Of What Value Is Illusion in Life?

Summary
The following is transcribed from a session by The Wonders entitled "Of What Value Is Illusion in Life?" This teaching explains how we expend a great deal of energy creating illusions about ourselves for others to see. The illusions are only "valid" if others buy into them and we fail to present ourselves as we truly are. We feel illusions give us power, but really that's an illusion. The Wonders provide guidance in moving past these illusions and realizing our true power is in just being who we are.

Transcript:
View it from this perspective, dear friends. Everything that you do, everything that you say, everything that you present yourself as, is in truth, an illusion - an illusion to others [who] see you.

As you walk through life on a daily basis, move from place to place, point to point, you present yourself as being something that is not necessarily the totality of yourself, but is an aspect of yourself. In interactions with friends, acquaintances, mates, you present certain aspects of yourself that you decide and choose are beneficial to [that] aspect of yourself and, therefore, beneficial to the other person.

Eventually, what comes about is that, as you move through life, you eventually present all aspects of yourself from beginning to end, so to speak, yet not at the same time. So, if one were truly to get to "know" you, they would have to be with you from the time you are born to the time you die. And even then, there is not, in truth, the capacity to get to know all the aspects that you present of yourself.

Now, having recognized this - that each and every aspect of yourself is presented in part only - those that see you, that interact with you are, in truth, making a judgment based upon the limitation of the interaction. And when that judgment is made, therefore, they begin to view you as being a kind person, a loving person, an angry person, a joyful person. Yet, in truth, they are only seeing but an aspect of yourself - that aspect that you choose to demonstrate, that you choose to allow through the interaction. Recognizing this, dear friends, then you begin to recognize the amount of power that exists within yourself and how you yourself control or command - preferably, command - the interactions that exist around you.

Now in life, as you move through life, individuals around you will say, "But that is not the case. For, in truth, people judge us, they make assumptions about [us] or they know us very well." But do they, dear friends? Do they truly "know" you very well, or do they only "know" the aspect that, in truth, you yourself "know" about yourself.

How can you possibly allow another individual to know an aspect of yourself unless you yourself know those aspects of yourself as well? As a result, the interactions that create the illusion are based upon the self-knowledge that exists within the self.

Now, if you as an individual were to begin to recognize that the knowledge that exists of yourself, within yourself, is rather limited and allow yourself to move through a certain process that would allow you to develop that self-knowledge, then at that point, dear friends, you will all recognize or observe the alteration of the interaction between yourself and all those [who] exist around you. Other individuals will begin to recognize you as being this type person, that type person, based upon your own self-discovery of your own knowledge.

Have you ever been through a process where friends, though you haven't seen them for a period of time, upon seeing them again you discover that they are new individuals, new people; that they have grown, they have expanded? In truth, what you are noticing when you are noticing their growth and expansion, is the growth and expansion that you yourself have created within yourself and that which they themselves recognize within themselves that they may then allow this particular interaction to occur.

Now, having said all that we have said, recognize one thing, dear friends. The illusion of reality, the illusion of yourself, cannot exist without another person's acceptance of that illusion.

We did say that the illusion is created by yourself based upon your own self-knowledge. As well, another person's acceptance of that illusion completes the illusion and, therefore, determines how you are viewed by those around you. As you yourself expand your own self-awareness, self-knowledge and self-growth, then so too will the aspect of yourself that you demonstrate to others expand and, therefore, your "illusion" will expand.

However, dear friends, it is subject to others accepting the illusion. If you have friends around you that, from their perspective, do not choose to accept your alteration of the illusion, then eventually these friends, acquaintances, will remove themselves from your sphere of influence. Which eventually will mean that you will replace them with others that are more suitable to yourself and that will accept your new reference of illusion. As a result, you then move through life changing friends, altering acquaintances, growing, expanding, leaving one mate, growing to another mate, and so on, and so on.

Now, if you encounter someone who is aware of themselves, someone who knows the majority of the aspects of themselves, then we assure you, dear friends, that the illusion you perpetrate on yourself and others around you will be seen as the illusion. That individual will be able to see to the truth of your existence, the truth of the essence of yourself and, as a result, will see beyond the illusion.

Now, this can be to your advantage, if you but recognize the other individual for whom they are. However, if you refuse to recognize that - because you refuse to see their illusion which is based upon their reality or their knowledge of self reality - then we assure you, dear friends, that in that case you will not [view] the interaction as being beneficial to yourself. But rather will view it, from one perspective, as being arrogance, as being something that is unacceptable to yourself to such a degree as to not allow yourself to enjoy the interaction of one who can see through your illusion.

Now, for many people this is very disconcerting, for you have placed a great deal effort and time and energy to build this illusion. You have done this from the moment you were born. From that very instant when you came into this reality, and that very instant when your ego-personality was created, you have begun to create the illusion of self, and, from that perspective then, dear friends, a lot of energy has been expended.

However, recognize that that particular illusion of self is self-created, self-perpetuating, moves of its own, and, we assure you, dear friends that, as a result, the only person that you are "kidding" is yourself. For, in truth, you have created your own illusion and have begun to believe it.

How many people do you see around you that see themselves as being benevolent individuals, yet, as you yourself view them, you recognize that they have certain aspects within themselves that in fact preclude benevolence? And, therefore, you see them as something different.

The reason that you see them for something different is that you recognize within yourself the truth of your own aspect around benevolence and, as a result, it is easy to view that in another. However, if you yourself were not aware of your own aspect of benevolence, and another presented themselves as benevolent, you would see them as that, for you would accept their perspective of their own self-illusion. Do you see how this works, dear friends?

Now, to yourselves - each and every one of you here this evening - each and every one of you has spent a great deal of time, effort and energy to create for others around you the illusion of reality, the illusion of what you see yourselves as or how you wish to portray yourselves as.

We assure you, dear friends, that though this illusion is beneficial to yourselves - for it has helped you survive what you call 3rd dimensional reality - though it has had certain benefits to yourselves, we assure you, dear friends, [that] of greater benefit to yourselves would be to recognize that it is a self-illusion. And, once that recognition is made, then you can begin the process of rediscovery of yourself - rediscovery of the true essence of yourselves, the true power that exists within yourselves. For, in each and every one of you, recognize [that] you are energy. And energy, in and of itself, is power, from that perspective.

The power is not in the power of being able to control another, being able to move another at will, forcing another to do as you wish, being able to create an illusion that forces another to move or to manipulate others - or even to manipulate yourselves, or control yourselves, or force yourselves in a certain direction.

True power exists in being, dear friends - in simply existing. Not existing from the perspective of "existence from beginning to end," but existing from the perspective of beingness.

If you allow yourselves to be that which you are, then, dear friends, you will be power, for that which you are is power - power as part of your existence. Not the totality of yourselves, but, we assure you, the manifestation of yourself is energy, which is power.

As a result, dear friends, there would be no need for you then to force illusion upon others - or, even more insidiously, force illusion upon yourself. For as you recognize your own truth, you shed for yourself the aspects of illusion that, therefore, bring to you the greatest truth, which is your own self-truth. Do you see, dear friends?

Now, having said all of this, how can you apply this in your daily life?

We have suggested many times, dear friends, that each and every one of you begin the process of observation. Observe yourself! Not from the perspective of judgment, not from the perspective of right or wrong, good or bad, better or worse, but rather from the perspective of what is.

Begin to observe yourself - observe your thoughts, observe your actions, observe your feelings, observe your emotional state, your mental state, your physical state, as well as your spiritual state.

Observe how you interact with others. Observe how you move through daily life. How do you move through the jungle of humanity? How do you move through the living, the aspect of 3rd dimensional reality you call Earth? How do you relate? How do you interact? And in the observation, dear friends, you begin to discover or begin to paint a picture that is more accurate of that which you are.

Now, as this picture is being painted, we assure you, dear friends, it is changing. However, that it is changing is beneficial in that, as you observe, you now can also observe change. And, as a result, you are constantly updating your own particular self image to being that which you are - not that which you think you are, not that which you believe you are, but, in truth, that which you are.

Simple, pure essence, of that which you are.

And, as you begin to discover these aspects of yourselves, dear friends, you will then move to certain aspects and to present yourself as that which you are. No need for illusion, no need for manipulation, no need for "games to be played."

Rather, it is of greater benefit to yourself to present yourself as that which you are. That way you yourself can then begin to love yourself for whom you are, and therefore, in truth, create an environment around you where others can also love that which you are, for whom you are, as opposed to for whom you are not.

Allow yourselves to move in this direction, dear friends, and, we assure you, you will discover greater power than you have ever imagined possible.

Many, many in this world today think that power comes from the ability to manipulate others at their own will, to create certain environments that move others in certain directions as they themselves choose. We assure you, dear friends, that that is not power, that is the illusion of power. For, in truth, it is only power as long as the others are willing to go along with your own manipulations, your own creations of reality. As they choose to step aside, [to] remove themselves from your manipulations, your games, you lose power, and, therefore, it no longer exists. That is the illusion that people see within power.

However, if you yourself are that which you are, there is no need to create manipulations, therefore, but just to be. And as you are, or are into your beingness, others will interact with your beingness, and will do so through choice, dear friends, through their free will, their free choice, and, as a result, will interact with you in a fashion that is to them beneficial, as well as to you. And will move through free will and free choice - and, we assure you, dear friends, there are no stronger bonds in the universe today than the bond of free will and free choice.

Once an individual chooses to interact with you, we assure you, dear friends, that nothing - absolutely nothing - can break that bond until such time as that individual chooses to no longer interact with you. And no matter how many individuals, how many people try to manipulate or force that separation, it cannot occur until an individual themselves chooses to remove the interaction, the bond of interaction.

Recognize your powers, dear friends. For, in truth, that is where you yourselves will come into your own essence of self.

Some of you this evening are able to pursue the aspect of what we are speaking of at an earlier age than others. We assure you, as you move through your process of life, if you choose to manipulate, if you choose to control, if you choose to create an illusion of yourself in order to force others to believe in your own self illusion, dear friends, you will also choose to shorten you life. For every time that man chooses to create an illusion, or chooses to use self-illusion as an aspect of interaction, that person then reduces their life span by approximately one tenth of one day.

And as a result, if they would only recognize that by just being themselves, today, mankind could exist for thousands of years, without altering themselves, [and] therefore, they would choose to do so. Many individuals, however, are so afraid to believe the aspect of beingness, that they prefer to choose the aspect of the illusion of their own reality, and, as a result, manifest themselves for periods of 50, 60, 70, 80 years, some 90, a few in the hundreds. But we assure you, dear friends, all of you could live for thousands of years, if you were but to choose it.

For the amount of energy that you expend to maintain your illusion of reality is so vast as to reduce your life span by one tenth of twenty-four hours every day, every time you expend that energy to create the illusion, and, we assure, you dear friends, that you have expended a great amount of energy from the time you were born till now. Do you see?