Throughout spiritual teachings we find the understanding that we human beings have the ability to “create” the world we live in — for good or bad — by the way we think about it.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
— Albert Einstein (1879)

This world we create in thought is not real, but it keeps us living in our imagination, cut off from the true source of life.

There is an intuitive knowing within us that we are eternal but this gets covered over with the noise we create while identifying with the impermanent.
— Mooji (1954)

But if we understand this gift of thought and how it can be used properly, we can consciously live in a world that we have made better for ourselves, and everyone else.

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
— Lao Tse (604 B.C.E.)

By humility, out of an enemy He has made a friend, which is more than to have created a new earth.
— Meister Eckhart (1260)

Know that to think is to create,
And you will love instead of hate;
For when you think you make a mould
The Law will fill, if you but hold.
— Retsama (1928)

And ultimately, with a mind that is freed of its belief in its own creations, we can hold within our consciousness an awareness of the entire universe.

God is able to measure the whole heaven with his span. The earth and the sea are enclosed in the hollow of his hand. And although he is so great and holds all creation in the palm of his hand, you are able to hold him, he dwells in you and moves within you without constraint, for he has said, “I will live and move among them.”
— Gregory of Nyssa (395 B.C.E.)

Conflict among people is born of each one of us defending the creations of our own small imaginations. Harmony is only truly possible when we see through the limitations of these beliefs, and open ourselves to the oneness we all share and our common connection to the Divine.

Stop Creating What You Don’t Want

We can align ourselves with the true creative force of the universe when we begin to use our own creative powers for the good, and stop using them to create a nightmare world for ourselves.

OneJourney founder Guy Finley has some practical insight into how we create problems through useless thinking, and how we can begin to free ourselves of this self-harming habit…

Whatever dominates us in the moment is what is first in our lives. We value things that seem to put us first, but actually put our true best interests last. We squander our lives — our precious energy — thinking about things that only serve to fill time. The cost of having a conscious first, being truly whole and successful, is giving up useless thoughts. How do you know a thought is useless? Ask yourself how long you’ve been thinking the same thing!
— Guy Finley (1949)

Have you seen a quote that speaks to the value and impact of what we create? Please click here to submit it to the OneJourney Living Book so we can all be reminded of how we hurt ourselves, and what is actually in our power to do for the good.

Best wishes,

Dr. Ellen Dickstein
The OneJourney Project