We meet people all the time, and some encounters we remember because they made a significant impact on us. In life we mostly have inconsequential chance meetings and simply forget about them, as they were not really important to us. In most people’s life there are actually very few encounters that are truly significant; for various reasons most people are unable to influence us, or alter our viewpoint in any momentous way. However, meeting with Jane Burgoyne was remarkable as it actually altered my perception of myself and forever changed how I perceived reality. Jane is a close friend now, and she always shifts my perspective on most things in life; she has triggered a deep need within me to know and understand more about reality, and in understanding the inner forces that affect my perception it has encourage me to attempt to achieve greater inner balance.
My first meeting with Jane came about, because the manager of the company, where I was working, had gone to see Jane for a Personal Potential Profile. After having been abroad for a period of time Jane had placed a small advertisement in the local newspaper, to let people know she was back; whilst she was reading the newspaper my manager noticed Jane’s ad, and made an appointment to see her. The manager was so impressed by Jane’s work that she promptly invited her to lecture at her company. For many years Jane had focused her work on assisting individuals to become aware of their greater potential; as Jane was known for her exceptional accuracy she had never needed to advertise, as her ability was spread about by word of mouth.
One afternoon my manager walked into my office and told me I was to go to the seminar room to attend a lecture, in half an hour. Although I normally enjoy having an opportunity to learn something new, on that particular afternoon I did not feel that I had time to attend a lecture; the next morning I was scheduled to have a meeting with the accountants, so I was really busy trying to complete everything that was needed for the next day’s meeting. Although I explained this to my manager, she nevertheless insisted that I must attend the lecture. I was quite displeased, as I still had so much to do before the end of my working day I did not want to waste my time attending an unspecified lecture. I was a little late when I reluctantly entered the seminar room, and Jane was already standing in front of the group, patiently waiting for me to take my seat. As I sat down with arms folded, my face probably showed some of my annoyance.
After briefly introducing herself Jane told us that she had done research under hypnosis, about the mind and connecting with different levels of consciousness, and that doing this had enabled her to develop a deeper understanding of the human condition. Doing this research gave her the ability to access awareness that exceeded her personal awareness, and it had also advanced her natural ability to intuitively connect with other levels of consciousness. The lecture touched on subjects that were mostly unknown to me, and some of the awareness Jane talked about I found really strange, as I did not actually understand it.
But one of the subjects she raised that really made me pay attention was the concept of collective thought consciousness. Jane explained that all thoughts are absorbed into collective thought consciousness and that as we think we send thoughts to, and receive thoughts from, collective thought consciousness. I suddenly had the realisation that if my thoughts had this influencing effect, I might be causing a lot of pollution and contamination within collective thought consciousness! I would have to take responsibility for my thoughts in the same way I did for my actions.
I learned the importance of observing my thoughts, and discerning whether they were of a positive or negative nature. In doing this, I would be able to evaluate if my personal thoughts were contributing positively to the collective thought consciousness, as I did not want to be responsible for contributing in a negative way. The awareness that my thoughts could influence thought consciousness in a negative way was quite concerning, and I realized that I had to be more observant and discerning if I was to contribute in a positive way. Although I did not fully realise how challenging this process would be, I made an instant decision to attempt and achieve, having more positive thought activity.
After having attended Jane’s lecture I realised that Jane’s awareness of the mind was totally new to me, and I had not yet understood how this new knowledge, would fit in with what I already thought I knew about the brain. It did not make it easier that in my first language, both the brain and the mind are defined by the same word; in Swedish there is no distinctive definition made between the brain and the mind, and this I found really surprising. Whilst I was driving home from work at the end of the day, I realised I was very pleased that I had attended the lecture, as it had given me a great deal to reflect on. But even so, on the next day when we were told by our manager that we would all have a private session with Jane, I did not feel any need to do this. As far as I was concerned I did not think there was any good reason for me to do this, as I was quite happy with the one-off, by chance, meeting; but was I totally mistaken!
But the next thing I knew, everybody in the office was arranging to see Jane except me, as I thought myself to be a practical person I was not interested to involve giving any more of my work time. The fact is I do not like being told what I must do, and to be honest I did not understand how it was possible for Jane to have such an ability. By the end of the following week I was the only person, who had not made an appointment to go and see Jane, even though everyone in the office was urging me to go. They all told me that it was important for the group, as we worked so closely together, and shared about the same vision for our work. However, as I could not avoid making an appointment I did eventually go to see Jane, and this was the meeting that changed my life in every way.
