You have given your mind an impossible task… Part 2

So last week I described a practice that can provide a direct entry point into our inner landscapes, and that due to its directness it requires a full explanation which can be a little overwhelming, so decided to offer the explanation in two parts in order to make it digestible for all. This as the title suggests is the second part. The first part should be easy enough to find in the Soul on Deck blog. 

So a quick reminder. This practice is simply to stop expecting our minds to fix what’s wrong inside of us. When you pull back behind the mind, you, the awareness, are not involved in the process of thinking. Thinking is something you watch the mind do. It is not something that you have to think about, you are it. You can watch the mind being neurotic and not get involved. The mind runs because you are giving it the power of your attention. Withdraw your attention, and the thinking mind becomes less powerful, it will become less of a hinderance. You will start to love your mind, while recognising and truly understanding it’s true nature. 

So how to do this purposefully? Well begin with the little things. Let’s say you are walking along the street, and you see a friend, and you say hello, but they just keep walking by. You don’t know if they didn’t hear you, or if they actually ignored you. You aren’t sure if they’re mad at you or what’s going on. Your mind starts going a mile a minute. Does this happen to you or something like this? Your ego is hurt. This is when you can give yourself a reality check. You don’t know why it happened, there could be a million reasons, added to which there are billions of people on this planet and one of them didn’t say hello to you. Are you saying that you can’t cope with that when you think more rationally about it? 

Use these moments to practice. In that example you simply choose not to participate in the drama. Does that mean you stop your whirling mind from trying to figure out what’s going on? No. It simply means that you are ready, willing, and able to watch your mind create its little melodrama. Watch all of its noise about how hurt “you” are, and how could anybody do that. Watch the mind try and figure out what to do about it. Marvel at the fact that all of this is going on inside simply because someone didn’t say hello to you. You may even see the funny side. It’s truly unbelievable. Just watch the mind talk and keep relaxing and releasing. Fall behind the chatter. Do this with all the little things that come up each day.  

You will soon notice that your mind is constantly driving you crazy over nothing. If you don’t want to be driven crazy, then stop putting energy into it. If you follow this practice, then the only action you ever take is to relax and release. Relax your shoulders, relax your heart, and fall back behind it. Do not get involved in it. And do not try to stop it. Simply be aware that you are seeing it. That’s how you start to get out and allowing the stillness left behind to work its magic.  

The addiction to the noisy mind is a major one and it’s easy to slip back like any other addiction so I would encourage you as you start out to find things that will remind you to do this practice. Perhaps you have a routine thing you do at the same point every day, maybe you can even use your smart phone or watch to set reminders. Use these tools and regular moments as ways to remind yourself that you’re not going to get involved in your own melodrama. Remember, you don’t have to change anything, just be there, noticing that you notice.  

Once you have mastered this, you can always be truly present. Aware that thoughts and emotions are being created around you, while the world unfolds before your senses. What used to hold you down becomes what wakes you up. But first you have to get quiet enough so that it’s not so reactive in there. Amazing things, thoughts and sensations will most likely start to arise at this point. You’re developing an awareness and releasing all that energy that has been unhelpfully used and directed by the mind. And the mind will want to fight back and gain control over these new unknowns, and so it can be easy to fall back into the unhelpful habits, so remind yourself again of not listening to the mind, just observing. 

Eventually it can become quiet enough that you can simply watch the heart begin to react and let go before the mind starts.  

At some point in the journey, it all becomes heart, not mind. And this is important. We’ve been sensing the heart in previous blogs up to now. You will see that the mind actually follows the heart. The heart reacts way before the mind starts talking. You know that deep down, have sensed it before, and you can practice in earnest to see and experience this with clarity. And from that space, what is unknown or most likely forgotten to you, can allow clarity to arise. It will open you to a wisdom and awareness about yourself, your gifts and maybe even your purpose that have been waiting for you, to be uncovered, confirmed, and brought back into the constantly evolving and changing world. 

By the way, you don’t have to get all the way to that point for more clarity to start arising, just start practicing and it will begin to serve you from the very first moment. The undeniable truth about who you are that you’ve been ignoring or have forgotten will be given more chance to come into plain sight. Of course, as we’ve discussed, what you do and how you deal with that is a whole different set of challenges, but it is possible to find different pathways in, and this is just another one. Powerful as it is.

Like other paths that we will cover in future posts, this path of letting go allows you to free your energy so that you can free yourself.  

Right in the midst of your daily life, by untethering yourself from the bondage of your psyche, you actually have the ability to liberate your deepest essence.

—
Andrew.