There is an old Buddhist story about a dog who wanders into an abandoned palace. The palace is beautiful, its walls lined entirely with mirrors. As the dog steps inside, he suddenly sees hundreds of other dogs staring back at him. Startled, he growls at once, and a hundred throats growl in reply. Terrified, he bares his teeth, and a hundred sets of teeth flash back at him. Overwhelmed, he bolts from the palace, convinced he has narrowly escaped a den of enemies.

Another day, a different dog enters the same palace. He is calm and curious, and when he sees the other dogs, wags his tail. Instantly, a hundred tails wag back. He feels safe and welcomed, and he leaves the palace happy, certain he has discovered a hall full of friends.

The palace, of course, never changed. Only the mind of the dog did.

We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we are. Fear projects fear. Anger calls forth anger. Peace reflects peace. Much of what we battle in life is not outside us at all, it is our own mental attitude reflected back through people, events, and circumstances.

The yogi understands that the world is largely what we make it by our mental attitude. Hold fear, and the world seems fearful; hold goodwill, and goodwill steps forward to meet you. Left to itself, the mind simply amplifies the contents we place in it, persuading us our projections are facts. The palace meets you as you meet it. Change the inner posture of the mind, and the character of what meets you changes. That palace was never hostile. Those mirrors were never enemies. Shift the attitude, and watch how the reflections shift.

Before attempting to change the outer world, the yogi looks inward and asks: What am I projecting? What attitude am I feeding? What am I silently expecting to meet me?

Change your attitude, and what you see in life changes. The real work is always within.