How Importance and Values Influence Perception
Topics:
“How Importance and Values Influence Perception”
“Is What You Are Valuing of Benefit to What You Want to Create?”
“Consequences Are Imagined Actions You Inject Value into and Create”
Thursday, July 5, 2007 (Private/Phone)
Participants: Mary (Michael) and Anne (Monique)
ELIAS: Good afternoon!
ANNE: Good afternoon. How are you?
ELIAS: As always. And yourself?
ANNE: I am doing okay. (Laughs) Did I feel your energy coming in? Gosh, it must have been about 20 minutes ago.
ELIAS: (Laughs) Yes.
ANNE: Was that you? Well, I felt you around a lot today. But in particular 20 minutes (ago), it was very nice. Thank you.
Yeah. I don't know whether to start with my dream, or my back. Which would you prefer?
ELIAS: (Laughs) I incorporate no preference, my friend.
ANNE: (Laughs) Oh, dear. I can't decide either. Okay, let's see. Let's do the dreams.
Okay. This morning I had a dream about a Japanese wedding. Being part of the wedding, organizing it. I was the maid of honor. And it was a Buddhist-style Japanese wedding. It was a two-day wedding, but for a change I was actually interested in it because it was so unusual and different. The couple was very sweet, but at some stage they confessed their affairs to each other just prior to the wedding, in order to clean the slate. You know what I mean.
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: She had three pretty straightforward one-to-one affairs, but he had numerous indiscretions, which were much more colorful in that they involved hiring prostitutes to put on sex shows for him. So anyway, at the beginning of the wedding they finally said, okay, we're going to stop all that extracurricular activity, and we'll just get married and live our life together now. But there was some doubt as to whether he would be able to really put that behind him. But I have no idea what this was about, other than the Japanese link, which is to a book that I'm working on, called Sayonara, Dream-Eater.
And then when I woke up this morning, sure enough there was an email from the author of that book. Do you have any—
ELIAS: And your feeling?
ANNE: Now that I said — I imagine it's somehow linked with the Sayonara. And also somewhat, this thing about this colorful indiscretions of his, and unable to put it behind him. There was that doubt there. To be honest, no. I'm not very clear about what it could be.
ELIAS: This dream imagery concerns values. This imagery is concerning differences, but how you generate certain values and the importance of those values. And in association with the importance of them, how they can affect your perception in any particular situation. Especially in a situation that you perceive to involve honesty. Or expressions that are generally of equal importance, such as commitment. And how you define those values. And how important they are to you.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: In this, yes, I would express that the manner in which you chose to image this subject was influenced by your involvement with this book and this author. But the subject matter was more of your own presentment of information to yourself in relation to importance and value and how that is affecting of perception.
ANNE: Okay. I don't quite understand what I was trying to tell myself other than like just to sort of showing it to myself that this is how I view the relationship between importance and values?
ELIAS: It is information concerning those subjects. For those subjects are significant in association with perception. And those subjects are involved in many, many actions that you engage, and therefore, determine your responses and your choices in relation to situations that you create.
ANNE: Okay. That's making a little bit of sense. Okay.
I'll talk about another dream I had a couple of days ago which has been a lot more severe. And it's a very long dream so I'll paraphrase it.
Initially I was at a party and I was sat down and there was a man who started stroking my hand. It was quite dark so I didn't see who he was. And then I saw him, eventually, and I thought, “Oh, I don't like him.” On top of that, his girlfriend was sitting next to him and I thought, “No, I really don't like this now.” So, I'm off. But he did compliment me on my boots that I was wearing, because I was wearing some cool cowboy boots. And I said, “Oh, yeah. I got them from Texas.” Anyway. So I ended up leaving. There was also a friend who was there and it didn't really look like her but it kind of did. And that was a bit odd.
Anyway, I left and I was sort of stuffing some of my goods into my Jeep. And a crazy, skinny guy comes up and he's like, “Oh, what is this?” and he grabs one of the garments that I'm stuffing into this Jeep. And he's kind of weird and crazy and I'm like, “Can you just put that back, please.” And he's, “No, no.” And he's just playing around with it. And I said, “No, please. Put it back, 'cause I just want to leave now.” But instead, he ran off with it. And in the meantime he also says to me, “Oh, you're really pretty.” And I said, “Oh, come on, let's just put it… Stop playing games, put it back, and let me go.”
So he runs off with it into a café. And in the café, he puts it on. So when I arrive I see him with this garment. And I'm like, “Come on, just give me back the garment.” Anyway, we get into an argument. The owner of the café comes. He says, “I'll sort this out,” and calls the police. The police come, but they're German. And then they're like from the 1940s, SS German guys. And I'm like, okay, this is a joke now. I mean, who are these guys?
But the whole café went quiet and they're like, Jesus Christ, serious guys are here. And then they switched the lights to off and they took the owner into the bathroom. And then you started hearing these moans and groans coming from the bathroom. And everyone was like, “Oh, gosh; be careful; be quiet.” Blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, “What the hell is going on?”
So the crazy, skinny guy gets up and he opens the door to the bathroom, when out pops the hand of the owner, that had been severed by these German guys. And this crazy guy, he's terrified now.
And I think, I got to get out of here. Like, ASAP. And I bolted back to my Jeep. But when I get to the Jeep, it's not there. And I'm like, shit! If I don't get out of here these guys are going to come after ME. And I'm looking around for my Jeep and I can't find it anywhere.
Then I turn back and I see the skinny, crazy guy, and he's just on his hands and knees and he's crying and he's almost screaming to high heaven. Oh, you know, terrified about what's going to happen to him.
And then I wake up, because it was a nightmare. (Pause) Hello?
ELIAS: Yes. And what is your impression in relation to this imagery?
ANNE: In relation to this… I was talking to Patrick about it and he said he interpreted… God, I don't remember what he said. Something about… Because I said to him, you know, had I just left the crazy guy at the very beginning, I wouldn't have dealt with any of the… I wouldn't have seen any of this. But because I insisted on getting that stupid garment back, all these chains of events ended up happening. So maybe it's about letting go of whatever it is that's not really that important anyway. So that I can avoid all that other stuff.
ELIAS: Partially.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: This also concerns, very similarly to the other dream, in association with perception and values and what influences perception. And how that influences the choices that you engage and what you do. For in this, you are presenting scenarios to yourself that you dislike; that you incorporate strong associations with in association with values. You generate strong associations with actions that other individuals are engaging that you dislike or that you disapprove of, or that you deem to be inappropriate. And in that, you offer yourself a series of scenarios of illustrations of what influences your choices, and what actions you engage in relations to those influences. And each one concerns some element of what you value.
And in that, it is not until the point that you become personally threatened or perceive yourself to be personally threatened in a significant manner that invokes fear, that you choose to stop and you engage different choices. And you allow yourself to remove yourself. But even in removing yourself you also remove what appears to be your avenue of escape.
This dream imagery is significant, for this imagery is offering you information concerning choices, and concerning how in generating certain choices in relation to value, and that influence, can generate associations within you of right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable, appropriate and inappropriate. It can influence you in directions of pursuing avenues that may not be necessary. And in that, you can create situations or experiences that become uncomfortable. And that can even escalate in the expression of discomfort, and this is all associated with what you generate in relation to importance.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: Many times, individuals are generating the expression of importance in automatic responses. The actual subject may not necessarily be important to the individual, but with that influence of values, that creates an influence of perception that can trigger automatic responses in relation to importance in situations that if the individual were to evaluate, the subject would not necessarily be that important.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: Such as the garment. The garment was not what was important.
ANNE: No.
ELIAS: What was important, was the association of values and in that, what is appropriate or not appropriate behavior.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: In similar manner to the first scenario, in which you recognized that another individual is touching you, but you also subsequently recognize the circumstances and the environment surrounding this individual and you generate an automatic association. Which generates an influence to create a particular choice.
Now; understand this also offers you an example that in some situations, were you to be evaluating what is occurring and what is the subject of the importance, you may actually choose the same choice as the automatic response. But in other situations you may not. And this is the reason that it is significant to be aware and to be paying attention. And to be aware of what your automatic responses are and therefore you CAN evaluate whether you would actually engage that response, regardless, for that would be your preference and it would be important to you, OR whether you are engaging an automatic response that is not necessarily important to you and is being influenced by some OTHER element.
ANNE: Okay. I see what you're saying. I'm just grasping it slightly at the moment. So I want to go a little bit deeper into that, because that must be what these… what my back is trying to tell me.
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: Or is, kind of what I'm dealing with generally, right now.
ELIAS: Yes. You are correct. For these are quite related. For in this, when you view the other scenario, with the imagery of the thin man taking the garment, in that scenario you are generating an automatic response and are not identifying what is motivating that response.
ANNE: Yes, uh-huh.
ELIAS: And in that, in not being aware of what you are doing, you begin to engage a direction.
ANNE: Can I interject there and say, in the dream I was quite aware that the motivation was that the garment actually belonged to Patrick. And that if I come home without this garment, Patrick would become quite upset. So in order to avoid that particular scenario, I pursued the skinny man.
ELIAS: Yes. But this is a factor also which quite plays into this entire scenario. For in this, you are not paying attention to what YOU are actually generating. Your concern is associated with your partner, NOT paying attention to you.
ANNE: Okay, yeah, yeah yeah.
ELIAS: You generate an automatic response and you follow that and you are unaware of what is influencing that. For you are not paying attention to you. You are not paying attention to what is or is not important to you, and what associations you are generating. And therefore, what begins to occur is you begin to generate a direction. And that direction begins to escalate. You've already moved into a direction that you do not want. And that you are uncomfortable with. And as you continued to go into the automatic responses and not pay attention to what associations you are generating and what you are doing inwardly, you escalate the situation and it becomes more uncomfortable.
ANNE: Yes. That's right.
ELIAS: And you build upon that discomfort, and it continues to increase to the point in which you move into panic and fear. And in that element what do you present to yourself? You present to yourself, “No way out.”
ANNE: Oh, I see. Yeah, yeah.
ELIAS: You present to yourself that you incorporate NO choices now. For you have moved this direction to a point where you have escalated it to a degree that now you perceive yourself to have no choices.
ANNE: Okay, yeah, that's true.
ELIAS: And when you have no choices, you feel stuck. And you also feel vulnerable and frightened. (Pause) And this is quite associated with what you have created in association with this physical manifestation. For in perceiving that you incorporate no choices, you feel helpless.
ANNE: Well, I have been trying to unlock the door and I am at a total loss as to what is going to make this door open. It's not like I haven't been searching for it. But I kind of see what you're saying.
ELIAS: But you have offered yourself the key this afternoon in this conversation. For the key—
ANNE: Okay, then let's discuss that further because even now I'm still a little bit like, okay, I understand partially what you're saying. It's something having to do with values but, I mean, my definition of values and what you might be saying might be slightly different. I'm not sure. Yeah.
ELIAS: Offer to myself how you define value.
ANNE: Oh, what's important to me. But it's a very general thing. The very general kind of foundational type of things, rather than… You know, I don't necessarily value a car, or a motorbike, you know, specific items, that doesn't fall into it. It's more directions and feelings.
ELIAS: But you do value a vehicle, for you value it's function.
ANNE: Yes, yes, but I would say it's a slightly different feeling of a value. I don't know. Maybe it is the same thing then.
ELIAS: I am understanding. You may not generate the same association, but what is significant is to allow yourself to recognize what you incorporate as value. Such as, you may express: I do not value objects, I do not value a vehicle. But you do, for you do value it's function. In this, you may express that you value yourself, but you may be concerning yourself with another individual more. And in that, you are devaluing yourself.
ANNE: Yeah, that's coming up a lot. Breaking that cycle. Yeah, because it's interesting — just as a sidebar — I don't feel like it's… what it is that I'm feeling now is not necessarily true, in a way. Or it's not… In a way I feel like this is so old. I shouldn't even be in this, be here anymore. This is… Anyway but that's a (inaudible) thing, right now.
ELIAS: That is another manner of discounting yourself. For that is not crediting yourself for what you are doing. You are in a continuous journey when you participate in this reality. Every moment is another opportunity for discovery, even with repetitive subjects. For even in repetitive subjects there are many layers of every subject. Remember: you are not eliminating. This is a classic example of how automatically you, and in like manner to many, many, many other individuals, move into this idea that as you revisit a particular subject, you should be done with it. Or you should be beyond it. Those are merely different terms for the same subject of eliminating.
ANNE: Oh, okay.
ELIAS: And you are NOT eliminating. You are exploring. You are unraveling. You are uncovering more and more layers of your associations, your beliefs, what you do. You are uncovering more and more layers of your own functioning. But you are not eliminating. Therefore, it is not a matter of, this subject is so old. I should be done with this. I'm not accomplishing. No! That is incorrect. You are accomplishing. You are merely presenting to yourself new layers of subjects that are very strongly expressed within yourself.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: Which would also be associated with your own guidelines, with your preferences, with your movement, with what you value. And understanding whether some expression that you have placed value upon previously, is beneficial to you or not. Or whether it is of the type of value that you want. THAT is significant. For the type of value that you want is to be valuing expressions and actions that allow you your freedom, and allow you to create easily and intentionally, what you want.
ANNE: Exactly.
ELIAS: Therefore, offering yourself information in relation to what you ARE valuing, and whether the valuing of that expression or manifestation offers you those components of freedom, and the ability to create what you want intentionally and easily, or not. For you may incorporate value in an expression or a manifestation but not necessarily in a manner that benefits you.
ANNE: So what value is it that I'm dealing with at the moment. Or is it several at the same time.
ELIAS: It would be many expressions. Let us revisit a situation that you can view as an example again in association with this subject and with the subject of your physical manifestation.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: For that is what is most concerning to you, presently. In this, once again, express to myself what you perceive to be the onset of this physical manifestation, again. Your trip, correct?
ANNE: Yes, correct.
ELIAS: And you and I, together, have already identified that, in that, it was the choices that you were engaging in overriding yourself—
ANNE: Yes.
ELIAS: —although you were aware, and you KNEW what you were doing, you engaged the choices to override that, and engage different choices. Now, your motivation for those different choices — which denied you — was projecting your attention outside of yourself in relation to your partner and generating that sense of obligation to your partner. And also the association of money.
ANNE: Yeah.
ELIAS: Now; in that, what was valued was the perception of your partner and complying with your partner — that was valued, but it was not necessarily an efficient expression of value. It was the type of value that denies you your own expression, denies you your freedom, denies you your ability to create what you want intentionally and easily.
ANNE: That's right.
ELIAS: Also, the factor of money. That became a value also. And therefore, it influenced you to engage choices that created the same expression as the other value. Denying you your freedom and your ability to create what you want intentionally and easily.
In moving your attention to you, and allowing yourself to evaluate what the actual benefit of that value is, and whether it actually IS valuable to you, or not, would allow you to engage different choices.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: Not that your partner is not valuable to you, BUT is the expression that you are DOING, valuable.
Now; in this, another component in projecting your attention outside of yourself and concerning yourself with your partner, is recognizing what element in association with your partner, holds the value, just as in your dream imagery. The garment was not the subject. Your partner was the subject, and what you perceive to be, or anticipated to be, as consequences.
Therefore, it is not your partner that is actually the subject matter of the value, or the garment, that is the subject matter of the value, it is the consequences that you anticipate, that you perceive. Which is the same in the actual scenario of your trip. It is not your partner himself that is the subject of the value; it is not the trip that is the subject of the value. It is the consequences of NOT engaging that becomes the value; the anticipation of the consequences.
Consequences are imagined actions that you generate a value with and therefore you subsequently create them. Consequences are not inevitable, and they are not cause and effect. Consequences are an imagined action that you inject value into and therefore you subsequently create them. It is not an action that you can absolutely predict that will occur in relation to another individual's behavior. The reason that you can consistently predict, in some situations, another individual's behavior in relation to what you define to be consequences, is that YOU will absolutely create that.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: Therefore, surfacely it appears that you can consistently predict this other individual's behavior, for it is very familiar to you. And for this individual ALWAYS responds in this manner in association with certain subject matters. No. It is in actuality that YOU are very predictable and that you anticipate a particular behavior or expression, and you create it.
ANNE: Okay.
ELIAS: You create the reason for it, you create the instigation of it, and you create the execution of it.
ANNE: Yes, I see that. I see what you're saying.
So what I've been doing, this whole time, since my back started up, has been looking primarily at the consequences of actions that I would take, and trying to avoid the consequences.
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: In a way.
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: Okay. Got it. Because THAT'S what I value, is not having those consequences happening.
ELIAS: Yes. But that is moving you in directions of creating choices that create directions that you do not want.
ANNE: Exactly.
ELIAS: And that are uncomfortable to you, and the reason they are uncomfortable to you is that they are denying your free expression, and they disallow you from creating what you want, intentionally.
ANNE: That's right.
So going back to the Florida trip. You've been, I mean, pretty much most of this year was, I think, trying to tell me that, in a way. But the Florida trip was trying to sort of imagine it in my mind right now, of switching that importance level from what I put the importance on, to something else. Which would have been at that time—
ELIAS: Moving the importance from the trip, and from your partner and from money, to listening to yourself, acknowledging yourself, and acting in choices in association with your own communications. Valuing THAT and generating more importance in that, recognizing that in that situation, that was significant.
Now; let me also express to you — as to attempt to avoid encouraging you to move into more black and white directions — this is not to say that there is no significance in the expression of importance of other individuals also. It is not to say that you should not pay attention to what is important to your partner also. Not that that is necessary for it to also be important to you, but to allow yourself that consideration to factor in, in association with your choices. In that, allowing you to continue to honor your own direction. And pay attention to you and engage action in association with own communications, but also not to be discounting what the other individual is expressing in importance, for you are incorporating that in some capacity as a reflection to some expression that you are generating, therefore, it all is interconnected. It is not a matter of moving your attention to yourself exclusively to the point in which you become unconcerned, or unaware, or oblivious to any other expression that any other individual generates, for you are continuing to participate with other individuals.
Now; but in this scenario, what would you express that you perceive to be the consequence, if you chose to listen to yourself, and if you chose to act, in association with that?
ANNE: Well, I would have perceived, or I would have imagined, I should say, that Patrick would have been quite upset that I had left. He probably would have put some blame going on there. And that would have been the primary thing. And then the second consequence would have been the money. He might have actually said, “What makes you think you can spend all this money just because you don't like something?” Those two things would have happened. Most likely. I don't know. Maybe they wouldn't have.
ELIAS: THAT is the point, is that YOU imagine these consequences and therefore you allow that influence. When in actuality, were you to have been genuine and SHARED with him your discomfort, and the significance of it, and allowed yourself to be acknowledging of yourself – rather than concerning yourself with the anticipated consequences, and therefore projecting your attention to HIM – were you to have genuinely allowed yourself to share and express yourself, there would be no projection of energy from you in threat. And therefore, there would be no necessity for him to express in defense, which would create the perceived, or the imagined consequence.
Therefore, you would not be creating a disappointment in relation to him. He would not have been experiencing a disappointment, for what you DID was deny HIM the opportunity to be understanding. You denied yourself considerably, but you also disallowed the opportunity for him to express his own expression of sensitivity and understanding.
ANNE: Okay. Okay, yeah, I see that. Definitely.
ELIAS: This is the telephone that continues to ring. This is what you have been presenting to yourself in this physical manifestation. And now you have chosen to answer the phone. (Laughs) Congratulations.
ANNE: Thank you. God, I was, ooh. You must have seen me just struggling big-style with this one.
ELIAS: But you have chosen, this day, to engage this conversation and in that, you have unlocked the door. And you have offered yourself the key.
ANNE: Okay. Well, thank you very much for being there as well.
ELIAS: As always, my friend, I am always available and present with you.
ANNE: Thank you, very much.
Is this what all the ambulances were about? (Laughs) I saw a lot of ambulances going on.
ELIAS: (Laughs) Merely imagery of emphasizing the sirens, and how LOUD this telephone was becoming. (Both laugh)
ANNE: And you also came into the dream and you kept saying, “Don't try, just either do, or don't do, but don't try.”
ELIAS: Yes. Quite so, my friend, and I will reiterate that to you continuously. Do not try, DO! Trying is not doing.
ANNE: No, trying is not doing.
ELIAS: Trying is hindering yourself.
ANNE: Yeah, I realize that, in that dream. Thank you for pointing that out. (Elias chuckles)
Just a quick question. Something interesting happened today. I was walking down the street and I felt a very strong sense coming from Patrick, of doubt. Like he was seriously doubting himself. And I texted him and I said, “I don't know what you're doing, but if you feel any level of doubt, just relax. Everything's going to be okay.” Then he texted me back, eventually, and he said, “Your text came through when I was in the middle of a meeting with some Russians. Some dodgy Russians.” (Laughs) Anyway, we haven't managed to discuss it yet. But was he actually reflecting to himself, his doubt, through that experience with the Russians?
ELIAS: Yes. But also, I would be acknowledging of you in generating that openness. That you connected with that and allowed yourself to respond in encouragement.
ANNE: Thank you.
I almost don't know what to say, because I just feel like, wow, I've made a big break through today. And, you know, that's fantastic.
ELIAS: Yes. Yes you have. And I am greatly acknowledging of you.
ANNE: Thank you, thank you.
I just want to talk a little bit about, step into the flow. (Laughs) (inaudible) that's okay with me.
Actually, um, do you like the book? (Laughs) Of course you're going to say yes, aren't you?
ELIAS: (Laughs) What is significant is, do YOU like it?
ANNE: Yeah, I do. I was reading it before it went to the printer. And it made me laugh, it made me cry, it moved me. I just love that book. I love it. (Elias laughs) I think the cover is quite nice, but I didn't like the printing job, so I sent it back to get redone. Which is why it's late.
Any final word regarding… one of the things that was really starting to worry me, big-style, was the kind of escalation that I could see happening. Then I was kind of resigned to it. But in a way I just felt, no, I can't get resigned to this.
But anyway, I guess there's the (inaudible) No, there isn't actually. I don't feel any fear at the moment, so. Yeah, I don't feel any fear. I'm okay. I think I'm okay.
ELIAS: Very well.
ANNE: Okay.
Just a quick one, because I know it's time now. But Jillian had sent me a couple of impressions and she said that she saw me as Shackleton's cook.
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: Yes, oh my gosh. I'm sure I'll tell her all the rest are fine then as well. And one little impression I had. I had a night where I saw a lot of different focuses of mine. One of whom was a musician, a pianist, modern piano. And it seemed like he was slightly into the future from now. He came through very clearly, playing his piano. And I felt he was very important at that stage. Is that correct?
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: And why… There was another little girl as well; very, very sweet; oh my gosh, so sweet. I can even see her now. Was she in the past?
ELIAS: Yes.
ANNE: Sweet little girl, oh my gosh. That night, when I had a lot of those impressions, what were those focuses, in particular, all about?
ELIAS: Merely you, allowing yourself to generate an openness to be connecting with different focuses in an encouragement to yourself to be less serious, and to incorporate more of a lightness and a playfulness, and incorporating more fun.
ANNE: Okay. Right, okay. Got it.
Okay, then Elias. Well, I'll let you go. (Laughs)
ELIAS: Very well. I shall be anticipating our next meeting.
ANNE: Yes.
ELIAS: And I shall be expressing my energy to you in tremendous supportiveness and encouragement.
ANNE: Okay, thank you very much.
ELIAS: A great acknowledgement of you, my friend, and tremendous appreciation. Au revoir.
ANNE: Thank you, bye-bye.
(Elias departs after 1 hour 3 minutes)
Copyright 2007 Mary Ennis, All Rights Reserved.