Mediatation and Life
Did you know unnoticed patterns of the mind underlie all we perceive? What we perceive is actually only the surface of the totality, a fraction of our reality. We only consciously experience what we perceive, but if we are only experiencing the surface portion of the totality, we inadvertently allow the patterns to dominate. These patterns are grooves in the mind which repeat quietly like a never ending loop. They could be thoughts caused by negative reactions or conditioning in life resulting in thoughts such as: "Money is bad", "I am insufficient", or "unsuccessful", etc. Thus, they become subliminal programs running in the background of the mind. The mind then identifies with these programs out of familiarity and eventually takes the programs to be a part of its conscious identity, also known as the ego. The ego then creates a conception of itself and projects this during normal activity. This is perceived as the personality of the individual consciousness. The nature of the individual is to create positive situations for itself and avoid negative ones. Thus it stores a memory of its experiences to positive and negative events and attempts to recreate the positive ones. However, the ego mind that attempts to recreate its experience or "reality" is unfortunately governed by these patterns or habits. Therefore, it has a very limited capacity to affect outer conditions in a manner deemed desirable.
Life experience is often viewed as a series of seemingly random events, yet it is also a matter of perception and cause/effect relationship at least 50% of the time. We essentially become "prisoners of our own device" due to being subjected to experiences of our own unconscious creation. In order to free ourselves, we must identify the pattern and understand its origin. Next we must perceive experiences unfiltered by the mind and intentionally project what we wish to experience. We must then experience without attachment to an expectation of specific results, but rather keep creating and enjoying. There will always be surprises along the way regardless of the success we may have in identifying the patterns because there are continuously higher or more subtle levels of awareness to operate from, but at least we can master them in stages, rather than not at all and consequently have an increased mastery of our life experience. So, how do we identify these subliminal patterns and thus regain mastery of our mind, and subsequently our lives? Some people are inclined towards acquiring an ever increasing knowledge base of what they believe to be true. They feel the more knowledge is obtained, the more truth, security and progress is being made. Although this may not seem like a bad idea, it is not the most direct or accurate method. This is due to the fact that the information obtained can be erroneous since the mind is naturally only attracted to qualities it determines favorable or agreeable due to association through previous experience. The frame of reference for that particular experience or the reaction associated to it could be at fault to begin with, and has also been filtered through the imperfect perception of the mind. Trusting the self to be led by another such as a teacher or "guru" is also equally unreliable as there is no guarantee that another person's mind is any better than your own. This is evidenced by what we see in the news about some cult leaders and the negative consequences experienced by many of their followers.
Therefore, a more safe, direct and accurate method is: Meditation.
When studied, meditation seems easy enough but when practiced it is difficult because it involves being still or physically inactive from 15 minutes to over an hour, which contradicts the body and mind's inclination. When practiced daily, it becomes significantly easier to sit still and focus the mind. One technique to achieve this is by controlling the breath. The breath is controlled by breathing inward and outward in a repetitive, consistently even rhythm. This is accomplished by simply counting each inward and outward breath to the same count. For example: A count of 10 inward, then a count of 10 outward. Repeating this at least 10 times and then relaxing only to observe the breath while continuing to remain still is the next step. Finally, detaching from the mind and observing the thoughts that pass through it, (without judging them) is the beginning of actual meditation. This is known as a form of "detachment" or "watching the thinker". When meditating, focusing on the space between the thoughts and learning to relax in them occurs naturally as the body and mind give up resisting the process. A state of ever-increasing peace and relaxation develop and a sense of expanding awareness or consciousness ensues, this happens because you have surpassed the limited mind-made image of the self and gone beyond to pure being. Thus, it has become Being Meditation. This is the realm of true intelligence/wisdom, the very same that is the source of your intellect and therefore a more direct and accurate experience of knowledge because it is increasingly less filtered by the ego mind. The action of thought is an attempt by the mind to acquire information or answers to questions, yet ironically the superior consciousness of being (which contains the mind and created it) is the knowledge itself. That is why 'being' is superior to thinking. Why look for the knowledge that you already know? Why try to be what you already are? This awareness is all that is required but it cannot be fully comprehended through teaching alone. Only the methods themselves can be taught.
Since awareness is an experience, it can only be... experienced! These simple instructions are all that are needed to have it.
Once you have this experience, you no longer allow these patterns to control you and your life, or at least reduce their ability to. How can you have success or happiness if you have held on to a subconscious program in your mind repeating that you are not worthy of it, or that there is not enough of it to go around? Where do these thoughts come from? This is just one example of what can be examined in meditation. You may remember the experience that caused these patterns, but even if you don't- you can still let go of them by simply becoming aware of the patterns themselves. This way when it happens again, you are in control and can make a different choice about what to think and what to feel, rather than a choice made from unconscious reaction. Operating from a state of being and awareness means just this, and you will begin to create memories of the positive effect it will have on your life experience, thus increasing your confidence and success of use with this method or perspective. This means that by freeing yourself of subconscious patterns by becoming conscious of them, you regain control of the mind- but surpass it through being knowledge, rather than chasing after it. You then know that you are the creator of, and partner with: Life. This knowing empowers you to create what you want in life when you can, and at the very least choose how you experience it when you can't.
Meditation becomes a part of life, and then life itself becomes the meditation. This is the key to enjoy an empowered and successful life.
