Projections are projections of an experience, such as a story, a belief, a knot, an emotion, a process, or anything else. They can be seen as inherent in what they are put on top of, or a projection of an experience, and they can appear as only out there and not in here, and the other way around.
A few different flavors…
- Projection of a story. The story arises here and now, as a thought, but is placed out there or an imaginary past or future. I have a story about my past, and that is all it is. And I can recognize it as only a story, a thought, arising here now, or imagine that it is somehow real, somehow inherent in a real and substantial past.
- Projection of a belief. The belief arises here and now, put is placed out there or in the past and future. This is the same as above, only known really taken as substantial, real and inherent in what the story is placed on.
- Projection of a knot. The knot arises here and now, put is placed out there or in the past and future. With beliefs come certain emotions and habitual behaviors, and this whole conglomerate can be projected as well.
- Projection of an emotion. The emotion arises here and now, but is placed out there or in the past and future. This is what most people recognize as a projection. Anger arises here, but I have an identity as not angry so it can’t be happening here but over there instead, in my neighbor. Or, I am quite familiar with anger here, and recognize the symptoms of anger in my neighbor, so assume he is angry.
- Projection of a process. The process happens here and now, but is placed out there or in the past and future. Birth and death, creation and destruction, are some good examples. Here now, my experiences continually change, there is continuous birth and creation, and death and destruction. This is not really the projection of a process, but of a story about a process. There is the recognition of change and processes only through comparing images of what is and what was, so this too is all from a story.
- And projections can be blind or not, in two different ways.
- They can appear as coming from an experience, or being inherent in what is out there. I can recognize them as coming from just an ephemeral experience, or take it as something more solid and real.
- They can appear as only out there and not also in here, in this human self, or the other way around. In other words, I can recognize what arises as part of our shared humanity, or not.