by Ross Bishop
Our dark influences have a great deal of power over us. Our self-doubts and other fears inhibit us, stifle our passion and cause us to hide our true selves out of reach. They take control when we feel threatened or insecure. They often dominate the most important parts of our lives. Their purpose is to “protect” us from real or imagined threats.
The dragon is the traditional image of our dark side.
But there is much more to this. The purpose of life on Earth is to reconcile our feelings of vulnerability with the truth. Beset by fear and anxiety, we do not see ourselves very clearly. We are not defective as we often believe, but incomplete, and there is a huge difference between the two. The simple explanation is that God isn’t finished with us yet.
God created LIFE on earth to be an arena where our false beliefs driven by our fear would bring us into conflict either in our interactions with others or with ourselves. That is how The Creator has determined that this is the rich sauce in which we are to learn and grow.
And as difficult as doing it that way may be, it gives us the opportunity (which we rarely take) to step back from the tumult and examine our beliefs and the underlying premises that drive them. It may seem incongruous to grow through conflict, but at this stage in our development, it is the most powerful way for us to learn. And to be frank, without conflict, it is doubtful that we would change.
LIFE had to be created this way because we have free will. The Creator could not simply give us the truth. And because of our free will, we have to come to accept the truth by ourselves. But He/She did give us the means to discern it.
Think about a conflict you have had. It was only a situation until you got anxious and introduced your fear, shame or unworthiness, and then the situation became difficult. Think of how things would have changed if you had been able to be compassionate!
Stated simply, the things you believe about yourself cannot be true — all of them. You probably are a good person most of the time, but then there are those moments — you get my point. Our beliefs are products of the mind and are not of the highest order. There is an old cliche: “God doesn’t have to think.” When you know what needs to be done, you just do it. You don’t have to think about it. Universal truths exist outside of us and are not subject to the whims of fear and ego. “All people are created equal” does not reside in your mind; it comes from another place.
Take a minute and write down your beliefs — do an inventory. What do you think of yourself? Where do you hold back? Where do you go when your boundaries are pushed? None of those things reflect who you truly are. They are just reflections of what you have been conditioned to believe.
And I am playing a game with you because who you really are cannot be put into words anyway.
If you want to learn more, I have written an entire book on the subject. It is called Healing The Shadow and is available in the Books section.
copyright 2024@Blue Lotus Press
Two recent media interviews with Ross:
