Freedom: Quantum Observation
There is a Zen story about a poor man walking through the woods reflecting upon his many troubles. He stopped to rest against a tree, a magical tree that would instantly grant the wishes of anyone who came in contact with it.
He realized he was thirsty and wished for a drink. Instantly a cup of cool water was in his hand. Shocked, he looked at the water, and decided it was safe to drink. He then realized he was hungry and wished he had something to eat. A meal appeared before him, “My wishes are being granted,” he thought in disbelief. “Well, then I wish for a beautiful home of my own,” he said out loud. The home appeared in the meadow before him. A huge smile crossed his face as he wished for servants to take care of the house. When they appeared, he realized he had somehow been blessed with an incredible power and he wished for a beautiful, loving, intelligent woman to share his good fortune. “Wait a minute, this is ridiculous,” said the man to the woman. “I am not this lucky. This can’t happen to me.” As he spoke… everything disappeared. He shook his head and said, “I knew it,” then walked away thinking about his many troubles.
This story illustrates the responsibility that comes with our ability and freedom to think/create. For many years, I thought that responsibility simply meant the ability to respond. In my experience, most of us were either responding or reacting to the circumstances and conditions of life. If circumstances and conditions are favorable, then we are happy and responsible, but if they are less favorable, then we feel disappointed and victimized. We either take credit for what happened or blame ourselves, someone else, or the situation.
For me, there is a different understanding and awareness of responsibility. This awareness allows for grace and a freedom of Being that was not available in the previous model of responsibility. This awareness is also closer to the Zen story above and is resonant with the quantum world. Quantum science informs us that we shape our world by the very act of observing. Energy – the stuff the universe is made of – responds to our perceptions, or the way we see the world and ourselves.
Of course, our perceptions are based on our worldviews – thinking, language, practices, ways of being, beliefs, feeling and ways of being – for which we are responsible. In the quantum domain, our perception not only influences the world we see, but also how it actually unfolds before us. Just like the tree in this story, which is a metaphor for the quantum field, we receive, without discrimination, our every thought and action (and even our non- action).
Quantum physics tells us that there are no real colors, shapes and forms in this universe except the ones we create in our minds at the time of observation. So we are far more influential in our lives than is commonly believed.
You and I are not just observers in our lives. We are the creators of it by what we observe and how, so it is our responsibility to stay awake and mindful to what and how we think. Like the man in the Zen story, we have complete responsibility in shaping our lives. This is freedom!
Over the four decades that I have been coaching and training, I have not met one person who had the courage to consciously invent their lives and to lead powerfully until they had awakened to the enormity of both their responsibility and freedom.
Until next week.
Many blessings…
Bettie J. Spruill
