Thinking outside the box is a term that implies lateral, creative, innovative thinking and the ability to come up with original or unprecedented ways of solving problems. What if though, we could live outside the box. First, we would have to perceive or recognise that we are living inside a box. Then stepping outside of that box would be an immense freedom and bring unimaginable benefits in our life. It might take courage though. Even animals, on being released into the wild again, hesitate for a long time before leaving the cage when they open the door.
We all live inside three boxes: The first box is the box of the body. The second is the box of the mind. The third is the box that others put me in, and there are many of those.
THE BOX OF THE BODY
I am not the body, the box, I am the living consciousness inside the box. Just as the driver of the car is not the car. However, through time I have identified so strongly with the gender of the body, the roles I play, the race or religion of the body in which I find myself, that it has become quite a comfortable box. At least I know where I am. I know where I am, but not what I am truly capable of. When I understand that I am a soul, pure consciousness, a being of light, then in meditation, in connection with the Supreme consciousness the soul is revealed to me. Further, I see others as souls, and see the body as a toy, and observe the game that all are playing. I then think very differently and am living outside of the box.
THE BOX OF THE MIND
This box is very deep and complex. The mind is one of the faculties of the soul and I have created this box. The world of my mind is what I have created based on my beliefs and feelings which shape my reaction to the outside world. The habits of thinking that I have created, even though they cause me pain sometimes, are very difficult to change. With meditation, realisation and determination, I can create my own beautiful reality inside the box of the mind.
THE BOXES THAT OTHERS PUT ME IN
These boxes are very uncomfortable. These boxes simply do not let me grow within any relationship. Even if someone tells me how kind and good I am, it is a box. I have the pressure to be always kind and good when that person is around me. The roles I play are also boxes if I allow them to be. If I am a husband, teacher or friend, then those with whom I play the role, project their expectations on me and I feel suffocated and not able to express myself freely. I can, though, fulfil the same roles without being in those boxes, provided I am not influenced by their desires and expectations. Meditation gives me the power to move beyond the boxes and into the expansion of my true personality. This does not just bring benefit to me but to everyone I am associated with.
The only energy or consciousness that has never, ever, been in a box of any kind is God. In His vision He does not see me in a box, nor will He ever put me in a box. Through a connection of thought with this Supreme energy, I recharge my own spiritual energy, I become a king, a ruler of my mind, free from all the boxes. I connect with the supreme source of pure love, happiness, truth and light. The freedom of this truth is all-encompassing, beyond all boxes.
Eric Le Reste is a journalist and producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and coordinates the activities of Brahma Kumaris centres in Canada.