sister was smoking in my world, but not in Anne's world. And since there was no smoke in Anne's world, there was no discomfort.

This is, to me, not just a matter of ignoring certain situations. It IS a matter of focussing on better situations and the unpleasant situations simply don't exist.

When you look for beauty, joy, well-fed and happy people they exist for you. When you look for poor, hungry people, they likewise exist for you.

But I don’t go to horror movies. No-one really has to. We are learning better stuff here on IQ. But some people feel that horror is a necessary part of life, or they like being horrified. I find joy in attracting more joy. However when someone decides to push horror, hunger or poverty in my face, they do not find much of a response.

Is that cold and uncaring of me? Or is it that my world is full of happy people, and I choose to relate to happy people.

So the answer to the question is YES, change what is inside you and your outer world will change. You really can’t change other people, but through changing yourself, you can have a better reality. This may be our greatest freedom.

link

answered 18 Dec '12, 07:19

Dollar%20Bill's gravatar image

Dollar Bill
12.0k35113

1

@dollar bill-brilliant answer..,just loved it.. :)))

(18 Dec '12, 09:08) supergirl
1

Wow, I love it! Thanks for such an illuminating answer, @Dollar Bill.

(18 Dec '12, 11:09) Bedazzled

thanks for this comment and the new perspective !

(20 Dec '12, 04:43) naughtydobo
showing 2 of 3 show 1 more comments

You answered ur own question. Everything is reflected off of yourself and if u change you first, then you change ur reality. Now also in this frame work you MUST understand while dealing with others, it is a co creation. Also you must factor in your own beliefs of how, what , where, when , and why. Now, with this being said... lets peg the examples.

1) If you go to Africa, it is because u wish to co create that experience with them. If it is a subject that consumes ur mind and soul, then it is because you feel you MUST go there to create change, and if ur belief reflects that you do, well, you will not see change until this is done. If you KNOW, with core belief that you can change it without going there, and that these people there needs to experience this themselves, because of their own souls need to experience, well then it can be done by sending love and not worrying about it in the first place.

2) Most issues with Money, is a belief system of self worth, and also a belief on what money means, and how you manifest things in general. Because you believe you need a pay raise to start with, well it means you believe that you are being unjustly non appreciated. This is a self reflection. If you simply need money, it is an issue of imbalance of ability to not manifest within, and must be changed form the inside. Hope it helped.

here is a vid that explains directly the link to loving urself and seeing others around you change from the interactions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiESuF7nWWk

love n light

rob

link

answered 20 Dec '12, 07:45

TReb%20Bor%20yit-NE's gravatar image

TReb Bor yit-NE
14.0k21778

edited 20 Dec '12, 07:47

i video for you rob. who created this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRfW7w1YoUU

(20 Dec '12, 20:13) white tiger

@white tiger.. I am not sure my friend.. i am not sure....

(21 Dec '12, 06:16) TReb Bor yit-NE
showing 1 of 2 show 1 more comments

I understand what you are saying, yes we can change our hearts inside and ignore the pains of others. Very many people do that, they say I don't want to see that or I don't want to know that. "I'll close my eyes cover my ears and sing loudly so I don't have to hear this stuff!" they say. This is like an ostrich bird does, if I bury my head in the dirt and don't see the attacker maybe it will just go away.

But there are the brave ones that say this needs to be changed and if I can make a difference even small it matters and I will make a difference.

So yes we can just shut down our compassion inside instead of trying to change things outside but I believe we here in Inwards Quest are beyond that level of being.

I know I have been helped so much, I also enjoy helping others because I feel we are all one. When I help others I am helping a part of God regain love and happiness that may have been lost with that person. I am letting that person know that the world is mostly a good place and there are good people that care, there is hope to look forwards to.

link

answered 20 Dec '12, 23:12

Wade%20Casaldi's gravatar image

Wade Casaldi
36.9k430107

edited 20 Dec '12, 23:18

3

@Wade Casaldi - what if you can really write the script of your life? What if you can live in any parallel Universe that you choose, depending on your focus and passion?

Abraham told Red Hat, you can live in a Universe of suffering if that is where you feel joy.

If you like that, and I do not mean this in a judgmental or unkind way, you can live in a Universe where you can help the suffering. Where you can make a difference. If this is joyful for you, then go there and live it!

(21 Dec '12, 07:57) Dollar Bill
1

But I don't necessarily feel it is hiding your head in the sand, to live in a different universe of happy people.

I do not mean to criticize your world, your joy and do not at all take your statements as a criticism of mine.

I have friends who love to serve food in homeless lines. I don't, but I send my money to buy that food so everyone can be more joyful, however this is not my main focus.

(21 Dec '12, 08:02) Dollar Bill

Now, this is a great question!

I would like to focus upon the "boundary" between ourselves and the outer world in which we live.

This "boundary" is actually the edge of your own personal reality. And we interact with the world within this boundary, just to the extent that we are in our "comfort zone". It is those people who "push" this boundary, who choose to see the reality of the world, and then decide to change it, and themselves, that become great. The essence of change within ourselves lies within that space. We can ignore the reality, which can be fine, or we can let a little or a lot into our lives.

An example: We can start to recycle our garbage. Not a big thing, but if we all did it, then it would be really a huge change, and we affect others whether we know it or not. Wade's Mom recycles, and I am now starting to do so because I see what an effect it has. (Those cat food cans really do pile up!)

Another example: We see wrappers and garbage on the street. Instead of walking over them, we pick them up. Now I have changed, and so has the world. If we let in a bit of what we do not really want to see, and then change, we change reality for ourselves, but what is really cool is how we can thus change the world.

A woman was sitting on a train, thinking. She pictured in her mind the starving and sick of India. Suddenly, she decided that something had to be done about this trouble. So she dropped everything and went to India. The woman? Mother Teresa. She allowed a big chunk of the world into her heart, and changed not only herself, but the world. She has been canonized, and I am sure she will be a saint. I am not saying we are all meant to be Mother Teresa. What I am saying is that as we allow reality into our consciousness, and then react to it in a positive fashion, we can move mountains.

Jesus says in Matthew 21:21: "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

Yep, it is true. You all know how I changed my own reality with a simple decision. I left everything, and moved North to be with Wade. What you do not know is that in doing so, I believe I saved my own life. I chose to save my life! I was a mess in Mississippi- it was a very dark time in my life, and I realized I had to get out, or die. Now I am seeing the other side of doing this positive action for myself. God has blessed me with MORE than I had before, especially with Wade.

Look to that boundary, and push the envelope. There are great rewards to be had from doing so.

Merry Christmas (almost) 2012

Jaianniah

link

answered 21 Dec '12, 00:02

Jaianniah's gravatar image

Jaianniah
37.8k13129610

edited 21 Dec '12, 00:08

law of free will: we all have free will and are responsible of it.everything that comes from your free will inside of you takes form outside of you. yet you are not alone in this world. and other people free will also affect this world. so all our individual puzzle inside interact outside. creating this world that we live in. and this world that we live in also affect us. so you can only change your part of the puzzle for the better.yet do you see your inner puzzle? and do you see how it affect the outside? and do you see how the outside affect you? it is in the bible:to the mesure you judge also will you be judge. or why do you do what you hate they will do the same. let the one with out sin cast the first stone. is there still some conflict,war and judgement in this world? who made that happen? for what reason(money, power,ego)? a good question would be do you really want to kill your self and your loved one? is it worth it? are you doing a good usage of your free will? so you see the first place to start is always in us. i am not responsible of the choice of anny one else. yet i can try to live in harmony with them, and help them out if i can.and if i can't to bad let them have it. it is their choice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKLmbwbSf5M

link

answered 20 Dec '12, 06:02

white%20tiger's gravatar image

white tiger
21.9k116117

edited 21 Dec '12, 04:34

So you are saying that law of free will is superior to law of cause and consequence?

(21 Dec '12, 04:42) CalonLan

you apply your free will to make something that is the cause and what you make have consequence. those consequence affect you and other in this world. you did not realise that? will you say old man how come you see those things? in that case i will say to you,young man how come you do not?should i call you grasshopper? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5kBqrHphjo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ski6MYYqyQ

(21 Dec '12, 05:17) white tiger

application of free will to make something..is already a consequences of some cause. Every choice is a consequence of some cause...

Illusion of Free will and choice disappears in light of this.

(21 Dec '12, 05:47) CalonLan

so you apply your free will because their is a cause from the outside? or because their is a consequence on the outside? or maybe that you just react to it? thinking that you have no free will? just to correct the contradiction?as soon as you see something wrong? if you add no free will and no choice you could not have talk to me in the first place and you could not have read what i said to you. because you would have no choice in the matter.

(21 Dec '12, 06:44) white tiger

@white tiger, cause and consequence was here before you were even born. So how can suddenly free will alter it?

When you were born you probably cried, that wasn't your choice, just a consequence of a cause. Consequently, nothing was ever your choice from that moment on, merely a consequence of the previous consequence which became also the cause.

Snow ball has been rolling since our birth. Having no free will however, doesn't make the ride through life any less fun.

(21 Dec '12, 08:27) CalonLan

The only reason people can't accept the idea of no free will,is because deep in their core they need to control things.So they create illusion of free choice.To rest assured it is THEM who caused this or that.It is THEM who is in control.it is THEM who posses the powers to turn the wheels of life.

But it is not them at all.You can press the button,call the shots and say this cause the snowball to be rolling the way it's rolling and ignore the fact that it would have been rolling that way anyway

(21 Dec '12, 08:31) CalonLan

so what you are telling me is that you prefer to be a little robot with no choice in nothing?not able to think for your self?if this is true then do what a little robot does with no choice.comply.it will solve the matter.and you will be happy to be a little robot with no choice.and will not have to make other people believe that.

(21 Dec '12, 09:55) white tiger

A ball was flying through the air and in the middle of its flight it thought: "I can stop right now and fall right down to the ground if I want to, but I choose not to" ..empowered by the clarity of control over his life, the ball went on flying.

Ahh, that free will and those choices. :)

(21 Dec '12, 10:29) CalonLan

robot you have no free will so stop arguing and comply.

(21 Dec '12, 17:08) white tiger
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