Powerful indeed

Powerful indeed: 

it's true, the new age maxim that thoughts creates our reality is absolutely true, and yet not quite in the way that's so often been used to sell a book or program on the law of attraction, it's not a magical means of wish fulfillment and turning our dreams to reality. Not quite. Of course thoughts are powerful indeed and they certainly do shape the reality of our lives. Thoughts are the bedrock of our beliefs on which we act upon, how we view the world and respond to others. A single thought that is held for a length of time can divide us by race or where we come from, lending itself to a belief that others are different than us in dangerous ways and must be always treated as such. That's a powerful thought, near magic in the tragedies it's caused and the reality its created for so many. Of course it could just as easily be reversed, our thoughts could be examined and tested, we could engage in inquiry to find if these long held beliefs hinder or heal, divide or bring us closer as a people. Answering these questions could truly change the world. 

thoughts are powerful indeed. 

as the Buddha said, we are shaped by our thoughts, becoming what we think, and so with this reality is shaded by how we view the world. Yet the essence of the world remains unchanged, empty of any inherent meaning of its own, always existing free of our opinions. The reality we create through thoughts and our beliefs is only an illusion, it's simply how we view the world, and not exactly how things truly are. Reality itself is free of our illusions. 

thoughts are powerful indeed, and  yet reality remains unchanged by our opinions. 

and that's the magic, right there, the inherent emptiness of things, that we are literally defining our world as we go along and have the true power to create a place of joy and beauty. This is the value of inquiry and meditation, developing what the Buddha called the right view, to see and understand things as they really are, being free of our thought, unhindered by beliefs. 

thoughts are powerful indeed,

and yet reality remains unchanged.

empty of our opinions. 

free of all illusions. 

~

Peace, Eric