The New Paradigm
vol. I, Number 29

Dear Friends,

I am blessed to be living in one of the most beautiful regions on the Planet (even though I haven't visited all the regions on Earth, and am sure there must be many as beautiful as where I happen to live). Anyway, the 43-mile (69 km) drive to the nearest large town takes me around a spectacularly beautiful crystal clear blue mountain lake, via a winding shoreline road; and I have often had occasion to think, as I approached one of the many bends in the road, "If I keep going like this, I'll wind up at the bottom of the Lake (which happens to be about 600 feet (183 m) deep)." And sure enough, chances are at any particular moment I may be headed for a curve in the road and deep water straight ahead. ( ! )

But you know, somehow I always turn when I get to the curve and stay on the road, and hardly give it a thought. I don't break out in a cold sweat, or sigh in exhausted relief as I successfully (and miraculously) negotiate the bend; or grimly steel myself for the next approaching curve. I don't even cross the yellow stripe down the middle of the road (usually), and never in the face of oncoming traffic. Amazing, isn't it?

That may seem like kind of a stupid example; but how often have you become genuinely alarmed over a pending (undesirable) eventuality that never actually materialized because you took appropriate action; or circumstances changed and you didn't have to do anything at all? Hasn't somebody famous remarked, "My life has been an uninterrupted series of calamities, most of which never even happened."? Is there a ring of familiarity to any of this?

A correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous has been sharing some profound insights with me recently about reality, which deeply resonate with my sensibilities; so I would like (with his permission) to share some of them with you.

As you are doubtless already aware (although many of us forget this, almost all the time), there is much more to reality than is visible from where you or I happen to be standing at any particular moment. Come to think about it, we're hardly more than stone deaf, blind and otherwise insensitive to the reality that surrounds us at all times: because we can "see" only such a minute fraction of all that is "out there." I'm sure you've heard the fable about the blind men arguing over the nature of an elephant (you know, one thinks an elephant is like a rope end; another thinks it is like a wall; another, like a tree trunk; and so on): isn't that a fairly apt description of us, most of the time?

The argument arises because we rely upon the almost universally shared assumption that "reality" is one thing, and one thing only, and that "everybody" experiences it basically in the same way: i.e. as "I" experience it, whoever "I" may happen to be. Then when "I" encounter someone who displays indications of not perceiving "reality" as "I" do, "my" inclination is to dismiss "shim" as "crazy," "evil" or "out to lunch." That is where at least a great many of the assorted "pagans," "heathen," "heretics," "infidels," "coocoos," "crazies" and "the wrong sort" ultimately come from: the single chauvinistic assumption that those who do not think as "I" think, "see" as "I" "see," believe as "I" believe,... are basically "wrong." It is also the starting point for virtually all human warfare.

The thought, however, that this may in fact be an unreliable assumption is beginning to trickle into the consciousness of a growing number of people, myself included. It is gradually being borne in upon us that "reality" may be a far more complex and subtle affair than most of us have been giving it credit for. What if "reality" were not a single, simple "thing," "plain as day for all to see," but a complex manifold unique to each individual? What if each of us creates shim's own reality with every breath, every thought, every decision of every moment throughought our various and infinitely variable lives? What if every time you encounter a "stranger," or even someone you think you know very well, you are not necessarily meeting someone essentially like yourself at all, but possibly "someone from a different universe," "a denizen of an alternate reality?" What if you are "a denizen of an alternate reality?" Alternate, that is, to "everybody else's reality?"

Depending upon your turn of mind, the idea may or may not appeal to you; but it may provide a more reliable perspective than does the prevailing assumption of a "one size fits all" kind of universe. Following is an extract in which my anonymous correspondent discusses the perception of a universe in which all possibilities are substantial realities, already fully played out in all their infinite variations; and that we, in living our lives on the stage of the "four-dimensional universe" are exploring with our subjective experience certain selected strands of the "network of infinite choice" that is already laid out as an existing objective reality.

The image which comes to my mind is one of something like an infinitely extensive fishnet, upon which various small creatures are making their way along the individual strands that make up the mesh of the net. Each time we (the small creatures) encounter a knot, we have a choice as to which strand to follow forward. The strands are already in place; we make the choices; and the choices we make (with every thought, every word, every deed, every breath) determine the route we follow, the experiences we encounter and the destiny at which we arrive at every moment.

The idea may not appeal to those who insist that "somebody else" is responsible for the circumstances in which they may find themselves; but it will appeal to those who wish to take responsibility for their lives and exercise command over their own destiny. Here is the (very slightly edited) extract from the commentary of my anonymous correspondent:

THE GIFT IS LIFE: This is the miracle of existence. The Unmanifest Reality (you), creates life not only in a subjective way but also in an infinite number of objective ways. There will always be some type of objective life. Even though The Subjective Reality is complete on ITs own, in ITs own way, IT also gets to know ITself better and more fully by experiencing ITself in this objective way. Remember that the objective universe is not what the Subjective Pole is observing, but is in fact a manifestation of what IT is.

So by manifesting here as YOU, IT gives you FREE WILL to CO-CREATE as you would. You could either do this in accordance with universal law or not. You still have the power to co-create. WE must CLEAN up the mess that we have created up to this point. There have been some major contributions along this line over the ages, but for the most part, a MESS - it remains.

Past, Present, and Future exist all at once. In the objective dual universe there exists an infinite number of TIMELINES. These timelines include an infinite number of lines of variation of your life as well as everybody else’s life. This includes all possible and probable selves that you could have been, are, or are yet to be.

We perceive time in a linear way, but from the perspective of your Higher Self, from your subjective position, all is seen and known all at once. Actually to go that one step further, as I have said IT created them all, and IS in fact all of them.

What is happening when you create something is that you are shifting from timeline to timeline. Each line is a reality unto itself so to speak. Each line exists and has life. You exist in each one of the lines. I really can’t explain the actual mechanics, but I could say that every time you make a decision of any type, every moment, moment by moment, thought by thought, belief by belief, you are actually phasing and shifting into other timelines that already exist.

The thing I can’t explain is that you actually also exist in those other lines independently of this timeline and somehow when you phase into another line you become the YOU in the other line (something like the concept of the Old Show Quantum Leap, but not quite). Perhaps the YOU in that other line also shifts to another line as a RESULT of the thoughts and beliefs and actions he just completed also. I know that this process occurs, but the how is a speculation.

Freewill vs. Destiny is an age old argument. Neither one is totally true, independently of the other. The accepted way of thought is that there is one timeline occurring. This would mean that you either have free will or not. Or that destiny is true or not. I am saying that they are both true because they are opposite sides of the same coin. All the lines are in fact created already, it is just a matter of which one you choose.

A psychic can see into the future. You and I have this ability also (it is a matter of degree). However when you see into the future you are perceiving it as a probability (usually through the vibration of the Divine Energy). It is the line most probable to occur based ON and AT the moment of perception. The event perceived is the one that will most likely occur, based on the momentum of the line in which it is occurring. However as one, as well as all concerned, change their minds about things and "Think, Believe, or Act" differently with respect to the line, the line changes. It could change radically enough that the original perceived event might not be experienced at all in the new line. The event exists as a destiny to that line it was in, but the Free Will of those involved shifts the lines according to their thoughts, beliefs and action (Action is usually preceded and predicated on one's beliefs as well as by one's thoughts).

What is starting to be generally known (as you know, for many who have communicated to you in the past, as well as your own understanding of this as well) is that we in fact do create our own reality according to our thoughts and beliefs. However, even though it is getting to be known, it still really is not believed. People are creating very weird events and timelines. They really do not understand that they are really in fact responsible for the creation of the events they are experiencing.

The more you know it, the more you watch your thoughts and the more you solidify your BELIEF IN THE PROCESS, which helps to solidify the events you wish to occur.

...And that seems to be the rub indeed: it's getting to be "known" but we don't believe it. That's exactly what Helen Schucman said, if I'm not mistaken, about A Course In Miracles: "I know it's true. But I don't believe it." I have the same problem myself. And it is just here, it seems to me, where we get down to where the rubber meets the road when we talk about a "paradigm shift" between the "old paradigm" and the "new paradigm." The essence of the "new paradigm" is not only the realization, but the practice of our cosmic ability to create (or more accurately, co-create) the "reality" in which we find ourselves moment to moment. My correspondent has a few relevent comments to make about "reality" in this sense.

The overall view of The Nature of Reality is totally paradoxical. It is important that you understand this and know that this unfoldment will be taking you for the most part along the path of the tightrope. It is a matter of balancing between two worlds of opposite natures. Not one of Good and Evil, but one of Manifesting vs. Unmanifesting.

Actual "Reality" is in fact the Subjective Pole of consciousness as well as the state that brings it forth, including the subjective energy of which it is made and which brings it forth. Since this reality exists in a true "Eternal" condition, IT is most definitely, the True Reality. IT is there now, IT was always there, IT will always be there. IT is the source of our being and in fact is us. However even as this is true, IT manifests the dual universe and all that is in it. IT is in a mode of creating. IT "Wants" to be (if I could use the word "Wants") and IS manifesting ITself in an outward manner. The universe, and all that is in it, is the Objective Manifestation of this Eternal Reality.

So we find ourselves in a position where we are in a world (physical) which to us seems totally real and not an illusion or virtual in nature. Our situation is that we have been given many gifts as a result of who we are. We are using many of the Natural and Supernatural laws in our daily life. Perhaps I should say misusing them. Understanding who we really are and where we come from is the first step in correcting the world's untenable condition. WE are in fact CO-CREATORS. There is no way we could co-create the way we need to, or the way it was intended, or perhaps the way we should be, if we don’t understand this basic information.

The Actual Reality I have spoken of seems unreal to everyone (most don’t even know of it). It seems the reverse of what is actually  true. Our world is in fact illusory, or virtual in nature. However from our (the average person's) standpoint, what we are experiencing now seems to be the reality and "anything else" seems illusory. Our perception, brought about by the five senses, seems to solidify our existence as the real reality. But one cannot get to the understanding of the "Actual Nature of Reality" by using the basic five senses we all have. The senses are by design meant to put everybody on the same sheet of music, so to speak. They create a common denominator for us to exist in this plane of existence together (or on other planes of an objective nature). The problem arises out of the fact that we have forgotten the other reality, and the general mechanics of the senses seem to point in the direction of objective reality ["virtual reality"].

One analogy I could use is like that of the Holo-deck in the Star Trek series. This is where a reality gets created out of energy (Matter = Energy). Each computer-simulated holographic person that the computer creates thinks that it is a separate individual unto itself. The hologram does not know that it is only a virtual representation of what the computer projected. Each holographic person thinks and acts as an actual person, and actually gets caught up in the role that it is in. Kind of like what we have also done.

Anyway, even though our existence is virtual in nature (not actually real), you could also say, however, that it is "relatively" real.  This is so because we are all experiencing this reality together.

...So we find ourselves in a bind in this world because we have been operating upon assumptions and perceptions which are just about entirely inside-out in relation to the Actual Reality of which we are all a part. We have co-created an "objective reality" which is in "Actuality" only "virtual" in nature, but have mistaken it for the Actual Reality which it is not. Furthermore, we have become so entranced with our "virtual" co-creation that we have entirely (almost) forgotten that it is our creation in the first place, and that we (unknowingly) create it from moment to moment with our every thought and decision. And for the icing on the cake, we spend a large fraction of our time and energy blaming one another for the very conditions that we (you and I) neglegently and unconsciously create with our undiciplined, unenlightened thoughts, beliefs and intents.

Well, maybe the icing on the cake is that we have a way to deal with the problem; and that is to take charge of our individual thoughts, beliefs and intentions, and focus our attention upon the process of co-creating that which we truly desire, instead of lamenting circumstances which but reflect our own neglegence and ignorance, and blaming them upon "others."

I am no less prone to this "bad habit" than anybody else, as witnessed by prior editions of tnp in which I have drawn attention to numerous "threatening" circumstances and institutions (such as international bankers, corrupt governments, bogus currencies, the Y2K computer problem, etc.). However, if we create our "virtual reality" with our thoughts, intentions and beliefs, such attention may not be productive of anything but increased anxiety, frustration and confusion; for it subverts our attention which might be more productively focused upon what we genuinely desire, instead of upon what we fear and dread. Accordingly, I hereby resolve to focus my attention (on these pages and off them) upon the empowering, enobling, liberating thoughts of our (your and my) capacity as co-creators of limitless creativity, power and virtue. This is the direction, I feel, in which "solutions" to our various "problems" are to be found; just as in driving around a beautiful lake one doesn't waste energy worrying about driving into the depths at the next curve in the road, but enjoys the scenery and chooses to stay on the road, wherever it leads.

Each of us decides every moment the nature of the world in which we live, and if we don't like what we have created we are at liberty to change our thoughts, decisions and intentions, radically or incrementally, so as to take us and our world in any direction we may desire. Each of us has an entire universe at our personal disposal, and more. If others choose to live in fear, strife and desperation, nothing says you (or I) have to. "Choosing the Future" is exactly what each one of us does every moment of every day, whether we like it or not. At first glance, that may not be an appealing responsibility for many, for the "today" we chose "yesterday" may not be exactly what we might have wished, and it may seem easier to "find someone to blame" rather than take responsibility for it ourselves. However, we are at liberty, and have the power "today" to choose a "tomorrow" more to our liking. The question is, Will we exercise our power with responsible intent, or will we continue the vain attempt to hold "others" responsible for our "virtual reality"? That too is our choice.

For each one of us, every thought, every word, every deed, every moment of every day, tally up to the "reality" of the present; and each of us is always at a knot in the mesh with strands leading in a multitude of different directions, each with its associated destiny. Positive, affirmative, loving, uplifting thoughts, intents and deeds lead inevitably to corresponding "realities." Conversely, "reality" accurately reflects the quality of each of our thoughts, intents and deeds. How do you like that?

Love & Light,

-- Harmon
J. Harmon Grahn