Lesson 7 - "Who's Minding Your Mind?"

 

Into the Depths

Exploration and Discovery

 

Deep within ourselves is a pool, a reservoir of undeveloped and unexpressed ideas.  Here is where our ‘monk’, who we met in the opening story, is ready to be of service to you. In our everyday experiences we rarely dip into this unending sea of wisdom allowing our inner monk to guide us.  Yet, whether called the the Voice within, Universal Mind, or the Holy Spirit, this relatively untouched treasure house is ours to reach.  Here is where the cold, hard facts of life must gently dissipate into a letting go of reason and a leaping into faith.  No matter your spiritual beliefs this area of mind is there.  Label it according to your comfort level, but remember, here is where insight and creativity emerge from the unconscious into expression.

          Underneath all the hoopla surrounding the process of tapping into the reservoir is a simple technique begun with just one extremely challenging question, "Am I willing to surrender what my internal ‘professor’ of logic demands, and the clammering of the emotional dramas my zombie spews forth, to what my inner knowing, my ‘monk,’ offers?" 

To reach this point in attitude takes some readjustment to how you approach your mind and the thinking process.  You have been taught to trust your professor and use deductive reasoning, accumulate facts, information, advice and suggestions and then after due deliberation, reach a solution.  So far so good.  This has been and still is sound practice. 

Or, we follow the zombie to become wrapped up in the seductive emotional reactions of guilt, fear and anger, which is not so good but always seem ridiculously important at the time.

The key will be, however, to sift through the often conflicting information and emotions and pluck out the wisdom hidden somewhere within.  To do this the next step we need to access the monk.

There is no way to discover creative inspiration if you are unable to discern the monk’s peaceful answer from the chaotic emotions of the zombie or the often times logical arguments of the professor churning within your mind.  And so the process of learning to discern the differnces correctly between the advice offered by these three inner sources, must take some time and lots of practice. 

Ultimately, accessing the monk is done through a process of willingness and meditation. And this must be your goal if you truly want to be the ‘minder of your mind’. 

 

 

Thoughts to contemplate

and discuss

 

1.     So, if you haven’t done so already, choose a course, a path, a teacher and go for it. There are many courses for guiding you through the tools and the practice necessary for success. “A Course in Miracles” is an excellent one.

 

2.     Repeat a process suggested before but now with greater understanding. Observe the chatter in your mind and notice the professor’s logic, the zombie’s emotional dramas, and the monk’s gentle gifts. Notice when each is comforting or creates chaos.

3.     Take time each hour to stop, breath deeply and consciously choose to reach for the monk’s gentle guidance.