Shadows and Projections

Projections are those woven “truths” that help us see the world the way the ego desires. They allow us to remain in the role of the “poor victim,” avoiding responsibility. This way, the world is always to blame, and we can be in a bad mood, feeling fully justified.

We can complain and point fingers all we want, but most of the time, we cannot change the outside world. What we can change is ourselves and our perspective. And since this is the one thing we can do immediately, it promises far better results.

In conversations, I always encourage people to reflect on where they stand in their own story. How much responsibility do they take for the life situation they are in? Is it truly always the outside world that’s bad and conspiring against them, making them the poor, unlucky victims?

Newton’s law is the law of action and reaction.
Karma works the same way.
Whatever we do, say, or think has consequences. If you’re curious about your ‘karma,’ just look at the life you’re currently tangled in. It is all a result of your past actions, thoughts, and life strategies.

So if you don’t like where you are, change your actions, thoughts, and words to set new reactions in motion. Everything starts within us, and everything can only be resolved within us. Trying to fix things externally just postpones the issue. Changing your environment doesn’t change the root of the problem. No matter where you go or what situation you leave behind, you bring your mind with you. Once the novelty wears off, you may find yourself in the same situation again.

Only internal changes can bring lasting solutions.

The Laws of the Mirror:

1. Everything I criticize in others—everything I fight against—exists within me.
2. Whatever someone else criticizes in me, and I find offensive, is something I haven’t resolved within myself.
3. When others criticize or fight something in me, and it doesn’t offend me, it reflects their unresolved issue, their imperfection, which they project onto me because they can’t face it in themselves.
4. Everything I love in others is also within me. I love it in myself, recognizing our shared essence.

“If you think everything is someone else’s fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.” — His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama