The Addiction of Prediction

Why are things unknown? Is there a purpose, an intention, in not knowing? Not knowing is unpleasant, it creates stress and anxiety and allows phobia and delusion to take root in our brain. Sometimes it seems the wheel of fortune is spinning out of control, introducing profound change in all that we are accustomed to including the people around us, our relationships and environment, even our physical bodies.

The idea that things are unknown to us seems a contradiction to natural law. There is thought energy in the universe, and thought precedes reality. Likewise we each create our own reality, limited only by the karma we have imposed upon ourselves. Yet if this is true, why don’t we know everything that is going to happen?

As I reflect on this question I think that perhaps we do have the capability, and or the means, to truly know and forecast the future. Perhaps the condition of not knowing is one of choice that comes about from two sources: 1) our ability to accept rather then deny, and remain focused on the grander rather than immediate future, as the immediate future is at times unpleasant 2) our experience with different methods of prediction, as different methods produce different results and varying degrees of accuracy.

Prediction comes in at least three flavors or methods. The first comes from ‘me’. It comes from within and is the truest sense of knowing. In essence what comes from ‘me’, from within, really comes from God, as God is part of each and every one of us. The second flavor of prediction comes from ‘you’, from other people in the mundane and astral worlds. ‘You’ see my future and ‘you’ tell me about it. The third flavor of prediction has an ‘us’ or ‘we’ element to it, and it transcends the mundane as well as the astral. It is collective expression, collective prediction. In the mundane world it lives in synergy, in the concept of group thought. In the astral it lives in the communion of like minded souls.

Prediction comes with a matrix of possibility, a menu of options. This is the first challenge in our state of consciousness because it implies that one and only one possibility is true. Truth is relative; relative to you, relative to me, relative to the cycles of time that bind it.

Consider for a moment why there is a matrix of possibility. Can the future be changed? If an individual foresees an event or situation, can the knowledge inspire planned behavior to circumvent it? The important thing here to consider is the degree of possibility, which implies evaluating why things happen. Cause and effect are critical evaluation points.

The second challenge is one of limited perceptual and associative capability. The process of association and the way the brain defines truth is a continuous process, and consequently the meaning we associate with an experience changes as we associate it with continued experience. Association has an emotional component that colors our perspective as well. What one experiences beyond self can only be described and explained within the context of self, within the boundaries of self experience. No matter what we do in this mundane world, regardless of our behavior or intentions, no matter how profound our meditations or dreams, we always return to the limitations of self consciousness, to our individual process of association.

And yet there are times when a dream comes to warn you about impending danger, or another person has a hunch about something that is going to happen to you, and it comes true. Even though these experiences can be few and far between, they are powerful and may inspire us to seek more and greater predictions.

Prediction is addictive, and there is a dangerous element to it. The danger lies in the nature of thought, the nature of reality, namely that thoughts are real and that thought precedes reality. If you believe in a prediction, be it your own or one that someone has forecast for you, it has the potential to manifest.

I find that the best way to predict the future is to create it. That doesn’t mean that I have unlimited control. I have a sense for my boundaries. They come from my knowledge of past behavior, and the consequences that will inevitably come. I am also bound by cycles, cycles of physical, psychological and spiritual development, cycles of our species and our planet.

I not only have boundaries, I have influences. I am subject to the influence of the people and environment that surround me, of the moon and stars. Rather then surrender to boundaries and influence and give in to the notion of uncontrolled destiny, I prefer a balanced approach. When I imagine, before I visualize, I reconcile by reflecting who I was and I am with what I want to become. When I do not reflect and reconcile, what I imagine does not become as I imagined it but rather there are additional features and consequences that reflect my karma and my influence. And yes there are usually features and consequences that I do not expect. My preference is to keep them at a minimum.