Tufti the Priestess

by Vadim Zeland

  Composing the image

  As always, my dears, we dutifully repeat what we’ve covered so far.

  Reality, like a mirror, reflects all your thoughts and actions.

  Your thoughts and actions are usually: love me, help me, give me.

  In the reflection, you get literally the same thing: give, give, give.

  Acting with petty intent, you do not see yourself objectively.

  To see yourself objectively, become fully present.

  Refresh your view; feel your individuality within the motion-picture.

  Categorically replace all your ‘give me’s’ with ‘here, take’.

  From what has been said, it follows that all your actions must be squared with the mirror-like quality of reality. Before you demand something from others, make sure you are fully present and ask yourself: what do I need to do for the reflection to meet me half way? Obviously, the answer is ‘take the first step’. What would the first step be in your case?

  Silly snails only consider their actions when they are standing in front of a normal mirror looking at their own reflection. But you, my golden ones, are now so clever, so cunning, that you are sure to understand: your thoughts and actions should take the mirror into account even if it is one that you cannot see.

  For example, let’s say you need love and kindness. Imagine yourself standing in front of a mirror. Move in such a way that you see these things in the reflection. How should you move? Don’t seek love, radiate love. Don’t look for kindness, radiate charm and be kind.

  Try the principle out for yourself. Whom do you find more attractive, the person who loves you, or the person who is needy of your love; the person who gives to you selflessly, or the one who begs you for something; the person who is genuinely interested in you, or the one who seeks your attention?

  Use the following table to compose the image you want:

  Simply line up all your thoughts and actions with a plus sign beside each one. All your ‘give me’s’ have a minus sign after them and either don’t work, or create the opposite effect. Similarly, all your negative thoughts and actions come back to you like a boomerang.

  You don’t want a hailstorm of boomerangs to drop on your head from nowhere? So, don’t throw them into the mirror! The mirror does not always return everything as an exact copy. The cause-effect relationships of all kinds of misfortune can’t always be clearly traced. The only thing that is inevitable, is that the Boomerang will return, sooner or later, in one form or another. Have you hurt someone? Dig yourself out, in all kinds of different ways. Have you done something nice for someone? You will be rewarded.

  And now, the specific image method. As soon as you find yourself wanting something from someone, wake up and stand in front of the mirror. What do you need to do for the reflection to meet you half way? Give to others the very thing that you would like to receive.

  Catch yourself thinking: I want other people to give me something.

  Be fully present: wanting is futile, you have to give.

  Ask yourself: what can I give that is the same?

  If you find something similar, give it now and give upfront.

  If you don’t find something similar, then just give anyway.

  It is not always possible or appropriate to give to another the very thing you would like to receive, or even something close to it. You can give anything you see that a person needs or that will make them feel good from a compliment to a gift. It is not difficult to work out what a person needs. All it takes is to show genuine interest. From then on, it’s easy, just make sure everything has a plus sign beside it.

  There is a general principle for image composition: rather than complaining to the world, love it. In reality, all you need is love. You know this, it’s just that you don’t always take these words in the right context. You want people to love you. You think that first people will love you and then you will love the world, but it should be the other way round: you love, you radiate love, without demanding anything in return, and only then does love come to you.

  There is a certain type of person, who will willingly use your love without giving anything on their part. Stay away from people like that. You don’t need them in your life. Now, come closer, closer, my darlings! I am Tufti, your priestess!

  Communicating with the mirror

  And so, here we are, my pretties! Now you know how to propel yourself from within, not to wait, request or demand, but to move through life in your own way so that you get what you desire as if you were standing in front of a mirror.

  Your actions must be squared with the mirror-like quality of reality.

  What do you need to do for the reflection to meet you half way?

  Give to others, the very thing you would like to receive.

  All your ‘give me’s’ have a minus sign. These create the opposite — you don’t receive.

  Negative thoughts and actions come back to you like a boomerang.

  Line up all your thoughts and actions with a plus sign beside them.

  So, what else can you do in the current frame, aside from composing your own forthcoming reality? Move, and propel yourself from within. If you focus on self-development, and, on top of that, you know the image composition technique, you will have no equal among snails.

  Pitiful efforts to change the current frame, i.e. to directly influence the current course of events will either lead to nothing or have the opposite effect. Trying to influence other people is also pointless. They are characters who are being led by a script, just like you. Judge for yourself: would you really allow yourself to be influenced? There’s no persuading you; if you don’t want to go in a certain direction, no-one will be able to influence you otherwise. Is that not true, my resolutes?

  You can change the course of events in a movie by changing the film roll but never from within the film itself. The only way of influencing people indirectly (we aren’t considering methods of compulsion here, obviously), is to enter into a relationship with them in accordance with the mirror principle. This is the only way of making people do willingly, the thing that you would like them to do.

  Why should people want to do the things or give the things you would like them to? The nature of reality is such that it’s not just a film, it’s a mirror as well. Composing the image has a similar effect to composing reality, only the mechanism in this case is different, more mirror-like. You can’t shape the behaviour of others, like you do in reality.

  If, when composing the goal frame, you try and forcibly make a certain individual dance to your tune, it probably won’t work, or it will produce the opposite effect because you’re breaking the rules twofold — you’re intruding on someone else’s script.

  Only your personal reality is yours to play with so you should be the central figure in the goal frame, figured as you imagine yourself to be in your dreams: you are the star on the stage; you are in the director’s chair; you are sailing your own yacht… All the other figures in the frame should be in the background, as part of the set design.

  Remember this: you can create your own reality; you can’t create other people’s reality. All you can do is have a mirrorlike relationship with them. If you want something specific from a certain person, go and see them and communicate with them within the current film, taking account of the fact, that the film is mirror-like in nature.

  On no account, for example, should you try and manipulate a certain person into walking down the aisle with you, but you can imagine in your goal frame walking down the aisle with an abstract (imaginary) individual, your ideal partner, or living happily in your future home with your future family. Then, your film strip will be replaced by another, in which you meet the person, with whom such a set design can be manifest into physical reality. If you have a specific individual in mind, don’t bother working har
d to ‘shoot a film with her’ as it won’t work. Go and talk to her, as if with a mirror, composing your image.

  The most important thing (I’ll say it again and again my forgetful ones, over and over!) is to remember where you are. You are in a film, surrounded by fictional characters being directed by the script. On the one hand, you can switch the film roll. On the other hand, it has a mirror reality, which is deceptive in the sense that it does not have a visible surface separating the image from the reflection.

  You have the opportunity to wake up in the movie, look around, and start strolling live as conscious individuals, influencing reality at your own discretion. If you don’t, you will be just the same as all the other characters, my pitiful ones, being directed by the script, acting as if you were in a fog as if you were in a dream, and then you can have very little influence on anything at all.

  One more thing you need to know and remember is that unlike the characters in dreams, who are completely subordinate to the script, and unlike animals, which are ruled by instinct and, again, the script, you are endowed with the capacity for self-awareness. It may rarely be awakened, in occasional glimpses only, but you have the capacity nonetheless. And so, you are led not only by an external engine, the script, but also by an internal, driving force.

  What force is this exactly? It is very simple. It is the need for a feeling of self-worth and the pursuit of self-realisation. Imagine that you’ve just been born into the world. What will you do? First and foremost, prove to yourself and everyone else that you’re not a waste of space and that you weren’t born in vain. This is basically what you have been doing all your life. The form and method this takes are different for everyone, but the root of the behaviour is the same.

  From here, there emerges another very effective mirror principle. If you want to win someone’s favour or receive something from them, set yourself the goal of emphasising their importance and help them in the process of their own self-realisation. Obviously, you will have to forget about your own importance for a while and focus on the importance of others.

  It is a paradox, because here, it’s all the same mirror. You benefit when you think about the benefit of others rather than your own benefi t. If you do not want to make enemies, be beware of the danger of bruising someone else’s feeling of self-worth.

  As I said before, helping others gain the advantage should be part of your personal life philosophy. If you do this, you will have no difficulty with your own self-realisation. Moreover, your own realisation will be successful only when it benefits others. Conversely, if what you do is of no benefit to others, it won’t really help you either.

  Manipulation

  That’s how it is my beauties! Once again, it all has very little to do with you! We don’t try to influence people and events directly; hands behind your back and move forward from within!

  You can manipulate reality; you can’t manipulate people.

  With others, all you can do is to communicate, bearing the mirror principles in mind.

  When you compose your picture of reality, see abstract people and set designs.

  Be very careful of bruising anyone else’s feeling of self-worth.

  Strive to emphasise the importance of others and help them achieve self-realisation.

  Your own realisation is only successful if it benefits others.

  Don’t forget to be present and remember the mirror. Just remember that both the positive and the negative will come back to you like a boomerang. When you are being fully present, to those who are still asleep, you appear as fireflies, all cute and inviting. And if, at the same time, you communicate with them, as if with a mirror, you will be an all-round favourite.

  You have already learned many of reality’s secrets, but it’s too soon for you to switch off yet. There may be other advanced snails, who will try to manipulate your consciousness, especially those who are endowed with power and access to the mass me-dia by the script. Therefore, keep your horns pricked up; do not let yourself be controlled and do not fall asleep.

  It is possible to manipulate a character’s consciousness from within the current frame. As you are already aware, you are led both by the external script and an inner driving force, although by the latter to a far lesser degree. This driving force mainly determines the direction in which you move, but it is still the script that sets you in motion. However, there are very greedy snails who may try to alter the direction your life course is taking to suit their own interests either because of their intentions or because of their script.

  This is manipulation, the attempt to control someone else’s path within the film. Manipulation can take the form of deception, creating false values and goals, or playing on the weaknesses and needs of others. Unlike the mirror principles that assist your course rather than disturbing it, manipulators will divert you from your true course and try to use you. Whenever you feel that something is being imposed upon you, ask yourself: who does this benefit and how?

  Don’t get involved in manipulating others; it’s a shameful business, not to be indulged in. Manipulating reality, however, is another matter entirely. You could even say that it’s legitimate. Reality is constantly fooling you with its illusions. Why shouldn’t you settle the score, my secret maniacs and furtive super-freaks? You are sure to enjoy it. Now, let’s look at how.

  Reality is dual in nature. On the one hand, it is a film, and on the other hand, a three-dimensional mirror. Both are bound to confuse. The main illusion is that the true nature of reality is hidden. You can’t see the space of a film strip, and the mirror framework itself isn’t visible, but if you know this and you remember that reality is dual in nature, then the illusion will lose its power over you.

  So, when you stand in front of an ordinary, flat mirror, you observe simultaneously the image (the subject) and its reflection, and so the correlation between the two is obvious. However, the correlation has not always been obvious. You don’t remember your facial impressions, as they were when you looked in a mirror for the very first time. But I tell you this: back then, you did not understand anything. To you it was just a fantastic illusion, because you did not understand the principle of how it worked.

  The illusion of a normal mirror remains incomprehensible even to this day if you look at a mirror from a different perspective. The illusion of the reality mirror is much more complex still. The space is not split in half, and there is no visible boundary between what is real and what is imaginary.You are, at the same time, both inside and outside of the mirror.

  The mirror works with a delay factor and it does not provide an identical correlation between image and reflection. None of the messages you put out to the world will work instantly, and cause-and-effect relationships can’t always be traced. Imagine what an ingenious illusion this is! The ultimate cunning lies in the fact that reality is pretending not to be a mirror.

  Still, you can get the better of this illusion. Now you know the principle of how a three-dimensional mirror works, and you know that the subject and the reflection in the mirror are concurrent. So what does that give us? It means that the image you create can become a reflection, and the reflection can flow back into the image. In other words, you can turn a reflection into an image by pretending you have something you don’t, or that you are already the kind of person, you have not yet become.

  For example, you want to have your own home. You wander round the shops looking at furniture and items to decorate the interior as if you already had a home. Or you might want to be wealthy — look at expensive things, cars, yachts, spa resorts. Allow wealth into your life. You might want to become a star; behave as if you were already a star; live that life, for now at least in your imagination.

  Don’t worry if it feels like a game or self-deception. If you are serious in your approach to the game, reality will be forced to take you seriously. It is a mirror after all! Or had you fo
rgotten? Your task is to feel now how you would feel if you already had what you want, or already were the person you’d like to be. You have to fake it and live out the game. It’s make-believe, but it is not a joke. It’s no joke, you see?

  So what happens next?

  Gradually, the picture of reality will attune itself to your make-believe. Reality loves to create illusions, but can’t stand being fed them. It will find a way of turning the illusion you have created into reality.

  Composing the reflection

  So, my conniving hypocrites and conspiring pretenders, you understand that strolling live through a motion picture is not just a matter of make-believe, it is also a masquerade?

  Manipulating a person’s consciousness is paramount to controlling their course in life.

  Ask yourself: whom does this benefit and how?

  The nature of reality is two-fold and furtive: it is a movie and a three-dimensional mirror.

  In reality, you are simultaneously inside and outside the mirror.

  Feel it and fake it as if you already had what you desire.

  Reality will gradually bring itself into alignment with your make-believe.

  Yes, it’s playing a game with reality, but the game is real and quite serious. And yes, it’s a masquerade. Reality has many different faces and you too have your own masks for reality: imitation and being present, allowing and tracking, observing and composing, the subject’s image and its reflection. All this is on the one hand make-believe, and on the other hand, very real.