The Movie Projector

This is a metaphor to help understand the INSIDE⟹OUT nature of our experience.

EXPLANATION

Includes video and flipchart

Imagine an old-fashioned movie projector. It has a plug so that it can turn on, it has a light bulb that illuminate the film on the screen and a film reel to play content (a movie) on to the screen.

• Mind is the plug, the power to the system. Without the it the projector, wouldn’t work. It is the power to be alive, the intelligent light force that is a constant power source for us.

• Consciousness is the lightbulb, our special effects team. It is the power to be aware. It shines a light on our thoughts and brings them to life. Sometimes the light is dim, and we can’t see what we’re thinking very clearly. Other times it’s bright and our thoughts are clear on the screen. If we are unconscious there is nothing to shine on the film, so the screen is black.

• Thought is the film that runs through the projector. Thought is the power to create, it is what creates the content of our experience and is different for everyone. If the film is spinning too fast that’s what we see on the screen. Without thought you would just see a white light (of pure consciousness) on the screen. If the film/our thoughts change, we see a different image on the screen.

You need power, the light and film (all 3 of them) for there to be a film on the screen, and you need all 3 principles; Mind, consciousness and thought to create an experience.

The screen is our experience of this process – of mind, consciousness and thought combining to create our experience of life.

Note: we have seen that keeping the projector simple and light is in service of people when they first encounter the projector. Run through the 3 elements of the projector and then overlay with the principles, without creating too much new content.

You can start with the screen or by start with the projector.

• If we start with the screen we describe our experiences and how they are made

• If we start with the projector we describe the process of mind, consciousness and thought combining and the experience that is then created.
  

Here is an example of sharing the Projector in a light/introductory way:

Here is an example of sharing the projector starting with the projector:

Here is an example of sharing the projector starting from the screen :