All of us go through “aha” moments in our lives which are usually due to a shift in our perspective making it possible for us to experience a new reality.  Our change in our reality is usually related to our experiences of personal loss, death or illness. These are the times we are taken out of our comfort zone.  When we change our reality, we usually expand the boundaries of our illusions (limited belief) we have about ourselves, people around us and life in general.  Any kind of belief is a mechanism to bind and limit our perspective of what is possible.  Of course, some beliefs are more positive and desirable than others.

Some of the realities that we may be forced to change are the mirrors of illusions that our belief systems have created for us.  The illusions may be related to our concept of God, who we are, the meaning of life, feelings, families, relationships, money, etc.  We may feel pain or discomfort when our present illusions are changed or shattered.  The pain felt is due to the loss of something that we have invested so much time and energy into sustaining.

In the context of Tending to Your Garden Within, we need to seek out our illusions and actively shatter them (not be a victim).  As a gardener, we will have a more joyful life when we actively participate in indentifying our beliefs and illusions. Our illusions are like tall weeds in our garden within that block our vision of realizing a thriving life.  The poem below illustrates this concept further.

Shattered Mirrors

I pick up a large obsidian rock.

I look at my images in the mirrors for the last time.

I throw the rock at the mirrors.

I shatter the infinite images.

I shatter the sources of the images that

 I have been creating for many years.

I shatter the images that have been created by others

since childhood.

I feel a big jolt.

A sudden silence overcomes my surroundings.

I can feel a gentle breeze on my face.

I can hear my breath.

I hear crackling sounds.

I can see cracks in the solid foundation the

mirrors were placed upon.

The foundation gradually transforms

into tiny grains of sand.

I see all the “marked paths”

in front of me

created by my parents and society

being erased.

I sense the urgency to be perfect

 disappearing.

I feel a faint and familiar beating in my heart.

I notice the critical voices in my head

getting weaker and weaker.

I sense that my propped up images

in the mirrors

no longer have strong influences on my mind.

I sense that the fear of the unknown is not as fearsome.

Oddly, it is rather exciting.

I sense trapped energies used

to prop up the images being released

like a bird escaping from a cage.

I tap into the released energy

to fulfill my heart’s deep longing.

I feel calm.

I sense my old reality

as a dream in which

I was a puppet.

I feel a fresh cool breeze on my face.

I feel spirits breathing in me.

I smile.

I step forward to shatter more mirrors.

Copyright . 2010 by Shervin Hojat