Power of Your
Thoughts / Mind

 

'Be a master OF mind rather than mastered BY mind' - Zen Saying

"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In "Your Winner's Image," Bob Proctor quotes his mentor Leland Val Vandewall when he writes,

"Thinking creates an image.
Images control feelings.
Feelings cause actions.
Actions create results."


The Buddhist meditation masters know how flexible and workable the mind is. If we train it, anything is possible. In fact, we are already perfectly trained by and for samsara, trained to get jealous, trained to grasp, trained to be anxious and sad and desperate and greedy, trained to react angrily to whatever provokes us. In fact, we are trained to such an extent that these negative emotions rise spontaneously, without our even trying to generate them.

So everything is a question of training and the power of habit. Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we're honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, the mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity.


“Training” the mind does not in any way mean forcibly subjugating or brainwashing the mind. To train the mind is first to see directly and concretely how the mind functions, a knowledge that you derive from spiritual teachings and through personal experience in meditation practice. Then you use that understanding to tame the mind and work with it skillfully, to make it more and more pliable, so that you can become master of your mind and employ it to its fullest and most beneficial end. Sogyal Rinpoche


We are so addicted to looking outside ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature.

So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words egoless or emptiness, they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to float forever in a dark, chilling void. Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do. Sogyal Rinpoche



Contents

(Also be sure to check out our pages on:


If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
it's almost certain you won't

If you think you'll lose, you've lost
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellows will -
It's all a state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battle don't always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

Anon


More Quotations

"Change of diet will not help a person who will not change his
thoughts. When a person makes his thoughts pure, he no longer
desires impure food." (As A Man Thinketh)

Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought.
In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master;
He does but sleep; wake Him.
Self -control is strength;
Right thought is Mastery;
Calmness is power.

James Allen (As A Man Thinketh)

"The all is mind: The universe is mental." Hermes - Thoth

"All is Ati" -Yogacara

We need to cultivate our mind like a soil. We need fertile soil for seeds to spring. We need air in the soil. Likewise our minds need regular training and airing.

'Our minds need to be air conditioned' Ammachi

"The river has no shape, but it takes on the boundaries which it carves out for itself,
so is the mind boundless, until it creates a prison for its own thoughts."

Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that "all of our behavior results from the
thoughts that preceded it...so the thing to work on is not your
behavior but the thing that caused your behavior, your
thoughts."

Thoughts Create Reality

Be master OF mind rather than mastered BY mind - Zen Saying

Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought.
In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master;
He does but sleep; wake Him.
Self -control is strength;
Right thought is Mastery;
Calmness is power.

James Allen

"The all is mind: The universe is mental." Hermes - Thoth

"All is Ati" -Yogacara

We need to cultivate our mind like a soil. We need fertile soil for seeds to spring. We need air in the soil. Likewise our minds need regular training and airing.

'Our minds need to be air conditioned' Ammachi

"The river has no shape, but it takes on the boundaries which it carves out for itself,
so is the mind boundless, until it creates a prison for its own thoughts."

Dr. Wayne Dyer writes that "all of our behavior results from the
thoughts that preceded it...so the thing to work on is not your
behavior but the thing that caused your behavior, your
thoughts."

All that we are is a result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. The Buddha

I believe that if you think abaout disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience. -Eddie Rickenbacker

Think you can, think you can't, either way you'll be right. Henry Ford

Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts. A thought can do us as more good that a doctor or banker ir a faithful friend. It can also do us more harm than a brick. Dr Frank Crane.

A man's life is what his thoughts make it. - Marcus Aurelius

A man is literally what he thinks.- James Lane Allen

A man is what he thinks all day long. - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Our destiny changes with our thoughts; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thoughts correspond with our desires.- Orison Swett Marden

If you think it's going to rain, it will. Clint Eastwood.


This week's eMeditation:
----------------------------------------------------------------
"A person cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can
choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his
circumstances."

----------------------------------------------------------------

In her outstanding book, "Choose the Happiness Habit," Pam
Golden writes: "Take the story of two brothers who are twins.
One grows up to be an alcoholic bum. The other becomes an
extremely successful businessman. When the alcoholic is asked
why he became a drunk, he replies, "My father was a drunk."
When the successful businessman is asked why he became
successful, he says, "My father was a drunk." Same background.
Same upbringing. Different choices."

The brothers chose different thoughts about the identical
experience. Those thoughts over the years shaped the
circumstances they now find themselves in.

There was a time in my life when I chose to think about
challenges and obstacles as just more of the "bad luck" I seemed
to attract. Ever hear the expression "when it rains, it pours?"
That was my constant mantra when others asked me how things were
going. So what do you think I got more of? If you answered
"RAIN," you’re correct!

Bob Proctor says "you’re either living in the problem or you’re
living in the solution." Now, when I’m confronted with what I
used to think was a negative situation, I use a different
thought process. I force myself to replace those negative
thoughts that creep in, with positive thoughts about how I might
solve the "problem." Sometimes I’ll take a notepad and just
start jotting down ideas that might be a solution. At the same
time, my thoughts are focused on the possible lessons I might
learn from the situation so that I might profit from the
experience in the future.

If you’ve guessed that it doesn’t "rain" as much in my life as
it used to, you’re correct again. In fact, most days it’s a
beautiful, cloudless and sunny day! Only occasionally now do I
get any rain, and it’s good rain, the kind that makes living
things grow.

And that's worth thinking about.


----------------------------------------------------------------
"Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and
to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later
into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and
circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad
fruit." (As A Man Thinketh)

----------------------------------------------------------------

Bob Proctor's partner and my friend, Mark Shearon, once posed a
very enlightening question to a telephone audience, "Are you
thinking about what you're thinking about?" Read that sentence
again and read it carefully. It's not a play on words.

Most people give very little thought to what occupies their
thinking and even fewer people understand that "good thoughts
bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit." Most of us understand
the law of sowing and reaping in other aspects of life, but we
fail to understand that this same law is just as potent when
our thoughts are involved.

A June 1997 story in the Wall Street Journal said that HMOs
reported that as much as 70 percent of all visits to a primary
care physician are for a psychosomatic illness -- a disorder
that involves both mind and body. According to Dr. David Sobel,
a primary care physician and author of the highly respected
Mind-Body Health Newsletter, only 16 percent of people who
visit their physician for common maladies like nausea,
headache and stomach upset are diagnosed with a physical,
organic cause. That means that a whopping 84% are suffering
from an illness that originated in THOUGHT!

These statistics tell us that the majority of people literally
think their way to sickness.

And it's not just our health that our thoughts affect. In "Make
Your Life Worthwhile," Emmet Fox wrote, "The more you think
about lack, bad times, etc., the worse will your business be;
and the more you think of prosperity, abundance, and success,
the more of these things will you bring into your life.

The more you think about your grievances or the injustices that
you have suffered, the more such trials will you continue to
receive; and the more you think of the good fortune you have
had, the more good fortune will come to you."

If you've never trained yourself in "right thinking," I
challenge you to spend a day monitoring and recording your
thoughts. If you understand the power of thought in your life,
at the end of the day you won't be surprised at why your life is
where it's at today, be it good or bad.

Whether you're a Christian or not, I think you'll agree that one
of my favorite writers, the Apostle Paul, left us some priceless
wisdom: "Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right.
Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the
fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God
for and be glad about."

And that's worth thinking about.


The Nature of Mind

 

Even though that which is usually called “mind” is widely esteemed and much discussed,
Still it is not understood or it is wrongly understood or it is understood in a one-sided manner only.
Since it is not understood correctly, just as it is in itself,
There comes into existence inconceivable numbers of philosophical ideas and assertions.
Furthermore, since ordinary individuals do not understand it,
They do not recognize their own nature,
And so they continue to wander among the six destinies of rebirth within the three worlds, and thus experience suffering.

Therefore, not understanding your own mind is a very grievous fault.

PADMASAMBHAVA

The root of all phenomena is your mind.
If unexamined, it rushes after experiences, ingenious in the games of deception.
If you look right into it, it is free of any ground or origin,
In essence free of any coming, staying or going.

JAMYANG KHYENTSE CHÖKYI LODRÖ

 

Nature of Mind

What is the nature of mind like? Imagine a sky, empty, spacious, and pure from the beginning; its essence is like this. Imagine a sun, luminous, clear, unobstructed, and spontaneously present; its nature is like this. Imagine that sun shining out impartially on us and all things, penetrating all directions; its energy, which is the manifestation of compassion, is like this: Nothing can obstruct it, and it pervades everywhere. Sogyal Rinpoche

You can think of the nature of mind like a mirror, with five different powers or “wisdoms.” Its openness and vastness is the “wisdom of all-encompassing space,” the womb of compassion. Its capacity to reflect in precise detail whatever comes before it is the “mirrorlike wisdom.” Its fundamental lack of any bias toward any impression is the “equalizing wisdom.” Its ability to distinguish clearly, without confusing in any way the various different phenomena that arise, is the “wisdom of discernment.” And its potential of having everything already accomplished, perfected, and spontaneously present is the “all-accomplishing wisdom.” Sogyal Rinpoche

Mind the Creator

The still revolutionary insight of Buddhism is that life and death are in the mind, and nowhere else. Mind is revealed as the universal basis of experience—the creator of happiness and the creator of suffering, the creator of what we call life and what we call death.

Positive & Negative Mental States

The mind has two basic sorts of food: good mental states and bad mental states. If you think in ways that are good, you'll give strength to the mind. If you're discerning, you'll get to eat fine food. If you aren't, you'll have to eat crude food -- e.g., you'll get a crab and you'll eat the whole thing raw, without knowing how to boil it and peel away the shell and
the claws. The effort of meditation is like a fire; concentration is like a pot; mindfulness, like a chopping block; and discernment, a knife. Intelligent people will use these things to prepare their food so that its nourishment -- the nourishment of the Dhamma -- will permeate into the heart to give it five kinds of strength:

Ven. Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo


Everything Comes from the Mind
by Lama Thubten Yeshe

Lama Yeshe gave this teaching at Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia, in March, 1975.
Edited by Nicholas Ribush.

Buddhism can be understood on many different levels, and people who actualize the Buddhist path do so gradually. Just as you pass slowly through school and university, graduating from one year to the next, so do Buddhist practitioners proceed step by step along the path to enlightenment. In Buddhism, however, we're talking about different levels of mind; here, higher and lower depend upon how much spiritual progress you have made.
Also, in the West, there's a tendency to consider Buddhism as a religion in the Western sense of the term. This is a misconception. Buddhism is completely open; you can talk about anything—the evolution of both the external and the internal worlds. Buddhism has its doctrine and philosophy but it also encourages scientific experimentation, both inner and outer. Therefore, please don't think of Buddhism as being some kind of narrow, closed-minded belief system. It isn't. And also, Buddhist doctrine today is not an historical fabrication derived through imagination and mental speculation. Rather, it is a true psychological explanation of the actual nature of the mind.
When you look at the outside world you have a very strong impression of its substantiality. You probably don't realize that that strong impression is merely your own mind's interpretation of what it sees. You think that the strong, solid reality really exists outside, and when you look within, perhaps you feel empty. This is also a misconception, the wrong mental attitude that fails to realize that the strong impression that appears to truly exist outside of you is actually projected by your own mind. Everything you experience—feelings, sensations, shapes and colors—comes from your mind.
If you get up one morning with a foggy mind and the world round you also appears to be dark and foggy, or when the world seems beautiful and light, you should understand that basically, those impressions are coming from your own mind rather than from changes in the external environment. Therefore, instead of misinterpreting whatever you experience in life through judgmental wrong conceptions, you should realize that it's not outer reality but only mind.
For example, when everybody in this auditorium looks at a single object, me, Lama Yeshe, each of you has a distinctly different experience, even though simultaneously you are all looking at the one thing. These different experiences don't come from me; they come from your own minds. You are probably thinking, "Oh, how can he say that? We all see the same face, the same body, the same clothes," but that's a just a superficial interpretation. If you check deeper you'll see that the way you perceive me, the way you feel, is individual, and that at that level, you're all different. These various perceptions do not come from me but from your own minds. That's the point I'm making.

So then perhaps you think, "Oh, he's just a lama; all he knows about is mind. He doesn't know about powerful scientific advances like satellites and other sophisticated technology. There's no way you can say that those things come from mind." But you check up. When I say "satellite," you have a mental image of the object that you've been told is a satellite. When the first satellite was made, its inventor said, "I've made this thing that orbits the earth; it's called a 'satellite.'" Then when everybody else saw it, they thought, "Ah, that's a satellite." But 'satellite' is just a name, isn't it?
Before the inventor of the satellite actually made it, he speculated and visualized it in his mind. Then, on the basis of this image, he acted to materialize his creation. Then he told everyone, "This is a satellite," so everyone thought, "Wow, a satellite; how beautiful, how wonderful." So that shows how ridiculous we are. People give things names and we grasp at the name, believing it to be the real thing. It's the same thing no matter what colors and forms we grasp at. You check up.
If you can understand what I'm explaining here, you'll see that indeed, satellites and so forth do come from the mind, and that without mind, there is not a single manifest material existence in the entire sense world. What exists without mind? Look at all the stuff you find in supermarkets: so many names, so many foods, so many different things. First people made it all up—this name, that name, this, this, this—so then, this, that, this, this and this all appear to you. So if all these thousands of supermarket items as well as jets, rockets and satellites are manifestations of mind, what then does not come from mind? That's why it is so very important to know the way your own mind works.
Thus, if you check really deeply into how your mind expresses itself, your various views and feelings, your imagination, you will realize that all your emotions, the way you live your life, the way you relate with others, all come from your own mind. If you don't understand how your mind works, you're going to continue having negative experiences like anger and depression. Why do I call a depressed mind negative? Because a depressed mind doesn't understand how it works. A mind without understanding is negative. A negative mind functions to bring you down, because all its reactions are polluted. A mind with understanding functions clearly. A clear mind is a positive mind.
Therefore, any emotional problem you experience arises because of the way your mind functions, and your basic problem lies in the way you misidentify yourself. You normally hold yourself in low esteem; you see yourself as a poor quality human being, while what you really want is for your life to be of the highest quality, perfect. You don't want to be a poor quality human being, do you? So, in order to correct your view and become a much better person, you don't need to squeeze yourself or to jump from your own culture into another. That's not the solution. All you need to do is to understand your true nature, the way you already are. That's all. It's so simple.


http://www.lamayeshe.com/our_teachers/Lama_Yeshe/mind.html


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation

Excerpt By Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The Nature of Mind

Spirituality is based on mind. In Buddhism, mind is what distinguishes sentient beings from rocks or trees or bodies of water. That which possesses discriminating awareness, that which possesses a sense of duality-which grasps or rejects something external-that is mind. Fundamentally, it is that which can associate with an "other"-with any "something" that is perceived as different from the perceiver. That is the definition of mind. The traditional Tibetan phrase defining mind means precisely that: "That which can think of the other, the projection, is mind."

So by mind we mean something very specific. It is not just something very vague and creepy inside our heads or hearts, something that just happens as part of the way the wind blows and the grass grows. Rather, it is something very concrete. It contains perception-perception that is very uncomplicated, very basic, very precise. Mind develops its particular nature as that perception begins to linger on something other than oneself. Mind makes the fact of perceiving something else stand for the existence of oneself.

This mind is our working basis for the practice of meditation and the development of awareness. But mind is something more than the process of confirming self by the dualistic lingering on the other. Mind also includes what are known as emotions, which are the highlights of mental states.

Mind cannot exist without emotions. Daydreaming and discursive thoughts are not enough. Those alone would be too boring. The dualistic trick would wear too thin. So we tend to create waves of emotion which go up and down: passion, aggression, ignorance, pride-all kinds of emotions. In the beginning we create them deliberately, as a game of trying to prove to ourselves that we exist. But eventually the game becomes a hassle; it becomes more than a game and forces us to challenge ourselves more than we intended.

So we have created a world that is bittersweet. Things are amusing but, at the same time, not so amusing. Sometimes things seem terribly funny but, on the other hand, terribly sad. Life has the quality of a game of ours that has trapped us. The setup of mind has created the whole thing. We might complain about the government or the economy of the country or the prime rate of interest, but those factors are secondary. The original process at the root of the problems is the competitiveness of seeing oneself only as a reflection of the other. Problematic situations arise automatically as expressions of that. They are our own production, our own neat work. And that is what is called mind.

According to the Buddhist tradition, there are eight types of consciousness and fifty-two types of conceptions and all kinds of other aspects of mind, about which we do not have to go into detail. All these aspects are based largely on the primeval dualistic approach. There are the spiritual aspects and the psychological aspects and all sorts of other aspects. All are bound up in the realm of duality, which is ego.

As far as meditation practice is concerned, in meditation we work on this thing, rather than on trying to sort out the problem from the outside. We work on the projector rather than the projection. We turn inward, instead of trying to sort out external problems of A, B, and C. We work on the creator of duality rather than the creation. That is beginning at the beginning.

A gigantic world of mind exists to which we are almost totally unexposed. This whole world is made by mind. Minds made this up, put these things together. Every bolt and nut was put in by somebody-or-other's mind. This whole world is mind's world, the product of mind. This is needless to say; I am sure everybody knows this. But we might remind ourselves of it so that we realize that meditation is not an exclusive activity that involves forgetting this world and getting into something else.

By meditating, we are dealing with the very mind that devised our eyeglasses and put the lenses in the rims.

So this is a living world, mind's world. Realizing this, working with mind is no longer a remote or mysterious thing to do. It is no longer dealing with something that is hidden or somewhere else. Mind is right here. Mind is hanging out in the world. It is an open secret.

The method for beginning to relate directly with mind, which was taught by Lord Buddha and which has been in use for the past twenty-five hundred years, is the practice of mindfulness. There are four aspects to this practice, traditionally known as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

continued on mindfulness page

These teachings are abridged from The Heart of the Buddha, published by Shambhala Publications. ©1991 by Diana J. Mukpo. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was founder of Shambhala International, a worldwide association of meditation centers; Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and the Shambhala Sun. "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation" appeared in the March 2001 issue of the Shambhala Sun.

http://www.shambhalasun.com/revolving_themes/meditation/trungpa.htm - The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Meditation By Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche


Observer Consciousness and Activity Mind

The essence of meditation is training in mindfulness. This is done by resting the attention on an external meditation support, and returning to it every time it drifts away into thought. This action is possible because one part of the mind observes and identifies with thoughts and feelings as they arise. If we did not have this capacity for self-reflective awareness we would not know or realize we were thinking when thinking happens.

We call the part of mind that observes "observer consciousness," and the part that thinks and gets observed "activity mind". When we talk of the "thought", the word includes feelings and emotions.

by Rob Nairn - 'Diamond mind', Shambhalla


Calm Mind & Serenity

The undisturbed mind is like the calm body water reflecting the brilliance of the moon.
Empty the mind and you will realize the undisturbed mind. - Yagyu Jubei

Our mind is like muddy water in a glass. When the glass is shaken or stirred (stressed) the water is unclear, dirty and unfocused. When the mud is allowed to settle the glass becomes clear and focused - the impurities stay at the bottom.

Likewise when we are anxious, stressed, angry, over emotional - our minds are muddy ie. stirred, distracted, unfocused, not present. - and thus it is difficult to think clearly / rationally or perceive directly with insight into the true reality of the situation / objects.

When we are tranquil, but alert, our minds are clear & managable - we can use our mind as a tool, instead of being victims of our animal instincts, lower desires etc.


Calm Mind by James Allen - from 'As a man thinketh

Calmness of Mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.

A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect (karma), he ceases fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.

The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows knows how to adapt himself to others; and they in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is strongly equable.

The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade giving tree in a thirst land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.

"Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet tempered, balanced life?" It does not matter whether is rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm."

It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold - yea even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life - a life that dwells in the Ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!

Say unto your heart "Peace, be Still"

James Allen


FOCUS

Think about what you want, not what you don't want. Guard Your thoughts carefully, because they create your experiences. Sometimes it seems that our thoughts choose us, but this is never the case. We always choose our thoughts-every moment. Our thoughts always have an effect, and there are no neutral thoughts. One-half second before you hold a thought, you decide to hold it. So, with practice, you learn to monitor and alter your thoughts. This is the equivalent of putting your hands on the steering wheel of life.

You may believe that your concentration abilities are impaired, yet the fallible mind of God is within your own mind. You can experience remarkable feats of concentration by affirming:
"I am now able to focus my mind at will. I hold only loving thoughts, and my angels act as my gatekeepers in establishing a steady stream of thoughts of love."

Source: Healing With Angels Oracle Cards - Doreen Virtue, PH.D.


FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ON...
* The Oneness of ALL Life
* The Limitless Abundance of God
* The Realms of Illumined Truth
* The Harmony of your true Being
* Your Divine Birthright as a Beloved Child of God
* Your infinite ability to Love
* Vibrant Health and Eternal Youth
* Being a Peace Commanding Presence
* Your ability to make a positive difference
* Actions you can take to improve your family, your job, your community
* Actions you can take to change the World
* Your gift of Healing and your loving touch
* Your nurturing Motherhood or Fatherhood
* Your Oneness with the Angelic Kingdom and the Nature Kingdom
* The Transfiguration of the Planet
* Ascension, Sacred Knowledge and Divine Wisdom
* Self-empowerment, Enlightenment
* The fulfillment of your Divine Plan *
Heaven on Earth
* And every other thought, word, action or feeling you can focus on to make a positive difference.

WHERE YOUR ATTENTION IS, THERE YOU ARE.

WHAT YOU FOCUS ON, YOU EMPOWER AND BRING INTO FORM. AND SO IT IS!


B.D. continues:
How can one find the techniques to change their financial circumstances to a place where poverty is not?

The greatest wealth is joy. The severest poverty is sorrow. Find joy, and wealth will follow you there.

M.F. writes:
I have a lot of things on my mind, and find it difficult to do those things that take real focus, including meditation, and my musical practice... any suggestions?

The East offers two effective ways of dealing with the intricacies and the problems of the mind. Very briefly, these are the way of Zen and the path described by Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita.


From the Zen perspective, we begin by acknowledging that the mind is an intricate and complex tool. It can seem like a mouse scurrying about in a cage, busy, busy, busy, yet getting nowhere. It can also be like a gun with a hair trigger... to be set off by the slightest urge or whim. Often we are just barely in control of its movement. At times we may have relinquished control altogether.
Yet the Zen master sits where he is, or moves where he chooses, without doubt of any kind... utterly cool. At the risk of being overly simple, the realized Zen mind is No-Mind. The master is capable of turning it on or shutting it off at will. We all know how to turn it on, so the art of Zen is achieved by developing the ability to shut it off, instantly if necessary.
Krishna takes a parallel approach. Life is like a chariot being drawn by a team of six wild horses. These horses represent the mind and the five senses. Thoughts and the activities of these senses can seem quite demanding. They grab our attention and race with it. They are an unruly bunch. Often they manage to pull us "outside of ourselves."
Krishna exhorts Arjuna to seize the reins and take control. Arjuna is already a good man. He is already a devotee. For the most part he has already learned how to control his intense, fiery emotions. But he is ambivalent. Krishna now insists that he overcome his indecision.
These two spiritual paths (Zen and Yoga) merge in one fundamental way. We must take control of the mind, rather than letting it take control of us. To do this we must become the master. To become the master we must extend our view, yet maintain that view from the very Center.
From a practical standpoint, why not rise up 15 minutes earlier than usual? Meditate a little longer. Carpe Diem!... Literally, "Seize the day!" Use this extra, valuable, quiet time to initiate the Holy Sound.

M.F. continues:
I also cannot seem to find a balance between my head/heart, or higher/lower will, and this leads to much self-recrimination. If you have any insights that could help I'd be very grateful... Thanks.

Restlessness is a habit brought on when we focus in a limited way. These "things on our mind" have been given an importance beyond their value. As we move our focus into the whole spiritual being, God works out the details. His abundance becomes our own.

"To conceive abundance, one must relinquish all thoughts of things in particular. This concept is so large that it will not permit the thought of detail. To hold it in mind, consciousness must swing far out into the Universal and revel in the joyousness of perfect freedom... Our consciousness cannot attain to this freedom in an instant. The breaking of the last vestige of limitation may be accomplished in an instant, but the preparation for the glorious event has gone before; the preparation in minutest detail has been accomplished from within, just as every petal of a flower is perfected in every detail within the bud. When the perfection is complete, the bud bursts its sepal shell and the flower comes forth beautiful. Just so man must break the shell of self before he can come forth."
– Baird T. Spalding - Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East (Volume 1, page 126)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Regardless of where we travel upon the outer road of life, we will still be "here" with ourselves... just as we are right now.
If our life proceeds as Shakespeare suggests...

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps on this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the
way to dusty death.
Out, out, brief candle.
Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
and then is heard no more; it is a tale
told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing."
– Macbeth (Act Five, Scene Five)


... then we can know ahead of time that we are going nowhere.
This is, in fact, true. We are going nowhere. We are already here!
Yet "normally" we are not quite comfortable here. Through habit we are continually striving forward in some way. Even a great desire to be with God may propel us beyond ourselves. When this desire is colored by the usual human habituation, we will push ahead.

Excerpt from a Kriya Yoga Class - conducted by The hOMe Foundation. thehomefoundation@sedona.net.



Thought is energy & Information

We have approximately 50,000 - 60,000 thoughts per day. Unfortunately 95% of those thoughts we had today are the same ones we had yesterday!

In Tai Chi Chuan they say

"Where the mind (yi) goes the energy (chi) follows."

We live in a civilisation full of objects conceived by our minds.

- But how many of us learn about the nature of our mind.

How many of us stop to look at what we are thinking about and why?

We rarely if ever question

A perfect body is nothing without peace of mind!

Often Rich / famous People - find it harder to find peace of mind - always paranoid, security, attention seeking

Likewise if we are too poor it is difficult to have peace of mind -envy, hunger etc.

So we need a balance / moderation / measure. - Just enough money, food, clothes, shelter - contentment is a key to inner peace, fulfillment - in fact it is those states.

External things / possessions can only give us temporary happiness

Tru long term happiness comes from a serene mind - the wealthiest person is the one who is most contented.

many of us have already got enough clothes / possesions / CD's / DVD's / Games- but still we want more!

and then when we get these desires we don't read the instructions, are bored, and search the next newest, most advanced model / object of our desire.

How sad we really are. But evern sadder is that we don not even know how sad we really are!

We don't even know that we don't know.

This is a state of sleep, unawareness, unconsciousness, self hypnosis - very unhealthy & unethical.

We are slightly aware of this - when we worry that we have wasted our money.

Media & Advertsing is set up so that we buy the latest fashion / gadget - and then in two weeks time to show us something better. But it's not just their fault.

We are envious. We desire. We fantasize about a happy ending. We want to believe. We desire security.

We blindly perceive that these externals will bring us that ultimate happiness / high. We jump of higher and higher buuildings.

Now the buildings are not high enough, the telescopes not powerful enough, the speed not fast enough, the

we want to travel further outside space, deeper into the oceans, deeper into subatomic particles- by using lots of fuel, blowing things up, and colliding

so we get excited by blowing them down!

People are now becoming immune to the media -all the death & tragedy is normal!

Yet we ignore the most obvious. The most simple.

We miss ourselves. We are so busy out there - in our minds, in the mirror, on the phone, on the pc, listening to deafening music, overtaking, seeking power, status, labels,

this is when the boy racer feels alive, excited - when he is near a near death opportunity!

adrenalin pumping, over excited, showing off, seeking attention, seeking power, seeking approval, fearful - fight or flight

that we cannot see the signs -we make mistakes, we miss turings, we lose or forget things - because we lose the plot - we lose reign of our senses.

only when there's an accident, a car crash, a thump on the head, a slap in the face,a comment, a sychronistic moment, a glance from a beautiful person, song of a sweet bird, the rising or setting of the sun, a shooting star,

ever renewing the rhythm of the waves

do we stop for a second -..time slows down...in awe, devotion, speechlessness, thoughtlessness, our ears perk up - we become aware of something here now - something beautiful, fresh, sweet, pristine, shining, glowing - evervessant, ever fresh

only at these times, are we awake - truly alive -

during the skid / bang / crash - time slows down,

take control of their vehicle -

those who are experienced drivers - are cool headed, they have been here before - they know what to do.

Likewise the experienced yogins know the unity state of total awakeness, mindfulness, wakefullness, - truth - bliss-consciousness.

Likewise to truly live we need to experience true aliveness.

Otherwise we mistake the ... for the ....

Anthony Robbins says that an extraordinary life depends on the right mindset / attitude / psychology.

Buddhist teachers (Lama Yeshe) urge us to become our own therapists counsellors, psychologists.

if only we admitted to it - honesty acceptance & authenticity can only help.

Let's see what really is.

MEDITATION

Meditation is the key to becoming aware of our thoughts, words, deeds.

Meditation is the path inward to our Source / Centre / Divine One Within.

The purpose of Meditation is to tame and train our minds - making our mind more pliable.

By practicing meditation, we become detached from our thougths. We see our thoughts like on a movie screen in between our center and the external reality.

Soon we will realize that we truly create our own reality / perception of reality -through our un / consious choices / habits. We become more and more conscious / en-lightened.

Then we learn how to control reality. How to deal with, cleanse, purify our afflicted, dirty minds! We learn antidotes to unlearn negative habits and develop diligence, vigilance, patience & compassion towards ourselves & others.

We bathe & rest in serenity, bliss & pure intrinsic awareness -in mere experience - we rest in the clear knowing nature of our minds. Serentity, equanimity & bliss (joy for no reason) become our goals / treasures that nobody can take away.

Then we realize even this greed & attachment for peace / bliss is also our self centred ego trying to gain power / approval / attention.

Finally all our afflictions, negative thought patterns extinguish for ever (Nirvana) and we attain Buddhahood -full unsurpassed enlightenmet for the sake of all sentient beings. This is the ultimate goal.

Enlightened - is living in the light - the illumination of the Intrinsic primordial awareness. Uniting heaven & Earth, Mother, Father & Child, - Uniting The Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Afterall by sorting ourselves out, that's one less for others to worry about.

When we are clear, focused, alert but relaxed we can deal with all sorts of 'difficult' situations / obstacles effortlessly - because we instantly perceive / directly comprehend the purpose, intention and place of people / objects / phenomena.

 

CREATING OUR REALITY

If we spent 4,000 to 5,000 thoughts focused positively and calmly on acheiving one object or goal, it is very likely to manifest - (as long as we have the right relationship to it - be aware of feelings of doubt, unworthiness, guilt, sin etc. Affirm 'I am worthy of.....")

Also be calm when you visualize your heart's desires. A distracted, anxious, envious, greedy mind - quickly loses energy & focus.

The calmer you are the quicker the results. Calm mind leads to long life.

eg. Close your eyes, relax, take 3 deep breathes, then focus your attention on your hands for about a minute - notice them getting warmer!

Focus on what you want instead of what you don't want - see article below - 'Focus'

Sports psychologists / coaches / pro's have been using these techniques to win major events. (Yogi's have known these techniques for ages!!)

Tips for training your mind

One needs to develop

As an antidote to

 

Subconscious Mind, Habits & Affirmations

The subconscious mind is like a robot / computer whom we can program with certain functions and tasks. Subconscious mind is our auto-pilot, eg. we use it when we drive and talk on a mobile phone at the same time.

The subconscious mind (lower self) does not know the difference between imagination and reality - that is why affirmations & visualisations work.

'I am beautiful, healthy and slim'

but for this affirmation to work you need the right self-programming - right relationship to self and others. Also the affirmations need to be relatively realistic. For example

"I need the be fit, healthy & vibrant, I will be at ideal weight of ...., in 55 days"

So if for years you've been saying to yourself, subconsciously -

'I'll always be fat, I deserve to be fat!', then the above affirmation is simply not going to work!!

Say first, I am worthy of being slim, beautiful, healthy or having a my ideal partner / soul mate.

Also you need to love yourself before you can truly love others!

Likewise past negative attachments, thoughts, habits or beliefs hinder our progress.

'I delete all negative memories, emotions, thoughts & programming, that have been projected onto me by myself and from others, that are stopping me from reaching .. . . (my goal)......in the past, present and future.

So be it! So be it! So be it!'

Every morning and night you can affirm:

''I am healthy, vibrant and attractive'

Read page about affirmations

However most are not aware that they are being controlled by their own subconscious mind.

VISUALISATIONS

Visualize what you want

that you are acheiving your goal.

For something to be in the physical, there need to be causes & conditions. started of as an idea in somebody's mind.

Tantra


MORE - DEALING WITH SITUATIONS

"Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts. Nikki Giovanni

"We cannot direct the wind...But we can adjust the sails."

Our thoughts shape how we react / respond to circumstances. If we master our mind we have control over our thoughts, words and deeds - instead of being under their control.

To have self control is to have strength. Serenity is goal, as well as our true nature.

We truly are incharge of our reality. In every moment we have the following three choices:

 

If you ever feel stressed, anxious, frustrated, angry, or negative just focus on your breathing or listening. Don't judge you emotions. Just watch them without trying to change your feeling.

Bring yourself to the present moment. 'Bring your mind home'. 'Place your mind in your body'

Sports psychologists / coaches / pro's have been using these techniques to win major events. (Yogi's have known these techniques for ages!!)

Keys in winning under pressure


MORE INFO & QUICK TIPS / INSIGHTS / TRUTHS

Most of us use less than 10% of our brain potential. We all have access to the rest. We use more than 10% when we have a moment of creativity / in-spiration. (see Patanjali)

Is Enlightenment simply accessing a larger part of your brain?

Manuel Schoch a Scientist / Mystic suggests, according to his research and observation, that when the brain is in a state of tranquility & observation - the brain lights up and we can access more information.

Our mind is inherently complex and likes to complicate things. Wheras much in life is simple or has a simple (obvious) solution. We often miss what's on our nose!

Life obeys natural laws and cycles. Day follows night, Life follows death, Dark follows light and vice versa. The Laws of Nature, when uderstood, can be used to understand reality & phenonemon.

eg. law of conservation of energy - can be used to determine events prior to collisions after the fact - whether measuring tyre skid marks after an autombile accident, or measuring tracks left by collisions of two subatomic particles.

We also are natural and organic so we too follow natural law : we move between pain & pleasure, Life and death.

Also we must not forget the left brain and right brain relationships (Yin / Yang , Male / Female)

Left Brain - Logical, Male, West, Scientific, Grasping, Conceptualizing, Analytical

Right Brain - Emotional, Female, East, Intuitive, Spatial, Creative, artistic, receptive

The key is to join left brain and right brain, heart and mind.

To do this we need to be aware of our own thoughts, beliefs, habits, and ego.

How many of us stop to look at what we are thinking about and why? Many rarely question where do my thoughts come from?

see pages on enlightenment and polarity, duality, balance


Who created the mind, what is it?!

The mind emanated from the void, when the void became aware of itself! The void is the pure potential, the unmanifest, the unknowable. We can't know it. However we can know of it's fragrance.

When your mind is silent / still you know the Truth. You see reality, as it is, clearly with no attachments, preconceptions . Osho, a fully enlightened Mystic, suggested that we experience 'No-thought' and 'No-mind'. Zen calls these realisations of No-mind as satori.

You know who you are - the perceiver, the perceived and the process of perception - all in one!!

The silent, no-mind is the void, aware of itself.

Become aware of your ego mind. The mind is very distracting, impatient, immature, insatiable and fearful!

The key is to relax and

Let the chit chat in your mind quiet down, drop your expectations and see what happens. You might be surprised at the powerful results!

The ego -mind doesn't want you to go beyond it! - that would mean the end of ego / separation.

UNITE YOUR MINDS / EGO'S / SELVES

Go with the flow.

Use intuition, not negative ego thoughts - based on self centredness, greed, delusion, attachment, separation etc.

Listen to your heart! 'Be still and Know'

read about meditation , truth

Live with awareness, moment to moment!

The present moment is eternal and real.


Gregory Rasputin was considered a madman but actually possessed tremendous power of the mind. His insights were so accurate that he became Tsar Nicholas' closest advisor. Rasputin even healed and treated the Tsar and his Son. However it was thought that he was controlling the minds of others through psychic will.

Stalin met a man with very strong psychic powers. Stalin set this man several tests.

Firstly he had to rob a bank without violence.

So this guy just walked into the bank and gave an empty request form to the cashier. The cashier promptly returned from the safe with 100,000 rubels. The guy just walked out of the bank unnoticed.

The second test was to walk into Stalins Office, in his secure well guarded headquarters.

This guy just walked past all the armed guards and strolled into Stalins office. Stalin was astonished. The guy said he projected the illusion that he was a superior officer to all the guards. So nobody dared to interrogate him - it obviously worked!!

He became who he wanted to be. - ACTING AS IF


Further Reading:

 

related books

I find that audio CD's / MP3s can be useful, especially for beginners

 

Click here for our Audio, Book & Technology store

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/sortlifeout

 

The Human Mind ~ Robert Winston --
(Hardcover - 1 October, 2003)

Book Description
A fascinating book to accompany a major new BBC1 television series.
Synopsis
Where does our personality come from? Can we explain love at first sight? What do me mean by "intelligence" or "genius"? Can science explain intuition or de-ja-vu? Do we all have the potential to be a Tolstoy, Einstein or Mozart? Focusing on our day-to-day experiences, "The Human Mind", which ties in to a BBC1 television series, sets out to answer these questions and more. Using the latest clinical research and drawing on sources as diverse as "Hamlet" and Sigmund Freud, the FBI and bingo, Robert Winston takes us inside our own heads to see what really makes us tick.


 

What is the Mind? article by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
There is little agreement among Western scientists about the nature and function of mind, consciousness—or even about whether such a thing exists. Buddhism's extensive explanations, however, stand firm after twenty-five centuries of philosophical debate and experiential validation. Here His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains the Buddhist concept of mind to the participants of a Mind Science symposium at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
From MindScience, edited by Daniel Goleman and Robert F. Thurman, first in 1991 by Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA.

Reprinted with permission in the November/December 1995 issue of Mandala, the newsmagazine of FPMT.

http://www.lamayeshe.com/hhdl/mind.htm

 

Mind Training / Buddhism

Michael Gelb
Dominic O'Brien
Glenn Harrold
Edward De Bono
Stephen R. Covey

Thoughts Without a Thinker : Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective ~Mark Epstein

Mindfulness Meditation

Insight & Wisdom -

Crazy Wisdom Author : Chogyam Trungpa Book, Publishers Price : £14.99, Wisdom Price : £14.24, Save : 5 %, Paperback, 214 pages, Currently in stock Uses the life of Padmasambhava and his eight manifestations to illustrate the principle of `crazy wisdom', which begins with the process of ruthlessly cutting through layers of psychological deception in order to uncover basic sanity.

Diamond Mind : A Psychology of Meditation Rob Nairn - This guide is concerned with relieving the anxiety, desire and anger that obscure inherent happiness. Eight specific practices explained in the book divulge how our minds work when we meditate and direct us to how we might dissolve the conditioning and unresolved issues in our way. (UK

Journey Without Goal : The Tantric Wisdom of the Buddha (Dharma Ocean Series) by Chogyam Trungpa (US

 

Energy, Psychic Powers - Siddhis

Related Links:

Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy

 

Related Pages On our Site:

How do I find clarity & peace of Mind?

Power of Mind

What is the Meaning of Life?

Ancient Traditions

Balancing Exercises

Spiritual Mastery

For Contemplation -Why do we suffer? Who is it that suffers? Understanding Emotions


giveback_234x60.jpg




http://www.sortlifeout.com
Sort Life Out - Join our Free mailing list -
News, Quotes, Offers, Links & More!
Keep up-to-date! Join Now!
Enter your name and email address:
Name:
Email:  
Subscribe      Unsubscribe
 


Contact Us | Search Articles & Quotes | Holistic Health and Beauty Shop UK | MP3 Downloads / Book Store
| Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Terms of Sale |
Popular Products: Ear Candles | Wellness Water Filters | Distilled Water | EMF Protection

Copyright © 2004 - 2018 Sort Life Out. All rights reserved.

Press (ctrl + d) to Bookmark this site Now!
http://www.sortlifeout.co.uk/home

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend