Appearances
I grew up in a small farm town in rural western New York State.
As a boy, I often wandered out into the woods, hills, and
fields. There was a peace and solitude I loved about the wild
places. I suppose that's why I live in Wyoming today.
I spent many happy hours wondering in those wild places, usually
alone, and sometimes with my brother and cousins. Many warm
memories of those childhood days remain with me today.
But there was one place we were afraid of -- a dark, dense
woods. It was haunted by a dark spirit. At least that's how we
saw him.
The dark spirit was what, in those days, we described as a "bum"
or hobo. A homeless person, we would call him today.
If we strayed too close to his little hut in the dark woods, he
would chase us off with wild threats and curses.
We were scared to death of him.
Then one day, we heard he had died.
His dark, lonely hut crumbled and fell in the severe winters of
the next few years. Finally, there were only dirt and dust where
a sad, hurting human being once lived.
It was only later we learned who he was.
He came from one of the wealthiest and best known families in
the history of American business. If I told you their name, you
would recognize it.
He was the "black sheep" of his family, choosing to live an
isolated, lonely life. No one in my little town knew who he was
until he died. Why he chose such a life we did not know.
But we did judge him.
Yes, he came from a wealthy, powerful family. If we had known
that, would it have changed the harsh view our town had of him
while he was alive?
I don't know.
But I do know we did not look beyond the outer, seemingly sad
circumstances of his life. We saw only appearances, not the real
person -- our sad and lonely brother living his life the best
way he could.
Here's Chief Joseph.
Chief Joseph
Friends, your entire world operates, for the most part, on
appearances -- on the illusion of what you see "out there."
But what you see "out there" really is an illusion. It's not an
illusion in the sense it does not exist. It's an illusion
because it does not exist "out there" -- it exists only "in
here."
By "in here," we mean within you. What you see "out there" is
only what you project outward from within you, "in here."
Another way of saying that -- as you've heard us say so many
times over the years -- is you create your own reality.
Everything and everyone you see and experience in your life is
your creation. You project the appearances, if you will, from
within yourself outward into your world, the world you
experience every day of your life.
And so if you encounter someone like John's "dark spirit," you
often simply, and all too easily, judge that one as, well, dark.
Or evil or wrong or screwed up or -- you fill in the blanks.
Do you see where we're going with this? You judge and criticize
and condemn others based solely on appearances.
And yet those appearances are always projections from within you
to the outer world you see around you.
But, in fact, the world within you is the world around you. They
are one and they are the same. You cannot judge or criticize, or
condemn another without judging, criticizing, and condemning
yourself.
So this "bum" John speaks of appeared to him, and to his brother
and cousins, as a frightful apparition, someone to be feared and
avoided.
They had no compassion for this man. They saw him as a threat, a
danger, an evil presence.
But what they saw "out there" came from "in here."
You are all one -- all humans, all animals, all plants, all the
earth, all that is -- you are all one.
Appearances are just that. They mask the true reality of the
oneness and connectedness of all that is.
Once you acknowledge that, and live your life with a deep sense
of compassion and connectedness, appearances will not matter.
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