Body, Emotions, Mind … and Beyond

[zorkchop]

Considerations Fourteen …

Mind cannot be forced, bulldozed, intimidated. strong-armed …

Mind is a tricky system … like dealing with a child. You cannot force or jam it. The more you try to force the issue the more power to resist it gains. The harder you push the more resistant it becomes.

You can lead it. You can persuade it. You can lure it. You can tempt it.

This is when you come to realize just how resistant the mind can be … how much it can be against you … and it is simply the power of the mind to want to stay with the familiar … what it has used to understand and contend with that which has been around it … for who knows how long. Some of your patterns may be lifetimes-old. In fact … most of them are.

Learning to lead the mind involves in getting mind interested in where or what you want to lead it to. Out-trick the mind and lead it along with favoring terms and games. Your own devised forward-leading games.

When you discover and choose a habit / pattern that you wish to change … whether quitting smoking or eating better food or changing one’s attitude towards this-or-that … mind will always want to return to the old familiar ways. Mind truly resists change. It is very mechanical ruled by habit.

And the beginning of change … on most anything … is focus. And if your mind strays 1000 times from your intended goal … bring it back 1001.

But try to approach any meaningful goal or change … one at a time.

And start slowly … gently. Try to train your mind to learn that it is okay to change. Do NOT take the most pressure-filled, stressful issue to start with.

This becomes an entire “gaming” scenario within your own being … on how to out-trick your own mind … and lead it towards that which will be more beneficial to you. Knowing that the mind is often like a petulant child … ready to throw a tantrum at a moments notice … can you somewhat prepare for the battle.

One way to do this … carry a list of topics you’d rather focus on … beneficial ones … preferred ones … and start a discussion with yourself on the preferred topic. Remind yourself … when mind starts jabbering on such-and-such … take it off into this-or-that topic … and get into it. Get involved in the inner conversation. LEAD it away from … and then towards.

It’s an on-going gambit but you’ll be amazed at how nice it is to even cut it down 25% … let alone more.

This may or may not be towards your preferred goal … but it *is* beginning to take control of your mind. Get it interested in what *you* wish to focus on. Affirmations can play a part in this but you can carry this approach much farther than that.

Cold-turkey works … only for those with incredible will power … and maybe not even then. Thirty days on down the road … mind may make another maneuver to slide you back into an old pattern. Expect it. Watch for it. And if you “lose” … take a breather and start again. If the issue is that ominous … you will have to face it sometime. It might as well be now.

This is also a basis for “The answer lies within.” If you know an issue … then the answer … or at least the start towards the answer … lies in the opposite direction. The answer of “why” you do it lies within … and you can take eons to try and figure that out. That often just gives validity to the issue. Spend the time on the “new direction.” You already know the “what” … the perceived issue.

“I can just never do this-or-that” … “I always have trouble with this-or-that” … “I’m not good enough to do it” … “It’s too hard” … “I don’t have time” … etc. x infinity.

The answer … and certainly the better direction lies in the opposite perspective of the above. Yes … you may want to believe that this is conning oneself. Regardless … this is the way to start the change. You have to choose the new direction and then slowly move towards it … one day at a time … and often one moment at a time.

It can go *way* beyond one-line affirmations. Design inner scenarios where you are successful in your new goal right now … and pretend to already be living it.

“Wow … this is easy … I just did this and this and that … and it all fell into place … I love doing this … and I’m successful … and it feels great … I feel so much better in doing it … etc.”

Mind rebels at being forced to accept something … but loves pleasure. Entice it … but in a beneficial way. Trick it … train it … just as a child. Trick it with baby steps. Trick it into enjoying the new end result.

When mind finally accepts the new perspective at least for that moment … and then later begins to squawk … recite a poem … see a movie … put on some music … mentally continue to play the positive game … find a way to sidetrack it and lead it back. Follow your new perspective for an hour … and then let mind squawk. Watch what it does. Expect that outcome. Then plug in the new perspective for another 30 minutes or an hour. Make a game out of it.

Again … all of this can go on quietly inside. No one has to know. It’s your own battle anyway. You certainly can ask for support if you wish.

But always … always … always do this for yourself. Do NOT do this in trying to change someone else’s behavior or perspective. You are designing *your* life.

Mind will always be happy to tell you that you are doing the wrong thing and you should just go back and re-establish the old pattern. For eons you have listened to the negative squawkings. You have focused on that direction. There is no magic wand that will instantly and automatically head you in the opposite instruction … unless and until you set the course.

Most all of you know the value of gratitude. Try not to overlook the value of gratitude towards your own mind when it does what you wish it to do. “Hey mind … way cool … you started looking at this new scenario / thought area and you stuck to it. *Very* nicely done.”

It might seem odd that you would talk to your own mind that way … but you *would* praise a child when s/he did what s/he was told. Just these little additions can make all the difference in the world to your success.

More later.

I love these tips and hints, thanks zorkchop!

[zorkchop]

Considerations Fifteen …

Stopping the Mind

I have suggested before that many of the various religions and practices have “stopping the mind” as an end goal. I will readily admit … relief from the mental chatter is a rewarding goal. Somewhere along the Path this practice must be addressed. Most … if not all … will spend lifetimes attaining this … and those that do / can … are somewhat admired.

There is a kind of middle path to all of this … but one of the main issues is that these religions and practices have you believing that if you stop the mind … that automatically takes you “beyond” mind .

Um … no. It just teaches mind to quiet down for a moment … however long that moment is. Obviously if you can get your mind to be totally quiet for five minutes or one hour or a day … that’s wonderful … if that’s your goal.

But it doesn’t take you out of the mental realm. All the old mental patterns and habits are still “there.” When you return from the state in which you use to quiet the mind … nothing has changed … except for the period of respite … which … can be very nice indeed … I acknowledge that.

Let’s get you into an automobile and you’re speeding down the highway. You lift your foot from the accelerator and the car eventually rolls to a stop. Are you automatically out of the car? Have you “changed” the car?

No.

But let’s carry that forwards a bit … and say you are driving your car and get it to your destination and you park it … and then get out and you are obviously in a totally different scenario of transportation and surroundings … you are walking most likely … and you are walking within some environment. There is no car … no steering wheel … no gas-powered motor … no comfortable seat. You must adjust to the pedestrian experience.

This is much like leaving the mental worlds and entering the Soul Plane. It is totally different. Soul must adjust … and learn … finally … in Its own environment … so to speak.

Did stopping the mind get you there?

No.

It takes effort beyond that. And learning beyond that.

But the slowing of mind … even stopping the mind … does lead to better focus … and upon what you focus will often design where you are to head from that moment on. It also gives potential relief from the constant mental chatterings.

In the learning to slow or stop the mind even for a short time … remember … if you attack the mind like it’s an enemy it’s going to retaliate against you. Negotiate with it as a child … whom you love. In this way it might be more receptive to where you wish to lead it to … even to the slowing or stopping it for a few moments. This will also tend to teach you about forgiveness, tolerance, patience … with your own mind … and with others.

Slowing and then stopping the mind is something that most everyone has to contend with. Again - if you get angry when there are no results … it can backfire on you. You are fighting … yourself … or your mental approach to yourself.

This entire precept is not negating the teachings of the various eastern religions at all. These religions play an important in the sequence of learning. For many people … one learns to stop the mind even for a short time … and then learns beyond that.

It’s when you have had dozens or hundreds of lifetimes in the eastern religions and then find yourself back here … again … when you have been told all along that this stopping the mind is the end game. So … you begin to look elsewhere … or beyond … and on we go.

More later.

[BlueElephant]

It is a wonderful thing that many Eastern traditions are not interested in stopping the mind, (as it is not transformative if only the mind is "stopped" as you are mentioning above Z). There is much more of a deeper culture going on. It is almost ashame that the West is given so little that the East has to offer.

Originally Posted by BlueElephant

It is a wonderful thing that many Eastern traditions are not interested in stopping the mind, (as it is not transformative if only the mind is "stopped" as you are mentioning above Z). There is much more of a deeper culture going on. It is almost ashame that the West is given so little that the East has to offer.

What is Matter?—Never mind.
What is Mind?—No matter.

This can have two interpretations. One is the obvious that mind is beyond matter, however I like the more subtle meaning that both mind and matter are of no real concern spiritually speaking.

[zorkchop]

For those of you who have entered this set of posts from one of the later entries … here is a handy index of posts and the forum board post number of its location. I have had a request or two to do this … so … here it is. I will try to keep it updated every 5-10 posts or so and will re-enter it again or edit the old one.

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Con 1 … Post 1 … general what-it’s-all-about blab
Con 2 … 2 … a bit of mind / energy discussion
CL 1 … Post 7 … Clarifications … why I’m making these posts
Con 3 … 10 … Reincarnation and the Path
Con 4 … Post 12 … Reincarnation continued
Con 5 … 15 … Reincarnation continued again
Con 6 … Post 19 … Know Thyself
Con 7 … 21 … We did not forget
Con 8 … Post 22 … Duality
Con 9 … 30 … God
Con 10 … Post 31 … Personal Confessions 1A
CL 4 … 33 … Clarification … find the original concept
Con 11 … Post 39 … Personal Confessions continued
Con 12 - 44 … Checkpoints, Safeguards, and Spiritual Law
Con 13 … Post 48 … I’m Offended
Con 14 … 52 … Mind cannot be forced
Con 15 … … Stopping the Mind
Con 16 … … Divided Thoughts and Narrowness of Focus

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[zorkchop]

Considerations Sixteen …

Divided thoughts and narrowness of focus

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Per request … I put a small index in the post above. Please refer to it as you wish.

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Much of the intentional design of the physical world is that there are physical / outer objects to draw your attention towards. The eyes are obviously drawn to the ongoing activity and it certainly draws your attention outward. In order to gain some kind of understanding and control over your life … that is the exact opposite direction to place your focused attention.

The more chaos around you … the more apt you are to focus outwardly. It’s impossible not to do so. A greater degree of control over this can be learned if that becomes a goal for the individual. Hopefully this same individual has had at least some success in slowing … if not stopping … the mind.

Where and what you focus on is where you are designing your Path … your life perspective. Much of what I’ve put forth so far is to get you to observe where you are putting your focus. Are you putting on the negative … look out … I can’t … I don’t know how … I’m not good enough … or … on the positive / capable … etc.

Focus is key.

Mind will put up the most amazing battles to protect / maintain habits. Minds first response is to retaliate and contradict what it does not accept as part of its own belief system. Many spend much of their life doing just this.

You cannot just negate your thought patterns. This will form a void … and SOME-thing will fill that void or vacuum. YoU should have a thought pattern already designed to replace it … which often is just the opposite of the issue you are trying to balance out. This at least gives you a great starting point.

All of this discovery does not come about with a quick wave of a magic wand. This is life-changing stuff … a full repositioning of your perspective on LIFE … and beyond. You seem to go about it quietly … because you will not meet many that are “at your level” when you step beyond the mental worlds and discover just what Soul is … and is all about. You redesign your interaction with LIFE … and your responsibility towards LIFE. It is often done quietly … personally … unobtrusively … almost unknowingly among your close friends … for they wouldn’t understand what you mean by “stepping beyond mind.” Your friends would just as soon commit you to some psych ward or … just walk away. They may support you … but there won’t be much discussion amongst you.

You also learn that it is very difficult to focus on the psychic realm and truth to move beyond the psychic worlds at the same time. It’s like trying to be a Christian and a Buddhist at the same time. It just doesn’t work out too well … but one can certainly give it a try if they wish. Focus and immersion into one direction through the teachings of your choice is always preferable.

You can learn to find that center within you … or just a focal point if that suits you better … and you can learn to hold there in spite of what is happening around you. No … it doesn’t *always* work … but when you gain a toe-hold in this direction … you build on that.

You are learning to live in the center of the storm of LIFE while all else swirls around you … and your center position maintains your contentment.

One method that will serve you well with its discovery … and then its development into other areas. Take some quiet time and design some imagery … a landscape, a favorite location, a favored person, a pet, anything that helps to make you smile … and then build some feelings around that … and head the feelings into a soft peace and contentment. Later … when you need to retreat to that spot … bring up the practiced and designed imagery … and go there. With practice … you can just hold to the feelings of being there and not have to resort to even bringing up the imagery.

When you get one going … you can expand.

This is *not* meant to help you retreat from life. There are issues and situations that we all must face. But as I said above … learn to stand in the center if you believe you need not get involved with your immediate surroundings. ( Take notice of the word … in-volved. That word originally meant “to roll in” or become absorbed or move inward. The word dates back to the 1300’s. )

You will discover to one degree or another that getting beyond the mental worlds does not come about because of what you’ve learned here in the psychic worlds … but you “get there” *in spite* of what you have learned.

You can inwardly and quietly hum a tune to occupy the mind, recite the alphabet or a poem, use a mantra, run an affirmation, anything that *you* choose to do during such situations. Since *you* understand yourself best … it is up to *you* you discover just what to use here. Again … make it fun … make it a game … help the mind accept it.

It *is* an individual Path … and the ultimate discoveries are just that … personal and individual … but you *will* meet those that have explored where you are now setting foot ( so to speak ) and even those beyond. They are ominous indeed. The *will* help you take the next step so to speak … if you ask.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by zorkchop

For those of you who have entered this set of posts from one of the later entries

Con 3 … 10 … Reincarnation and the Path
Con 4 … Post 12 … Reincarnation continued
Con 5 … 15 … Reincarnation continued again

I actually will read what you have to say on reincarnation.
Thanks for the index, buddy.

Smart of you.

[zorkchop]

Considerations Seventeen …

Thoughts are things

What I post here now will not be following acceptable scientific findings … and many here … if not most … may just dismiss what I am going to say here … but I doubt if it will irritate anyone so I left it off the Irritation Factor.

The entire tool of the mind is a fascinating thing but it does *not* originate in the brain. The mind uses the mental psychic body to interact with the various thoughts and the brain receives them according to our own personal training of on what and where to focus.

Again … we are back to focus.

One of the best ways to understand this is that the physical brain is a tuner and a receiving station. We “tune in” to each thought … slowly at first … and we train the mind to prefer this station or that … so to speak. So much of this is brought from our previous lifetimes. We bring the tendency to train our mind to tune back into the stations we prefer … in as close as possible to what we thought in our last few lifetimes. Our physical surroundings are a bit different … so we take the “tendency” and re-shape it to comfort to the surroundings of the current lifestyle.

On the mental plane … thoughts are “things” … and they group together according to vibration … or more simply … like attracts like. These groupings can be seen somewhat as “clouds” on the mental plane … almost like a mist or a fog … perhaps forming something like the swirling galaxies from the Hubble Telescope. Each thought pattern is as a droplet or particle within the overall cloud. These clouds also give off a radiance of their own … very simply holding to darker clouds and lighter clouds, etc. … according to the thoughts within the clouds … which is according to the vibration of the thought itself and its similar thoughts from other sources.

These clouds form almost like groupings in the various neighborhoods in the world. Once can focus from the planet to the continent to the nation to the state to the city to the neighborhood to the block to the specific street and on down to the building and the specific living quarters and even on into specific rooms with all of that. This is an incredibly simplified portrayal.

Nonetheless … this shows you just how important “focus” can be. And … it helps address the question of why anyone can pick up similar thoughts to their own patters but they feel that such-and-such a thought certainly did *not* come from them. Well … you just wandered in the neighborhood and picked up that particular thought … just as radio stations an be so close to each other that they bleed into each other.

So it is really that mind is not the enemy … our focus is. Our attentive focus … coupled with our attitude … really designs our entire perception … especially when coupled with the emotions that “fire” our choice of beliefs and habits. We each allowed our mind to gain control over our thought pattern … but again … we did not know better.

Now you are beginning to piece all of that together.

An out-of-control mind is as much an “enemy”as it can be our partner or friend when it is working with and for us. The use of the word “enemy” here is tongue-in-cheek … you cannot wage war on the mind as the tool that it is. It is the direction that goes against the individual. Any tool can be used for detrimental or beneficial purposes … and the more powerful the tool … the more effect it will have according to our uses.

A controlled and focused mind is exactly what you want while you walk the psychic realms … all the way until you are ready to step beyond the mental worlds for a short journey beyond.

On more time … you cannot wage a war on mind as an entire tool … not only because the energy of your inner war against mind will make it worse … but you must use mind while here to interact with your own personal lifestyle / world.

More later

[zorkchop]

Considerations Eighteen …

Taking a specific time to do inner work

If there is one practice that is almost a *must* … it is this …

You must set aside a short period of time … preferably the same time every day … to find a quiet place to settle down and design your life from within … one step at a time … one issue at a time. This has obviously been given many names … the most popular of which is meditation … and for the most part … that term is sufficient to use to refer to quiet, inner time … but for the most part … meditation tries to narrow the focus … and instead you want to broaden the focus on issues … one at a time … gain an understanding of them … and revise or realign them to your benefit.

Meditation is often designated for the slowing and stopping of the mind … using whatever mantra one prefers … making the mind one-pointed … attempting to just stop the mind and gain some relief for the moment … and many believe this “relief” is indicative of attainment of a certain level or status. Since most people will take up this practice for many lifetimes … whatever one wishes to “use” to attain that state … is just fine. It’s all part of the sequence and the learning process.

What I am trying to suggest here … is almost a rehearsing of the inner goals you have designed … using this quiet time to focus and “live” them for those moments. Without both a reminder … and an enhancing … of the inner goals … one at a time … very little will be attained.

This does *not* have to be a long, drawn-out affair. Just 20-30 minutes would be wonderful. Maybe the first goal is just to get yourself trained to take this time in the first place. Use the tendency of the mind to rely on habit to your benefit here and do this at the same time every day.

This time period needs to be private, quiet, undisturbed, not to retreat and focus selfishly … but to go inside and gain perspective.

The outer world is designed to grab your attention. The more chaotic the outer world … the more your attention is commanded to those outer events and little to no time is given to your inner world. This is by design. Most people try to wrestle with the outer world as they are in it … as their attention is being overwhelmed by it.

And so … you need to take some time to retreat … and go in and look around. This is a great beginning to knowing oneself. This is almost impossible to do if your outer world is always howling at you.

If you have designed a goal that you wish to revise or exchange for another more beneficial behavior … this is the time when you go inside and practice BE-ing that. Go pretend. Go inside and act as if that new behavior is already a part of your inner system. Enjoy it. The more you get “involved” with it … the more it will speed its appearance in your own inner and / or outer life.

This is *your* world you are designing. Feel it. BE it … even just for the moment.

One rather generic method is to just hold to your inner goal and take slow, deep breaths as if you are breathing it into yourself. Game your mind into getting into this.

Many of you have either heard of or have read … Neville Goddard writings. Neville died in 1972 and travelled widely to offer his perceptions and beliefs on self-help … mainly from a Biblical point of view. I personally find it interesting how he uses the Biblical scriptures to portray his beliefs … but it is not necessary to use these practices from the Biblical sense.

He offers a lot of valuable and fascinating information. His articles on revision, dreaming, imagination, consciousness, assumptions … the list goes on … are more than worth scanning through. It is good, viable, basic information … great for the development of the essential fundamentals.

You can use and develop further much of what I have offered in these posts with his suggestions. If you dismiss the Biblical point of view … and I mean NO disrespect to the Biblical teachings here at all … these are great, generic suggestions and practices. If you dig into the free PDF’s … you can uncover a wealth of suggestions and directions.

If you Google … Neville Goddard Text Archive … you’ll find a free web site that offers many hours of browsing.

Again … one repeated and exceptionally vital suggestion … when you do any of this type of work … make sure you do it ONLY for your own inner and outer plan. If you do this to try and control someone else … I don’t even want to be on the same planet when you will have to resolve the karmic implications that incurs.

But obviously … it is your choice. You can use these same practices any way you wish … and it will be *you* that must balance it all out at some time … in some way … to some person. It *is* … your choice.

More later.

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