The Images People Project

By Andreas Mamet
Copyright 2007

A long time ago I saw a Monty Python movie. In it there was a scene that portrayed Jesus standing on a balcony and preaching to the masses who adored and admired everything he said.

As he was finished giving his sermon, he came back inside the house. There was a tiny old woman, his mother, who then exclaimed: "Oh, he is just a naughty boy!"

The scene was truly hilarious and I could not stop laughing. However, for me it also pointed toward the psychology of perception as it plays out in the daily interactions between people.

As we communicate with others, we take snapshots of information and build a file that contains "The Story" of another person. This process of gathering information about another human being is generally not concerned with gaining a true and objective understanding of who the other is.(There usually exists no overriding program that might ask, "Is this really true?"

Rather, it is influenced by the emotional, psychological and spiritual limitations of the opinion-forming observer. For example, if the shadow is present in the mode of an inferiority complex of the observer, the file he will build will focus on the shortcomings and flaws of another human being, real or imagined, in order to establish for himself a position of superiority in relation to the other.

As this process of compiling a file of info snapshots continues (sometimes even including images provided and distorted by others) over months, years and decades, each time we meet a person, we immediately access those files and base our communication upon them that are now beginning to hang invisibly in mid-air.

At this point we are relating, not to the actual person before us, but to the file of info gathered in the past and we use the person before us as a screen to project upon him the data files of the past.

Within the context of this modality there exists no true meeting of minds, hearts and souls. Nothing connects. Sadly, we can observe this form of (no) communication taking place every day in myriad forms and expressions.
Once we become aware of this, we can initiate steps to eliminate such limiting modalities. However, it becomes a little bit more challenging when members of our own family are plagued by the above described ... illness.

An explosion of consciousness can have taken place for a soul, yet the family members remain utterly asleep beneath a heap of info files that tells them who this person is. Ah, it is just mom; we know her ways...

The solution to cure this illness us using old info files as base of relating is to erase our databases. Imagine you have never met the person (you believe you know). Arrive completely in the moment. Be present. Wake up to the newness of the present present moment.

Then let communication arise without any agenda. Try this and see what happens. There may be astounding developments.

However, there is a caveat to this. As you are allowing yourself to fully anchor in the moment, listen to your gut instincts also. By that I mean, if you meet a person with a history of abusing you, it would be naive, utterly inappropriate and perhaps even dangerous to ignore those files that say "Dangerous, stay away." There is information also that arises in the Present Moment. This information is meant to guide and protect you. Do listen to it.