In one of the associations I belong to we invest conversation time with the senior citizens of our community. There is one gentleman in particular that I always end up having long conversations with. His point of view about the world is somber and appalling. It is no surprise he spends much of his time watching and reading the news.

Our exchanges are so different in perspective, I sometimes find it funny how we like each other so much. Our conversations always begin the same way. He always shares that he is depressed because the world is in such a sorry state; and I always suggest that he sees the world in such a sorry state because he is depressed.

As a mystic, I am aware that although our points of view are directly opposed, we are both correct. Humans are endowed with the free will to create their own reality and this can be found externally or internally and regardless of where we choose both our internal and external realities will be greatly influenced.

I always try to explain this principle to my senior friend, and he finds the concept logical, but inevitably he always goes back to asking me, if that is the case then what about the people suffering in some ongoing war in the world or some catastrophe that he has recently read of in the news. This is an intersection that mystics and logical people always tend to reach. This is the point where one decides if he has the power to manifest or if he is a victim of this world.

Long ago, the Universal Principle of Karma or the “Law of Cause and Effect” addressed this very point. The “realist”, logical or mundane live in a world that bombards them with “effects”. From there, the logical thing to do to survive is find the causes of those effects, as to avoid them in the future or adapt them so that future effects are preferable. The mystic, exists in state of self examination where his inner vibrations are the causes of the external effects, thus by regulating himself internally he influences the world externally.

For the mystic, watching negative news would influence his internal vibration and this would co-create more of what would be watched. So, what my senior friend has asked me many times at this point is, if this is so for me, then do I believe that the catastrophes and wars do not exist? My answer is that they possibly do exist, but because my vibration did not create the effect in my immediate surrounding, then I have no way of knowing how bad it really is and I cannot rely on the reporting of others that do not adhere to Universal Laws. Furthermore, if my reaction to this sort of news is one of compassion and prayer it will be exponentially more positive than one of horror and disappointment. Even if it is as limited a to my inner self only.

At the end of our talks he always feels uplifted. I suspect, it is mostly my inner optimism about humanity that tilts his inner negative one a bit. He always apologizes for taking so much of my time when I visit and still to the day he doesn’t believe me when I thank him for teaching me so much. It is thanks to him that many concepts become clearer to me and help me help many others. This gentleman, without being conscious of it actually is the “Cause” of many healing “Effects” to many of a younger generation, may wonderful Karma shine upon him.

Note: I would love to acknowledge or credit him here in some way here, but he has explicitly estated that his privacy be kept intact.