Psychology
Question: How can I tell which thoughts and feelings are the right ones to leave where I find them, and which ones to pick up? What if I make a mistake?
Answer: You possess unsuspected powers of perception just waiting to be awakened. There's a way to know, without ever having to think about it, exactly which of your own thoughts and feelings are your friends, and which are foes... a totally thought-free way to understand which of your thoughts are practical and necessary for everyday life, and which are stealing your life with unsuspected self-compromise. Practice knowing without thinking. Let yourself see the meaning of individuals and their actions, of your behavior, of world events, of all your relationships - without telling yourself what you see. Let the meaning of what is before you reveal itself to you. Keep you out of it. If you don't, the self-compromising self-interest will come in to cloud the picture.
Excerpted from Freedom From the Ties That Bind
Question: I can sometimes go for two or three weeks without suffering from overt negativity. Then, out of the blue, I'll have a day where bad thoughts and feelings crawl all over me in a persistent attack. What's going on?
Answer: There are two sides to this story. The first is to understand that everything in the physical world -- everything -- moves in cycles. These are naturally occurring waves of opposites. The second thing to understand is that our work is about transcending or out-growing this physical world, our earthly self that is so bound to these cycles. So first, relax. What you express is natural. Stay awake. Then, work harder to leave yourself behind.
Excerpted from Seeker's Guide to Self-Freedom
Question: I am so sick of my mind. Every thought I have -- even the loving ones -- have an element of fear. I can't seem to step out of the mind, and I am sick of giving it so much attention. I really feel imprisoned.
Answer: Freedom from the prison of thought begins with realizing/seeing that thought and the sense of self it produces is circular. This terribly familiar sense of self is precious to those parts of ourselves that draw their life from this circle. Persist with inner work and you will fall out of unconscious fascination with both this sense of self and the thought world within you that produces it.
Question: How can we use the mind correctly and begin using our thoughts to benefit ourselves instead of allowing them to cause as much trouble as they do?
Answer: Start with this: The real question here should not be, "How do I empower my mind to think rightly?" but, "What is it within my mind stealing my natural powers of reason from me?" Notice that runaway emotions cloud thought and produce a blur, a confusion, and a pain. This pain rushes to be free of itself and uses thought -- any thoughts -- as a train to escape itself. As best you can, drop the wrong emotions that enter into your thinking. In other words, don't allow them to drive the mind. Start with this inner work. If you will try this simple approach, Intelligence will reveal itself, and its natural powers will come into play.
Excerpted from Seeker's Guide to Self-Freedom
