Mastery of The Mind

[Lazarus72]

Lol, having put that up,

I'm now considering the meditation technique often talked about, of just allowing thoughts to arise, to flow, not fighting, just noticing. Being mindful but not identifying with the thoughts.

Perhaps it's horses for courses, idk.

[Lazarus72]

.........Oh,

and then there's the practice of gently pushing thoughts away as they arise, by not allowing them to fully form, take shape and to hold. In order to keep a still mind. Clarity.

Originally Posted by Enlightener

I was mentally ill for seven years.

I understand.

Originally Posted by Lazarus72

Lol, having put that up,

I'm now considering the meditation technique often talked about, of just allowing thoughts to arise, to flow, not fighting, just noticing. Being mindful but not identifying with the thoughts.

Bingo Baby!

[Lazarus72]

Thanks Lise,

and that stuff was really in response to questions posed about whether it's actually possible to master Your mind, whereas I guess the OP was more geared towards the point of taking responsibility for Your own destiny, or spiritual progress rather than putting the ideas of others on a pedestal which can be distracting.

I think it was a 'look to self' kinda message. It's something I've been thinking about recently. Reminds me of 'murti's' dissolution of the order of the star speech actually. Albeit somewhat condensed, hehehe.

Originally Posted by Lisa

I understand.

Lisa?

Do you?

I'm not looking for sympathy.

I guess I was a bit harsh, I'll be more just this time:

The psychotic and the shaman share a very similar path. But as that quote goes; "The psychotic drowns in the same waters that the mystic swims in."

I think it simply comes down to the idea that no one has any idea of the path of the shaman in modern society. And with the population of earth being around the 7 billion mark, it is no wonder there are so many psychotics, compared to the number of people on the earth during tribal civilization, I'm guessing that the number of people with this tendency is equal in proportion in this modern world as to the number of people there were on earth at the time of the shaman being a respected facet of society.

It's just that no one has the 'rules' for this path. And I guess it is unfortunate that the pharmaceutical industry has grabbed this thing and made it into a commercial selling point for their drugs. Which funnily enough actually work, since there is no actual evidence that it is a chemical imbalance that causes psychosis in the brain.

Abandonment, in my case, is not the key to mastery.
Be that what it is, early on in my life I found I could not abandon my mind in whole.
I could abandon thought, thinking in words, that was simple for me because I never have thought in words, pictures or ideas very well.
I think in emotions, thoughts and ideas flow much faster that way, I do not need concentrate on making imagery or visualization because as long as I can hold on to the pure feeling, my mind will make up its own flashes of imagery as I go along with my feelings. Sometimes this is operating on instincts or sense of curiosity and creativity alone.
In order to achieve any disconnection for me required a complete connection to myself, a complete understanding of all my emotions, why I felt them, how they are felt by me in their most extreme forms, how intensely can I be sad, joyful, regretful, envious, angry.
Emotions make more sense than people give them credit for. Yet once they are defined very clearly, the thinking brain when it translates those emotions to words is more clear in its translation, and the emotion holds less sway with the word. I guess I could say, the outside material world and the way it communicates doesn't damage, confuse, or control the self as much as it did before all the emotions were fully understood and defined as you personally see them and feel them.
Instead of "Mastery" why not just seek ultimate truth within yourself?
No amount of logic, reason, and distancing in the world will take away your pain if a loved one dies, you will still feel it, it will be the undercurrent in your every thought, and it will hang about your heart in a sullen shadow.

I've always experienced the mind as a gatekeeper to all other aspects of conciousness. No one enters without paying homage to the gatekeeper. You can either try & slap him around a bit or make friends with him to gain entry to other destinations. But there is no getting round the fact that he requires your attention.
Topology spoke about heart being the way through the gate. That is spot on to me.
It is a path with heart that shall create the way of least resistance. Though make no mistake this is not a cheap parlour trick, this is a life choice.

SSSSS touch me I'm on fire..........

*fans self, breathes deeply to emphasize his bosom, and flutters his long eye lashes* I'm burning up just looking at you NH.

...spooky isn't it?........