One morning during meditation, I was feeling bad about all of the pain in the world and asked “Why?” What did Native Americans do to deserve such annihilation? What did Africans do to become slaves and colonized? What was the cause of such pain and degradation of peace-loving, Spirit-loving people?
Of course, there are numerous hypotheses, the main one possibly being that the cause is human nature. From the very beginning, humans have killed one another for power, control, possessions, retribution, punishment, emotions, and survival. Nevertheless, as we presumably evolve away from our animalistic characteristics, can we become consciously aware of ways in which we contribute to nurturing the very base level of our existence?
It came to me that we create devastation in our world and contribute to it every day by our thoughts and behavior. Unchecked anger, hatred, bigotry, jealousy, resentment, worry, anxiety and other unproductive energies contribute to a force that feeds from and integrates with beings and systems with like vibrations.
In an episode of the Star Trek television series, the crew attempted to get rid of Jack the Ripper, who was thought to have died centuries earlier. They discovered that “he” was actually a universal force that received its energy from the negative thoughts of everyone on the Enterprise. The force would enter a body and make it perform harmful acts. When others reacted in fear, anxiety, and anger, the force became more powerful. Ultimately, the crew realized what was giving the force its strength. They began to focus on happy thoughts. Laughter drove the force away from the ship and into space. Unable to find an entity like itself to which it could attach, the force dissipated.
My meditation was interrupted by a handyman hired by my apartment complex. When I opened the door, the man spoke to me while looking at certain parts of my body. He never looked me in the eye. When I resumed my meditation, all I could think of was my anger towards this man. It took quite a while for me to return to my meditative state.
Calming myself, I saw that the same way I allowed myself to be taken away from my meditative peace was the way that I allow myself to become uncentered throughout each day and throughout my life. I start out on one path and, then, allow people and events to detract me, to spoil my day, to make me ungrateful, angry, resentful, or irritated. I realized how easily negative thoughts come to my mind and how, instead of passing them through, I nurture, revisit, and build upon them. I was able to see how I then attract certain energies to me, not necessarily the energies upon which I am focusing, but the type of energies in various forms. A small hole can be just enough to let in a flood.