Answer: As you do not appear to be functioning so well with what you call ‘my mind’ perhaps it is worth investigating the alternative. If we observe closely what is going on, we might seriously question as to whether there is a mind at all. Granted, there is a garrulous thought-flow always going on like a babbling brook. But is this ‘thoughtless’ chatter really the mind?

What we take to be mind appears rather like the erratic static we get on a radio set when we are trying to tune in to the correct station. Is it static we are after, or a clear programme? We might consider that maybe in our so-called ‘normal’ functioning we are somewhere ‘between stations’ and are just not operating on the right frequency. And most of us don’t appear to be searching—or not searching seriously—for the right programme: let alone considering switching ‘mind’ off altogether!

Mind is a useful blanket term for all our mental activities’.

But that does not mean there is one.

It should not therefore be taken to exist as a thing-in-itself.* This seemingly endless ‘stream of thoughts’ we fondly like to call our ‘mind’ is a form of mental dis-ease (and therefore a disease) which, when left to its own devices, generally tends to run amok, resulting in the enervation and degeneration of the body. If we are really convinced of the need for this tedious mind-flow, then we are free to accept its destructive mental processes and carry on suffering.

You say, ‘my mind’—but if we take ‘mind’ to be a personal ‘possession’ it places us in bondage to its machinations. Our very idea of having ‘a mind’ possesses us, and we feel obliged to go along with it. If, however, we decide we have had enough of it, we must first see what is really going on’.

Negative, worrisome or fearful attitudes of ‘mind’ may well prepare the way for the development of bodily malfunction. Thus a fair number of ’physical’ illnesses could occur as a result of our mental condition—and often do. For example: among the many, many possible causal factors of cancer, one aspect is the relationship between this condition and mental stress, which is now well documented. So worriers can create a thought-induced vicious circle, by making themselves prone to internal diseases purely from the fact of worrying that they might be prone to them. This is what is known as the psychosomatic effect; meaning that the health of the body is capable of being influenced by our thoughts. Unfortunately, this word has become used as meaning ‘it’s all in the head’ relating to illnesses considered as ‘imaginary’ or provoked by thought.

However, it is also the basic ‘climate’ of our thoughts which determines whether we shall be ill—or remain ill—no matter what our healer or doctor tries to do.

Since every thought has an immediate effect on the body, it is surprising that so few people seem to recognise the fact that the habitual mental climate—or content of consciousness—also has a lasting influence on the vitality of the whole system.

‘Mind’ saturates the body as water does a sponge. So our mental diet—what we allow our minds (think ‘thought-flow’) to dwell upon, not only creates the quality of our lives but also the energy of our bodies.

As we think, so we are.

Credits: Supplied Image;

It is a lack of sensitive ‘listening’ to your inner needs—or of repressing what you know you need because of your outward circumstances and the demands of the situation you are in. But to ignore the inner ‘voice’, which tells us what is fit and right for us in life, is to create intolerable stresses in the soul. For many of us, however, it would seem that our early conditioning has too great a power over us. Even when we know what we want (or what we don’t want) we unwittingly sabotage our own efforts to free ourselves of life-negating attitudes by our pre-programmed thought patterns from the past, or the ‘what-will-others-think-of-me’, attitude of the present.

It is helpful to realise that most others don’t think. They are rather being assailed by thoughts and media-induced psychological programming.

Without being aware of it, many of us are often indulging in a life-long form of negativity I call ‘anti-mantra’. Just as a mantra (a sacred sound-syllable, holy word or phrase) is repeated to cleanse the consciousness of impurities, so by the repetition of ‘anti-mantras’—or life-deadening thought habits—we obtain precisely the opposite effect, which burdens the conscious and subconscious ‘mindstuff’ with toxically negative suggestions. How often do we suppress our desires and aspirations with such ‘anti-mantras’ as: ‘I don’t think I’m capable—I could never do it—I don’t think I should—I don’t really deserve it—I’m not worthy of it—I’m a born loser—I will never make it—It always happens to me—I haven’t got the time (the energy, the money, etc.)—What would my mother say?—I’m always alone—Nobody loves me—I am hopeless—I can’t do anything right—Well, next time, perhaps—If only—Yes, I would love to, but—’ and so forth.

‘Yes, but. . .’ is especially a well-known life-killer.

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An excerpt of a 5-part serialisation to be continued...

Adapted from, Sharing the Quest: Secrets of Self-Understanding. If you would like the full-text version in advance, for free, add your email here: https://www.muzmurray.com/contact

Never Mind the Mind CD; if you absorb better by listening, you can buy the download from here: Audio CD Web Page: https://bit.ly/2HxdMJi

Author

British mystic, author, psychotherapist, spiritual counsellor, mantra yogi, fine artist and illustrator, theatrical set and costume designer. Founder-editor of Gandalf’s Garden magazine and Community in the London Sixties, and 3 years as columnist for Yoga Today magazine, BBC 4 Scriptwriter, author of four spiritual self-development books and two storybooks for children. 

Muz Murray