Rules #2b: How
Your Mind Works: How to Get the Best Out of It
Mind Divisions:
The mind is divided:
how each of its divisions functions profoundly shapes your life now.
Mind Chatter:
Listening to your mind
chatter can give you important information about how your mind works -
and does not work - to create your life this time around.
Mind Thrashing:
When your mind is so
overwhelmed by problems that it comes to a halt, it is thrashing.
The cycle of thrashing can be broken so you can move forward.
Monkey Mind:
How to tame and harness
your "Monkey Mind" to serve you for good and forever. Take control
of your mind-thoughts to take back control of your life.
Brain Waves:
About the four brain wave
states and how they work in the functioning of your waking/sleeping mind.
"To the mind that is still and disciplined, the whole
universe surrenders." (Lao Tzu)
The mind is divided into three parts: the super-conscious,
sub-conscious and conscious.
*
Super-conscious:
(Buddhist Pancha Khandas) is the realm of the
Higher Self
and is
first
in importance inside the mind. It is based in a
future state where
karma
is "spun" by what the individual has visualized
and what their karma has created.
This is the realm of
imagination
(what you dream of what you desire
to be-do-have in the future),
intuition
(what you sense with your inner senses), and
inspiration
(what your Higher Self tells you to do).
*
Sub-conscious:
(Buddhist Achetan Manas) is the realm of your past
life karma created by past life personalities and is
second
in importance inside the mind. It is based in a
past state where karma is "balanced" by past life actions or inactions.
This is the realm of
reacting
(making choices based on learnings from past lives),
perception
(filtered, formed, and molded by past lives), and
memory
(avoiding repeating past life mistakes). This
is where karma is worked through in the dream state. It is highly active
and, in fact, is not "unconscious" (as in unknowing or automatic) at all.
*
Conscious:
(Buddhist Chetana Manas) is the realm controlled by
your present life self and is
third
in importance inside the mind. It is based in a
present state where karma is "experienced" by what the individual is
being-doing-having now.
This is the realm of
reasoning
(deciding based on present learning),
remembering
(referring back to previous events from the
current life),
and attention
(choosing what to do or not to do now).
*
Mind Power:
The divisions of your mind are NOT equal in power.
The
Conscious
part of your mind (the one who responds to your direct
commands based on your desires) supplies
12% of your power
and works at the rate of 2,000 impulses per second.
The
Sub-conscious
part of your mind (the one who reacts to and is
controlled by your past life experience) supplies
88% of your power
and works at the rate of 4 billion impulses per
second.
This means the sub-conscious part of your
mind is 800,000 times more powerful than the conscious part of your mind.
*
Brain vs Mind:
All these different mind mechanisms are the vehicles
through which soul expresses Itself through different bodies over cycles of
reincarnation.
"Brain"
(Rupa) is the physical component of the mind:
it is active during
"Beta"
(waking) and
"Alpha"
(falling asleep) brain wave states.
"Intellect"
is the mental component of the mind: it is active
during the
"Alpha"
(falling asleep) and
"Theta"
(dreaming) brain wave states.
"Limbic"
is the emotional component of the mind: it is active
during the
"Delta"
(dreamless sleep) and
"Beta"
(waking) brain wave state.
"The mind is a terrific servant but a terrible master."
(Buddhist & Hindu Proverbs)
Your mind is like a police band radio: when you listen
to it, you will get lots of information.
*
Chatter Like So:
"You are not good enough. You are just going
to mess this up again. Wow, the Phillies won in extra innings, maybe
they will finally do something... Nah! This too shall fail. Oh God, how
am I going to explain to my frickking spouse about what happened to the
car. Jeez, I'm in for days of arguments on this one... This will make me
seem like an even bigger loser..."
*
Classic Mind Chatter:
What was this dialogue, you are asking yourself?
It is a sample of the kind of "Mind Chatter" that
runs through our brains during each waking moment. Like a police band radio
- that you cannot turn off - it provides you with a stream of useful and
valuable information about yourself. Most people learn to tune it so low
that they barely notice it anymore. Yet I would ask you to turn up the
volume on your "Mind Chatter" and pay careful attention to it.
*
Vital Intelligence:
Why should you care about your own "Mind Chatter"? Mind Chatter is what creates your life. Listening to it can
give you important information about how your mind
works - and does not work - to create your life.
*
Tuning In:
How can you focus on your own chatter?
The next time you go to bed, lie quietly, and
just listen to your internal dialogue. Do not judge it or censor it
or try and direct the flow. Just listen and look for the following:
1>
Bad Statements About Yourself:
as in
"You are not good enough... messing up... a
bigger loser..."
Bad statements, like this one, set
you up for failure... because your mind will believe what you say about
yourself and will act accordingly to make it so. Quite simply, it is no
wonder that you "mess" things up all the time, this is the natural result
of "not good enough" mind programming.
2>
Bad Statements About Others:
as in
"My frickking spouse."
When one has got the name, they end up playing
the game. When you do not like someone, they pick up on it and start
not liking you.
3>
Bad Predictions About the Future:
as in
"I'm in for days of..."
When you envision a sequence of events, you are asking
your mind to create that for you. If what you envision is not how you want
your future to be, then stop focusing on this "worst case scenario!"
You are in control of your thoughts.
If you do not like what you are hearing in your own
mind, then it is up to you to change the chatter for the better.
"The more time you spend worrying about the past, the
less time you have to think about the future." (Anon)
Do you feel like you have so many problems that your mind has just
about come to a halt? It's thrashing.
*
Thrashing?:
Thrashing is a computer term describing a machine
whose high degree of activity has little or no productivity. Thrashing
is the result of memory or media that has become exhausted or too limited
to do the required operations. A machine that is inwardly thrashing wildly
seems either very slow or at a standstill.
*
Endless Loops:
When a mind thrashes, it much like a machine. It
travels in endless loops along the same well worn paths. The same thoughts
swirl around and around like a hamster on a wheel. The faster they thrash,
the more it exhausts the body and emotions without producing a decision or
another desired result.
To the person whose mind is thrashing, they are working as hard as they can.
To those looking on from the outside, the one plagued by thrashing seems to
be lazy, procrastinating, and utterly unproductive.
*
Locked by Fear:
Many times the mind thrashes because the person is
afraid to make the wrong decision. They are so fearful that they will miss
a key fact, that others are out to deceive them, or that "bad" karma is
lurking around the corner… that their minds thrash around the subject rather
than helping them move forward.
Yet because they focus on the potential "bad" outcomes, they fail to see
(by "mind blindness") the "good" outcomes that are possible.
*
The Real Price:
What the minds of those individuals fail to recognize
is that thrashing results in doing nothing. Doing nothing is also a decision.
Doing nothing means that the individual has actually chosen to accept what
karma will bring their way. More often than not, this is the very "bad"
karma the thrasher has feared in the first place.
*
Breaking the Cycle:
The solution to thrashing - for both a mind
and a machine - is to stop the process. It is easier to stop the machine
than the mind.
To stop the mind, the individual has to give themselves permission to take
a break from their problems. They should give themselves permission to
make Sunday a day of rest from their endless thoughts. Just giving the
mind a rest can (sometimes) break the thrashing.
*
Moving Forward:
Life is full of risks which thrashing gives the
inward appearance of seeking to minimize by extensive thought.
What the thrashers do not see is that no decision is ever irrevocable. As
long as they are moving forward, the person can make course corrections so
that their decisions can become better.
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present." (Buddha)
Does your mind churn on endlessly so much so that it
drives you crazy? Here is how to take back control.
*
"Monkey Mind":
This is your conscious mind in its natural state.
Your mind is meant to serve you but it is such an eager beaver that it
will take charge... until you take control.
Here is how to tame your monkey mind:
*
Give it a Job:
Make it clear to your mind what you do and do not
want it to do.
Great jobs for your mind include being:
- an analyzer (having it review data and turn it into information),
- an advisor (having it give you the pros and cons of various actions),
- an advocate (encouraging you to go for your dreams).
Jobs that it must quit immediately are being:
- a master (making decisions for you),
- a manager (acting on those decisions),
- a mindless automaton (acting from habit, prejudice, or whim).
*
Daily Practice:
Taming your Monkey Mind does not happen overnight,
it takes some practice and patience to get the monkey to behave.
- Start by sitting still for a minute, focus on quieting your mind, and
allow any mind chatter to just pass you by.
- Quiet your mind for one minute. When you have mastered one minute,
then extend it to two, three, and so on.
- Do this day after day until you can quiet your mind for a full 30 minutes...
and that will show it exactly who is boss.
*
Take Control:
Once its jobs are clear, ignore your mind when it
tries to overstep its bounds. Just "thank it for sharing" and take control.
The more you take control, the more your monkey mind will calm down and
bend itself to your will.
- Be the master: decide based on thoughtful consideration not habit.
- Be the manager: act with congruence (thoughts = speech = action).
- Be the maestro: take charge and make it clear who is the boss.
*
Breathe into Calmness:
When your mind is out of control, gently
take it down by breathing slowly and deeply. A mind on oxygen becomes
clearer quickly.
The
Breath Cure
contains several breathing patterns that will induce
calmness in your body so powerfully that this calmness will spread to your
mind and emotions. When the monkey inside your mind is calmed, the stream
of chatter-thrashing will slow and then stop.
"...brain waves help our bodies function and survive... The
brain waves represent the different layers of consciousness... Accessing
a layer accesses abilities... problem solving in beta, trance in
alpha, dreams in delta, past lives in theta..." (Lena Lees on Kuan Yin)
*
Beta:
Beta brain waves are those of normal waking consciousness.
Beta is associated with alertness, arousal, cognition, and concentration.
At its most rapid levels, beta waves are associated with anxiety, disharmony,
disease, and stress. If you feel "awake" at all then you are in a beta brain
wave state, otherwise you are "asleep" in one of the other three brain wave
states (alpha, theta, or delta). Beta is where self-sabotaging filters from
past lives and present learnings are active.
*
Alpha:
Alpha brain waves are those of relaxing and drifting
off to sleep and are slower than beta. Alpha waves range from higher alpha
(a more focused yet still very relaxed state) to deep alpha (a state of
deep relaxation), to hypnagogic (the state between sleep and waking).
Alpha is associated with "super-learning" (the ability to learn,
process, store, and recall large amounts of information efficiently).
*
Theta:
Theta brain waves are those of dreaming sleep and
are slower than alpha. Theta is often associated with heightened super-memory
(in which learnings are stored in memory), integrative experiences (in which
critical life experiences are processed), increased creativity (in which
"Ah-ha!" insights, ideas, or intelligence are gained), and deep stress
relief (in which relaxing endorphins are released).
*
Delta:
Delta brain waves are those of dreamless sleep and
are slower than theta. Delta is often associated with a very deep, trance-like
state (in which it is possible to be alert) but is usually a sleep state. In
certain delta frequencies the brain releases many beneficial substances,
including human growth hormone (HGH). Also, past life information relevant
to the present can surface in delta.
Credits: from
channeled information and with a tribute to the London Underground
Russell Square Tube Station (shown in the pictures).
YES, I climbed all 175 stairs - once!
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