The World Is A Stage --by Dorothy Franklin

As we journey on our path to illumination, we are faced with many choices and decisions. Sometimes doorways are placed before us, and we must choose to walk through or to pass them by. The most profound and enlightening doorway that I, along with many others, have found is marked, "You Create Your Own Reality."

It took me many years of pain and sorrow to come to this doorway, but when I did, it opened up a whole new vista for me. My life changed drastically when I discovered it, and my outlook on the world and humanity was uplifted. This doesn't mean that I am through with pain and self-discovery, for sometimes it is difficult to accept and understand my own creations. But it has made the journey a little easier.

We are taught, in esoteric teachings, that the earth is a teaching place--a place where spirit comes to learn and grow. But many of these teachings don't give a working hypothesis as to how this is done. Therefore I will give you a brief explanation of my own perceptions.

If I wished to create a piece of sculpture, I would have a picture in my mind as to how the finished product should appear. I would then begin molding clay--thereby producing that sculpture before my eyes. This way I could see if I was using the proper tools, and if I had the necessary ability to produce what was in my mind. The finished sculpture would tell me if what I was doing was wrong and how I could improve my skills. It works the same way with physical reality.

As spirit, we have no way of knowing our vast capabilities. To understand ourselves and our relationship to God, or All-That-Is, we come into physical reality to learn by creating outwardly what we feel inside. And our tools for creativity in this reality are not the hammer and chisel of the sculptor--they are our desires, beliefs and thoughts. From those tools we create all that is around us.

How would you reply to someone who asks you to describe yourself? You could begin with a physical description. Then you could describe the qualities you ascribe to yourself in relationship to others: even or short tempered, willing or not to help others. Then, if the questioner were adamant, you could describe your beliefs. In so doing you will be comparing yourself to your world and the creatures in it. Usually, we describe ourselves in terms of outside influences.

Now, imagine consciousness as having the same properties as that which created it: intelligence, emotions, and creative ability, but having no form with which to compare itself. Such a consciousness does not understand what it is, simply that it is. Spurred on by the desire to know itself, consciousness creates a learning ground, a place where it can manifest outwardly its desires and beliefs. By observing its creations, similar to the sculptor, it could see where it needed to brush up on its techniques. Thus we are in physical reality, honing our skills, learning about ourselves.

This doorway of development, "You Create Your Own Reality" is sometimes one of the hardest to accept. By accepting this premise we must also accept responsibility for our creations. We can no longer blame others for our situation. If we are in a particular situation it is because we have chosen it in order to learn about ourselves. Of course, it is hard to imagine why anyone would choose sickness or hardships, but then why do we choose the circumstances of our own lives? What are we gaining from our own experiences?

Along with the responsibility of creation, comes a bonus, a new sense of power. If we have the power to create in the first place then we also have the power to change it. This particular understanding took me a long time to accept. I am still in the process of working with it--attempting to understanding the ramifications of such a bold statement. And my first question was, "If this is so, why didn't anyone tell me before? Better yet, why didn't I know all along?"

Having since made the connection with my trance source, Phillip, I naturally turned to him for clarification. His answers have helped me through many difficult times. He likened physical reality to a stage play where you play a part for awhile to try out your abilities. The other actors are there playing their own particular roles for their own particular reasons. Like a good actor you throw yourself wholeheartedly into the play. You become the character you are playing for the duration of the play. This, however, is more of an improvisational play where the actors agree to certain guidelines, but not to a hard and fast script. If the actor wishes to change his role, and those within his particular play do not wish to change their roles to accommodate him, then he must seek a new play with different actors.

We tend to identify too much with the roles and to forget that we are more than what we see. We are the actors behind the roles. What is needed, is that someone take our hand and lead us back to that realization. This is the main thrust of the so-called New Age, to help those who are ready, into an understanding that we are not the roles; we are the creators of the play, and not the play itself.

When we look at our life in these terms, we understand all that is around us is but a reflection of what is contained within ourselves. We reflect those things outward so that we may look upon that what we have created and understand where we need to change.

Sometimes individuals are afraid of power, and are therefore unwilling to see that power within themselves, or they see it as something that will overcome, consume or corrupt them. True power does not try to overcome another or to put another down. True power need not remind others of its presence, for others will automatically see it when it is near. It is the belief in a lack of power that causes one to rail against power when they encounter it within another--they therefore feel intimidated by it. True power understands that it is one with All-That-Is, and true power also understands it changes reality by changing itself.

We reclaim our power when we realize we are the ones who control our destiny, not a force of good or evil--not a God or a Devil, or a political system nor religious sect. There is a world out there that is hurting from its own sense of powerlessness and victimization, and it needs all the help it can get. The world needs to realize all is not lost, and that it can be healed with a little effort and a great deal of love.

Ed: Dorothy Franklin, a resident of Gloucester, ONT., receives inspiration from her channel source Phillip. Her articles appear in publications in the U.S. and Canada.