Reality’s Guiding Principles: What You Resist Persists, by Lynne Forrest.

There are basic universal principles that define Reality. Wise men of every generation have observed these universal principles at work in the natural world.

For instance, we know that Reality is a medium that supports life, in the same way that water is a medium that supports aquatic life. We know from our wisdom teachers that this medium of Reality is made -up of what we call “energy.” Alchemists say that all life is made of the same one substance. Therefore we know that every thing, all forms of life, seen and unseen, are made of this same universal substance, energy. Reality is energy manifested.

We see the workings of the energy principles that operate Reality on every level, and in every arena, of our lives; whatever the expression of energy may be, whether it’s a human body or a mountain, the ocean or an animal, furniture or rain – no matter what form energy takes, it will act according to the principles that govern it.

For instance, one of the principles we observe regarding the nature of energy, no matter it’s form, is that it does not go away, it merely changes form, like when you drop salt crystals into warm water: the crystals disappear, but if you dip your finger in the remaining water, you will taste the evidence of the salt still very much present. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist! All form simply changes form – (yes, this includes YOU too!)

Iron turns to rust, bodies to dust, ice to water, grain to fodder,

All life goes through the death/birth cycle.

Egg to infant, seed to plant, bud to flower, harvest to sower,

All life is renewed in this ongoing cycle.

When we learn and observe guiding principles in our life, we have the chance to align with Reality through them, so that we can experience the joy, peace, and kindness of Reality. We can choose to use universal principles that govern energy, nature, and physics to guide our own lives:

Here’s an example of a principal about how energy moves that can be observed on many levels of Reality, including our own inner workings.

First, here’s the principle: ‘what we resist, persists.’ In other words, the harder we push at something, the harder it pushes back. These words reflect Newton’s third law of motion, (his summation of this particular guiding principle), which is: “for every force there is an equal and opposite force.”

We observe this principle of Reality at work in the medium of water as follows:

Imagine you are standing in a swimming pool with water up to your shoulders. You suddenly see something you want on the other side of the pool and so you start trying to move fast through the water to get to it. What happens? The faster we try to go, the harder it gets to move ahead, right? The harder you try to push the water aside, the harder it is to move. This is the Reality of life – the more we try to force life, the more resistance we meet.

Like when you’re running late and trying to get to your appointment fast by racing across town … what happens? Traffic lights go red as you approach, cars pull out in front of you, old ladies limp across the street in front of you, etc. right?! When we try to push life, life pushes back. It’s the law of Reality in motion!

Or, like when you don’t like something your loved one is doing so you confront them angrily and then they respond to your resistance with defiance and anger. The same principle applies – what we resist, persists – every time.

Because the mind is made of energy, (it and all its components, such as thoughts, beliefs, feelings), we know that it operates by the same universal laws that govern energy on the physical level, and on the mental/emotional level. By studying external manifestations of energy at work in nature we get better at seeing how those same governing principles that apply in nature are also at work within the medium of our own minds.

This allows us not only to understand the workings of the world, but of our own mind, as well. Through that understanding we learn how to cooperate with certain basic guiding principles (such as those I rely on for daily peace) to achieve a life with less resistance, and more effortless doing.
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Lynne Forrest is a non-traditional practitioner who has been in private practice for twenty six years, and the author of a new book, Guiding Principles for Life Beyond Victim Consciousness. Find her on the web at www.lynneforrest.com or www.lynneforrest.com/blog. These articles are copyrighted material. All rights are reserved. No part of these articles may be reproduced by any means or in any form whatsoever without first obtaining the written permission of the author. Permission for reproduction may be requested by contacting Lynne at Another Way Center: (423) 698-0814.