Free Your Mind and Think

When we say 'mind' we think of: consciousness, awareness, cognitive thinking, reasoning, perception; but also of: intuition, subconscious gibberish, or unconscious strata that influences our lives and the way of behavior. The nature of mind or the matrix of various patterns that forms around a soul is closely related to the Buddhist concept of karma. Free your mind and start thinking!

Steps

  1. Awaken. Become aware of how your environment influences your brain. A healthy brain has some 200 billion neurons. Conscious mind controls our brain only 5% of the day, the subconscious mind has control of our thoughts 95% of the time. 'Man lives his life in sleep, and in sleep he dies' were words of Gurdjieff who was encouraging his spiritual students to awake and transcend to a higher state of consciousness.
  2. Become mindful. Mindfulness works with continuous awareness of body, thoughts, emotions, intentions, actions. Through bare attention, we learn to see things as they really are, without judgments and preconceptions. Mindfulness brings awareness of the moment of 'Now'. We become aware of all that surrounds the process or act we perform. Buddhists use mindfulness as one of the main spiritual development tools. The following exercises practice mindfulness:
    • Eat mindfully. Be aware of every bit you take, of smells, of texture of the food, of hunger within your body. Chew slowly, observing yourself eating.
    • Walk mindfully. Feel your body moving through the air, your feet touching the ground, your hands moving, listen to your breathing. Observe yourself walking. Stay 'awake' during the process
    • Talk mindfully. Be conscious of your words and the way you utter them. Be conscious of emotions that are linked to certain words. Consciously take a different 'side' in an argument that you usually have with your friends. This change of roles, will give you an insight about words and their power.
    • Wash dishes mindfully. Chose an activity that you do every day, such as 'washing dishes', and do it the best you can, taking care of every single detail, doing it perfect. Your search for perfection will exercise mindfulness within this 'every-day's act.
  3. Meditate. Still your mind. A human brain has 70,000 thoughts per day. Train to be silent, in that way you will attempt to train this amazing machine called brain. You will direct its force into concentration, inspiration, innovation instead of wasting your time and energy in useless chatter. Meditation is a major inspirational tool of many philosophies.
  4. Understand and take care of your body. Proper nutrition, proper exercises, walks in nature, fresh air, they all contribute to stress-less life style that is necessary to keep the hormones and the chemistry within our body in balance. Within Hinduism, to 'free' one's mind it is recommended to have a sentient diet, the diet that does not in any way disturb the body or the mind. This would mean avoiding meat consumption, avoiding alcohol and drugs, avoiding too spicy food, etc.
  5. Understand and transform your feelings. The power of changing oneself lies in the body and in the feelings. Understanding and transforming the feelings from negative to positive, gives us strength and inspiration to live a happier and more fulfilled life.
    • Distinguish feelings and thoughts that are not yours but the product of mass marketing and socially established norms.
    • Ask yourself, what makes me happy? This answer usually carry the glimpse into your Soul, your true needs and feelings.
    • Spend more time exercising compassion, peace, friendliness. These qualities will free your mind.
  6. Challenge your core beliefs. Core beliefs are at the very essence of how we perceive ourselves, and the world around us. Core beliefs are rigid, hard and inflexible. Core beliefs are sentences and words that are repeated so many times that they became our truth. Our core beliefs are at the root of our happiness or unhappiness, our high or low self-esteem, our destiny. If we change our beliefs, we can hope to change our reality. Often we try our best to be ‘liked’ complying with the current ‘norm’. This could lead to a major flow of dishonesty about ones true feelings and thoughts. Chose any of the following exercises to ‘break’ the chains of media and society that are tightly woven around your neck:
    • Go walking backwards
    • Stop next to the street music player and start dancing and singing with him
    • Go to a nudist beach
    • Stop to talk with strangers
    • If in a crowded street, just stop and observe the crowd moving next to you
  7. Read inspiring and spiritual books. Read inspiring and self-development books. Read poetry. Read philosophy. Read books from people you admire. Read books from various gurus and mystics of the past.
  8. Think creatively, think freely. Learning the skill of creativity is about learning to challenge the existing, and learning to trust one’s idea. Creativity is an essential ingredient of one's self development.
  9. Ask questions. Ask yourself questions about meaning of life and purpose of your life, about environment and the way we live on the Planet Earth with other living beings. Ask, what can be done better and were is your role within this amazing matrix.



Tips

  • There is a Buddhist saying: 'Before enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water; after enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water.' The difference in two states of mind is in awareness.
  • 'We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.' Aristotle

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Sources and Citations

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