Projection vs. Perception—How We Create the Enemies We See

Before we can see clearly, we must stop looking through ourselves

We rarely see the world as it is.

We see it through the filter of what we already believe. And what we believe has been shaped—often unconsciously—by past wounds, inherited narratives, and our unmet spiritual hunger.

This is why genuine perception is so rare, and why true communication is nearly impossible in today’s world: we don’t perceive—we project.

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The Mind as a Screen

Krishnamurti observed that the human mind doesn’t just receive the world—it interprets it. It turns experience into story. Pain into suspicion. Emotion into ideology. So we don’t meet people or problems as they are—we meet them as reflections of ourselves.

“We respond not to the problem itself, but to our conclusions about it.” —Krishnamurti

This is projection: the unconscious tendency to attribute our hidden fears, judgments, and unresolved guilt to the world outside us.

Jesus, too, warned of this distortion. In the Gospel of John, he says:

“For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (John 9:39)

He isn’t speaking of physical sight—but of the spiritual blindness that comes from believing we already know. Those who think they see clearly, Jesus says, are the ones most in danger of missing the truth.

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What We Refuse to See in Ourselves, We See in Others

Projection isn’t just psychological—it’s spiritual. It’s what happens when we deny our inner darkness, our potential for error, our capacity for cruelty. And once denied, these parts of ourselves don’t go away—they appear in others.

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
—Gospel of Thomas, Saying 70

When we bring our inner truth to light, we gain clarity. But when we keep it buried, it turns against us—and we see its shadow in everyone else. This is how enemies are created.

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Propaganda as Collective Projection

This dynamic becomes catastrophic when it’s weaponized.

Modern propaganda doesn’t invent fear. It harvests it. It taps into our disowned emotions—resentment, guilt, envy, rage—and channels them toward carefully chosen targets. This is why propaganda works even on intelligent people: it confirms what they’re afraid to admit they feel.

Projection makes us emotionally manipulable. And once we’ve projected our fears onto a group or individual, we can no longer see them clearly. Everything becomes distorted. And the deeper the projection, the harder it is to let go—because to let go would mean owning what we have disowned.

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The Observer Is the Observed

Krishnamurti’s radical claim was this:

“The observer is the observed.”

This echoes a central insight of Christian mysticism: the separation between self and other, heaven and earth, is an illusion. In Thomas, Saying 3, Jesus says:

“The kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.
When you come to know yourselves… you will realize it is you who are the sons of the living Father.”

As long as we see the world as something other—as something we can fix or judge or defeat—we are still in illusion. But when we see the world as a mirror of ourselves, something shifts. We begin to perceive, not project.

And perception—unclouded, humble, direct—is where communion with God begins.

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What It Takes to See

The mystical path has always been about clearing the lens. Not solving problems, not winning debates, not converting others. But seeing with clean eyes.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” —Matthew 5:8

Purity isn’t perfection. It’s the absence of distortion.

To perceive truly, the mind must stop interfering. The ego must stop managing the moment. The need to be right, the desire to condemn, the compulsion to define—these must fall silent.

And then, like a bell in a still room, the truth becomes audible.

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You Are the Threshold

Krishnamurti reminds us that the crisis of the world is not out there—it is in us. And until we stop projecting our pain outward, we will keep recreating the very suffering we wish to end.

Projection is blindness.
Perception is sight.
Projection divides.
Perception heals.

The mystics knew this. The kingdom isn’t coming later or somewhere else. It is waiting in the present moment—on the other side of your belief.

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Coming Next:
In the next piece, we’ll explore the full meaning of Krishnamurti’s teaching “The observer is the observed”, and how it echoes Christ’s deeper call: “I and the Father are one.”