Projection is the cornerstone and purpose of our perception. The presumption that there is something wrong with us, and the attempt to avoid judgment for that, is the reason projection seems necessary. We see the world as a mirror—a projection—of how we see ourselves. We then judge the mirror because of what we think is true about us. The constant use and practice of projecting is why we make others responsible for what happens in our lives. We have come to believe that it is we who must adapt to or control our environment to survive and so fail to recognize that our safety and our freedom actually comes from accepting responsibility for what we see. Only then are we free to change its cause, which is to change the way we see ourselves.
There is no world outside our mind. It has no cause beyond our thoughts. It has no meaning we have not given it. But because projection and avoiding responsibility for our thoughts is fundamental to the way we think, we do not consciously recognize that we are making the world we see to perfectly accommodate our own self-image. We do not see that as freely as we attack ourselves, so will we find others who will attack us. And the more we are open to being loved, the more we will find those who love us.
Because projection is so unconscious and “normal” to our perception, we can also use it to change the way we see ourselves. This is the function of forgiveness. By forgiving “what” we see, because it is a projection, we are also coincidentally forgiving ourselves for seeing it. By reversing the judgments we have made we release ourselves from the effects of its guilt and this truly will change the way we see ourselves. This process must be accompanied, however, by a very real desire to be free, for without this there is no real motive to reverse the way we think.
Accepting responsibility and directly forgiving ourselves is difficult because we have gone to such lengths to avoid being responsible for the guilt we feel for what we imagine to be wrong about us. This guilt has manifested in repeated experiences throughout our lives to the point that we no longer question if it is real or true. Forgiving others, even forgiving the way we see, is a step removed from directly confronting our guilt. But doing this will begin to free the mind to question its belief in guilt and that will be sufficient to let the process of self-forgiveness begin.
The reality of our innocence will be shown to us as we are open to receive it. It is the truth and needs only “a little willingness” to let go of our resistance to it. Forgive yourself for what you now see and our consciousness moves closer still to that forgiven world where peace and joy and love then become the mirror for our forgiven and loving Self.