Observe Yourself

The first step in self observation is the ability to calm the mind.  I'm not talking about stopping thoughts because that is basically impossible.  Calming the mind means to slow down the speed and frequency at which negative and unnessary thoughts enter the mind.  For example, if you can't go to sleep because negative thoughts keep coming up you have a problem.  If negative thoughts interfere with daily activities then your mind is out of control and isn't calm.

If you sit quietly and focus directly on your breathing you will sooner or later notice the process of thinking going on. If the thoughts are images of events that have happened or things that might happen, they are unnessary thoughts.  If the thoughts are voices of you carrying on a conversation with someone, they are unnessary.  Both negative and unnessary thoughts are incessant thoughts that are not conducive to a quiet and calm mind.  A calm mind has very few negative and unnessary thoughts.

The mind's job is to move and when it is not controlled it can get out of hand.  To calm the mind requires focusing it on one single object like the breath or an image.  This gives the mind something to do and in the process it will eventually become calmer.  The breath is excellent on which to focus because it is always present as long as you are alive. 

There are many techniques in using just the breath for calming the mind but I am going to suggest this one simple technique that is guaranteed to work.  When you want to calm your mind simply breathe slowly in the nose and slowly out as you count each breath. The goal is to reach 15.  Every time a negative or an unnessary thought appears you must start over with one.  When you reach 15 your mind will be calm.

Next - What to do once the mind is calm.

Know Yourself

In the Tao Te Ching there is a quote that goes something like this; "He who knows others is wise but he who knows himself is enlightened.  The question is, how does one get to know himself?  You might say that you already know yourself.  You have a name, your are a man (or woman), you know what you like and dislike, you have values and beliefs that enable you to discriminate between good and bad, all of your experiences with friends, foes, lovers, and everything that life has thrown at you up to this point have helped make you who you are today and on and on.

I am here to tell you, that is not really you.  All that s**t has done is mask and blot out the true you.  The true you has nothing to do with your sex, your likes, dislikes, values, beliefs and so on.  The true you was here long before all of those things influenced you and made you into who you think you are.  To know yourself you have to know your mind because your mind thinks it is you and you think you are your mind.  You have been so brainwashed into thinking you are this and that to the point you believe it.  You think you are your thoughts.  Ha, you silly willy. That is not even close to the real you.  It's time to get real.

First, you must get to know and really understand the thing you call yourself.  You must learn to observe yourself, not with your thinking mind, but with complete awareness that exists beyond the mind. To observe yourself means to notice, inquire, and get in touch with the way "you" are - to understand why "you" do what "you" do.  Self observation is the key to understanding yourself and that is why meditation is so important.  Watching your mind at work and your reactions to those thoughts is the best way to understand yourself.  By knowing how your mind works, you can get in touch with your self.

Next - How to observe yourself. 

Saturday morning meditation

Since Sunday was Christmas we decided to have our Sunday morning meditation on Saturday at Bill's farm.  He has a gigantic 100 year old live oak tree in the back forty which is excellent to meditate under.  The weather was not as cold as the week before and the ambiance of the surrounding countryside proved to be the perfect setting for sitting with the mind. 

Sunday morning meditation

I've been having some good conversations with my local meditation buddies as well as with some friends who came down from the cold north.  Although this is Florida, we had some cool weather during Sunday morning meditation.  We started a fire in the fire pit and each person talked about their philosophy concerning life, death and the hereafter. After the discussion we sat in silence for an hour and enjoyed the peacefulness of the crackling fire and sounds of the forest creatures. 

Being with friends and sounds of nature allowed my consciousness to expand to its outer most limits, beyond the thinking mind.  Slowly and methodically breathing through each chakras, one by one, brought energy finally to the crown chakra where everything opened into pure awareness.  It was as though every cell in my body separated from each other and flew out in all directions.  There was no longer a "me" or an "I" to relate to.  All there was was awareness.  It was neither good nor bad - it just was.  When the timer went off everything slowly came back together and there I was once again sitting by the fire. 

An hour had gone by in the wink of an eye.  Clock time had gone by very fast.  The experience of being in pure awareness seemed like only a few seconds but is was actually one hour.  This is because pure awareness has no time.  There is no passage of time, it is always NOW.  

Musings on Energy

Although energy appears inanimate and ethereal, there is no denying that it is inherent in all that exists.  The vibrating forces of energy pervade throughout space and every galaxy as well your mind and every cell of your body.

Be as the wind - the life blood of earth.  Be as the ocean - the ebb and flood of life.  Be as light - pure, clean and bright.

When you feel presence of prana running through your body you are in tune with the very essence of life.

Musings on Awareness

In order to become aware you must first be able to control your thoughts.

Awareness is simply the act of waking up.

Through the knowing that all beings and all things are sacred you can discover within yourself the light and grace of pure awareness.

Merge your awareness with the in breath and the out breath as though they are waves in the ocean. Inhale on the crest of the wave and exhale on the trough - allowing your consciousness to become the ocean.

By being aware of the ego one can realize and observe all attachments but at the same time not be attached.

When you see the formless in the form, the nameless in a name, the personality behind the impersonal and God in everything, your awareness will become pure.

Total awareness is knowing you are more than a mind and a body.

Musings on LIfe

Labels are the social roles we play in life, they are not what we are.

People are anxious to "improve" situations and other people but are not willing to improve themselves.

If you are alive, your mission here on earth is not over.

Once you have inner peace, you have found the ultimate teacher.

There are more people in the world you can trust than there were yesterday, but not as many as tomorrow. The same is true for liars.

Musings on the MInd

How can the mind perceive something that made it?




To improve the mind we should meditate more and think less.


BRAIN FIBERS

If I keep thinking I know everything, and pretending that I am able to answer everything - I will continuie to live in a dream and never really know anything.

Don't believe everything your mind tells you.

Musings on Meditation

The power of meditation is only as effective as the meditator's ability to focus on an object.

There is no need to try and explain reality with words, concepts, ideas and beliefs.
Simply exist in its stillness and experience it.

Don't intentionally think. Be able to recognize thoughts and let them go.

Close your eyes so you may see.

Musings on Wisdom

Wisdom begins by asking.

The wise person knows he knows nothing.

When you meet a wise person it is best to ask, not tell.

Musings on the Universe

The universe looks like a physical, mechanical system, but is it?

You and I are not dualities but a single union of power and grace within the universe.

The universe is like an infinite, multidimensional spider web capturing and relaying various
densities of energy.

The universe, from infinite smallness to infinite largeness is in all of us, there is no exception.
However, it takes opening up to that fact to recognize it.

Your mental imaging can link you with the cosmic mind beyond space and time and allow
you to experience something that the five senses can never do.

Musings on the Universe

Musings on the Truth

If you want the truth, don't be for or against anything.

In the universe, there are things that are known and unknown. In between is the truth.

If you don't measure your beliefs with some measure of doubt you may miss the truth.

Everyone has the capacity to know their true home but not everyone knows how.
To do so requires knowing who you truly are by observing and understanding the
self. After that it is all downhill.

Health Mantra

Here is a great mantra that I find relaxing and healing. It's called the Health Mantra (Siri Gaitri Mantra), one of the oldest mantas from the Vedas dating back four thousand years. The first part of the mantra, Ra Ma Da Sa, expands every part of your being into heaven for healing any illness you may have. The second part, Sa Say So Hung, brings the healing qualities back to you.

If you click the video to the right you will hear Snatam Kaur sing it.

Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung

Ra - symbolizes the Sun. The Sun is the source of energy, life and warmth of the universe and purifies and energizes all beings.

Ma - symbolizes water. It is healing, cooling and nurturing.

Da - the Earth principle which provides calming and grounding of body and mind.

Sa - symbolizes air, sky and space. It is prana - the life force of the universe.

The second Sa is the turning point causing the spirit to descend from heaven back into the body for vitalizing it with healing life.

Say - is the pathway for the healing force to follow.

So - brings the healing force into your personal body.

Hung - comes in two parts: Hu, the vibrating force of God. It is sounded with the lips slowly coming lightly together while making a humming sound. The second part: ng, causes the sound Hung to vibrate in the head and down into the chest. This brings the vital force into all parts of the body. The vibrating sound "ng" is produced by bringing the back of the tongue up against the palate while opening the mouth.

As you chant the mantra, simply allow yourself to expand out into the universe and merge back with the healing force. Enjoy.