V. The Two Emotions, P 3
3 It is through these strange and shadowy figures that the insane relate to their insane world. For they see only those who remind them of these images, and it is to them that they relate. Thus do they communicate with those who are not there, and it is they who answer them. And no one hears their answer save him who called upon them, and he alone believes they answered him. Projection makes perception, and you cannot see beyond it. Again and again have you attacked your brother, because you saw in him a shadow figure in your private world. And thus it is you must attack yourself first, for what you attack is not in others. Its only reality is in your own mind, and by attacking others you are literally attacking what is not there.
Journal
In the first paragraph we saw clearly that we don’t really know anyone, only our thoughts about that one, a projection of what we believe. Jesus is now calling this a shadow figure. I think I know my daughter, my friend, my enemy, but I know only the shadow figure that I see as the thoughts and beliefs in my mind. In other words, I know only myself projected onto the world, so the daughter I know is a projection from my mind, as are all the other people who populate my story.
As much as I love my daughter, I still attack her. I think that she is difficult to talk to, easily offended, defensive of her beliefs, and those thoughts are an attack. But whom am I attacking, really? That daughter I see is a shadow figure created in my mind, and so if I attack it, I am really attacking my self. I think about Donna, and I see that my attacks are more overt. I see her as arrogant and pushy, and that is an attack. But who is arrogant and pushy, this shadow figure from my mind? These thoughts are an attack on myself because the Donna I know is in my mind only.
As I write this about Donna, I realize that I have forgiven that shadow figure and have let it go. I felt sad writing those things I used to utterly believe. I see the face that used to irritate me and now I see something else. I see a face that expresses fear of not being enough and the driving need to prove itself worthy. I feel compassion and I feel bad that I didn’t see that before. And is this the real Donna I see now? No. It is just another shadow figure that I have projected from the mind that I call my own. Donna represents my belief that I am arrogant and push and that it is just a cover for my fear that I am not enough. No wonder I don’t like her. She is an unconscious but constant reminder of what I don’t want to see in myself.
It’s funny that as I accept that everyone I know is a projection from my mind I can see those traits in myself. I couldn’t see them before. The reason we project onto others is that we don’t want to accept responsibility for the things we find in ourselves. So we throw them out and see them as belonging to someone else. But pretending they don’t belong to us doesn’t get rid of them, and so we just continue to attack others and hurt ourselves. Recognizing what is really going on allows us to withdraw our projections, and bringing them back to ourselves we can now ask for healing and truly be done with those errors in our mind.
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