|
Yoga-Mind-Control
What is Yoga-Mind-Control? In order to establish Mind Control or at least some decent control over the mind we will need to know some basic, essential things about it. It is not necessary in all cases, but for most people it is important to have a good understanding about the mind and the mind's processes. Correct understanding is a valuable, if not necessary aid in the beginning to get you started with confidence in what you are doing. Once you pick up some momentum you will start to understand things in your own light and perspective. However, in the beginning stages I would recommend you to search for valuable information about the process and elements included in the process of spiritual development. Later on, when you feel more confident in your own knowledge and insight, feel free to let go of all traditional teachings and methods. Start walking and developing your own path and explain these universal principles in your own words. Knowledge is merely knowledge, wisdom is a perspective. But that perspective has to come to you and knowledge can help you to release your inner perspective; your wisdom. The Mind Field The Mind Field is the 'area' of the mind. It is the blueprint in which all mental activity goes on and in which all information is stored. All different thought-forms exist in there. This field is the container holding all of the mind's content; the different kinds of thought-forms. You can picture this field as a personal space within the universal space; an individual energy field within the universal energy field. Every thought is a local disturbance, a local fluctuation within the universal field. Though individual in nature, the mind field is universal in essence; meaning that all minds are eventually connected, but if we want to be enlightened we need to master our individual nature in order to realize our universal essence. There are latent and active thought-forms. Both exist in the mind field though the latent thought-forms are often beyond recognition. The latent is of a much subtler, inactive nature and that makes it hard to discover. The best way to get to know the latent is by observing the active, because the two have an inseparable correlation. As soon as the latent impressions in the mind are triggered and activated, they express themselves in the mind-field as thoughts; the active aspect. By analyzing, or: Witnessing the mind-field and the active thought-forms that present themselves in the mind-field at any time, you will slowly discover the latent thought-forms that form the the mind's structure. Every thought-form that arises will take it's place in the mind field for a certain period of time. As soon as the thought-form dissolves or lowers back into the latent impression that it originated from, it is no longer an active thought-form. That's why even though an individual may silence these active thought forms and experience superficial silence for the moment, it does not mean that he fully enlightened, liberated, because as soon as he is disturbed by a certain external event or internal thought (see: Sources of thought), the latent will still be triggered and express itself actively in the mind-field. So enlightenment is not simply the temporary inactivity of the active thought-forms; that is meditation, or temporary Mind Control. It is not until even the most latent thought-forms are roasted or dissolved that the individual soul is enlightened. This mind field is what we will be dealing with most of the time when we dedicate ourselves to the practice of Mind Control, yoga and meditation. Especially in the beginning will the active aspect of the mind field be your primary play-ground.
1. Structure & 2. Content The mind's content is the obvious expression that flows from the mind’s structure. The mind's structure is to the mind's content what the road-system is to our vehicles: It determines the flow of the traffic, or energy. What should we want to master here ideally… content or structure? The structure obviously, since we always want to get to the bottom of things. My philosophy has always been to dedicate myself to get to the highest source of everything, so all lower levels and aspects will be mastered automatically, rather than gaining control over specific aspects one by one. However, it is not just a one way direction that we are dealing with here. Yes the mind’s content comes immediately from the mind’s structure; however, it is the content that through rehearsal and conditioning shapes the structure. It’s a constant correlation. That’s why we need to learn how to recognize both elements. If we want to fully master our minds we will need to transcend the structure and content completely. Only then can we directly master the structure. We can control the content from within the mind and through that control shape the structure, but that is not the goal of Yoga. When the time is right and we are ready to transcend the mind completely, the structure will gradually, or in some cases immediately dissolve, resulting in complete enlightenment. The Mind's structure: So what exactly is the mind's structure? It is the blueprint for the content that occupies your mind field. It’s the road-system that tells the traffic what pathways to follow. Imagine a smooth sandy surface somewhere on a beach. The surface is completely wrinkleless, it’s all smooth and it represents the mind field. Water can flow over this surface freely to wherever it desires to go. The water is completely free in this stage, only going there where the sea wants it to... Now imagine the water becoming fixated and focused on flowing through one specific path. This path will now be printed into the previously smooth surface just as it would when you repeat a certain pattern with your finger in the sand. At first the surface of the beach was pure mind field, but now there is a blueprint; a structure. Water is no longer allowed to move freely, energy is formed into patterns and these patterns express to the outside world as character, among other expressions. The mind’s structure reaches deeper than merely character, but character is one of the most obvious expression that arises from the mind’s structure. In the end all thought-forms arise from this subconscious structure that now forms the basis of your mind. It is through this blueprint; through these specific channels that are unique for every individual (hence the character) that the energy which turns into thought-forms flows through. It is an absolute necessity to learn how to observe these thought-forms by witnessing the mind. Through practicing that exercise regularly and eventually constantly, you will gradually become more aware of the structure (also called Samskaras) that brings forth these thought-forms. You will get to know your mind and habitual patterns and be able to control them. Witnessing the mind is the most essential and immediate approach to raising your level of consciousness.
The mind's content can be defined as: That which is present in the mind field. That something is a thought-form. Content or thought-forms exist on different levels and in many different forms. Roughly these thought-forms are divisible in 2 - latent and active thought-forms. The most obvious example of the mind’s content is the personal level of ordinary thoughts coming from the ego. Those are the thoughts that are constantly on the surface of our minds disturbing our conscious awareness. They are the noisiest ones and are used to for example decide what to do or to grieve about something that has happened or to worry about some things that still have to happen. These are one of the most unconscious, automatic thought-forms. This stream of automatic thoughts of which we are not aware throughout the day but do make the decisions for you is what we call Unconsciousness. A similar thought-form that belongs to the mind's content is used in a more conscious way. It is the form of thought we use when we are for example making a test or when we are solving a problem. It is this form of thinking that is used by most philosophers. Some go beyond. Other examples of thought-forms are: Ideas, interpretations, concepts, archetypes, emotions (are attached to the body, but since the body is the result of the mind I include the energies we call emotions in the mind), etc. All these different forms of vibrations that we experience in different ways belong to the mind and are thought-forms. Then there are deeper levels of thought-forms that belong to the mind's content which are less noticeable. These deeper levels of thought-forms have a more immediate relationship with the mind’s structure. They are the subconscious impressions that flow directly from the structure. The mind's content can be latent or active. When thought-forms become active they further define themselves as a specific thought and manifest on the surface of your mind. In latent form, they wait to be triggered by some related thought-form which is often activated by external events. The latent thought-form known as anger is a good example of this triggering. Most of us have latent anger (among many other suppressed emotions) that are not expressed in any way by the individual until he or she ‘snaps’ because some event triggered the latent impression of anger. Thought-forms on the surface come and go on a continuous basis. The coming and going happens so quickly and chaotically that to most of us it seems to be a steady stream of thoughts that are in no possible way transcended or silenced, or even interrupted for that matter. This is a misassumption. Yoga, meditation and Mind Control are all about mastering these thought forms; at first only the surface, but eventually also the latent.
Thought/mental fluctuations have 3 sources:
1. Sense objects (the external world); 2. Past impressions (past-focused); 3. Desires (future-focused) 4. (Imagination) Source 1: Sense Objects The first of sources of thought is that of the sense objects: found in the the external world. These consist of: * visual input; * audio; * smell; * taste; * sense (touch)
The distraction created by our tendency to depend on the external world of the senses can be eliminated through the practice of Pratyahara, or: sense-withdrawal. You focus only on the inside and ignore every distraction coming from the external world. This way we can eliminate our first of the sources of thought. Preferably, when focussing inside, you focus on pure, thoughtless awareness itself only, but if that's too confusing or frustrating at this time, just focus on a specific thought or image you hold in your mind. Just be alert that you don't allow the senses to pull your attention outside of what you are focusing on inside (preferably: on consciousness itself). Eventually you can focus on your inner source and be meditating while for example dancing in a busy, noisy crowd; the external world then no longer makes any difference to your mental state if you don't allow it to. You have gained some serious control over the mind and the senses. Source 2: Past Impressions: The second distraction arises out of the impressions of past experiences: Our minds are conditioned to think on a constant basis. The thoughts that we are having now in this moment are reproductions and expressions coming from imprints of past experiences. These imprints, or impressions, together form the structure of the mind. So everything we see now is clouded by our past-impressions. Our daily random thoughts are clouding our vision to see reality and nature they way they are at this time, in this moment. So past impressions are one of the sources of thought that create random activity and disturbance in the mind. They filter everything automatically hence we experience a distorted, illusion-filled version of reality. Thoughts like these disturb us and our clarity greatly and they should be observed and purified. They come from the second source of thoughts: past-impressions. We should learn to stop living in the illusion of time and let go of the past. Only then can we experience every moment purely as it is and be amazed by the beauty of timelessness. Source 3: Desires (future) Desires are future-focused and form the third source of our thoughts. Desires are the cause for our suffering. Thoughts have different sources but only desires cause suffering. Whether the triggering thought comes from external objects, past experiences or future projections, it is because we desire to something else besides what we already have/are that we suffer. So desires have two expressions: 1: future-projections; 2: suffering. Once we dissolve our desire towards something else, or accept the things the way they are in any given moment, this source of thought falls away, and so does the accompanied suffering. Hence: we are liberated and free from desire. It is only because we cannot fully accept what is coming to us, that we suffer. Even when a past impression is triggered by some event, and causes us pain, it is not the past impression, but the desire to escape it that causes our suffering. If you eliminate these three sources, your mind will have no reason to produce random thoughts. You will only think when you consciously think. So by eliminating the illusion of time (past and future) and practicing pratyahara or meditation to eliminate the distraction and the grip that the external world has on your inner state, we free ourselves from the burden of the mind. Instead of being possessed, we regain control (Mind-Control) over our minds and become the master. As a fourth of the sources of thought we could state that Imagination is another source for thought, but if we eliminate the above mentioned three sources of thought, we have no reason to randomly imagine any longer.
The mind's process The mind's process normally involves 4 different processes:
1) It perceives 2) It discriminates 3) It personalizes 4) It projects
1) A certain stimulus is perceived by the senses as it enters the mind; i.e. a smell hitting the nose; a reflected ray of light that brings an image to our retina; a sound-wave that vibrates against our tympanic membrane; an object that hits our skin; or a taste touching our taste bud. 2) What happens now is that the stimulus becomes processed and continues into the second quarter of the mind which is the section of discrimination or intellect. Now the mind acknowledges the stimulus and recognizes it. Because it recognizes it, it automatically discriminates. This means that the mind labels the stimulus into what it knows. For example the smell of pancakes touches your nose, then it becomes processed into the intellect and then the intellect recognizes this stimulus, this smell. It remembers this stimulus from a previous experience, for example: it reminds you of the delicious pancakes your grandma used to bake you. Now the stimulus is no longer a neutral stimulus to your mind, but it becomes a labeled thought-form. Now your mind altered reality and clouded your vision from perceiving things just the way they are. Your mind no longer experiences the stimulant/smell as it is, but it experiences a labeled concept within the mind field. It is now a colored, or distorted thought-form. 3) Now the mind's process continues as the stimulus enters the third quarter of your mind: It judges the already discriminated stimulus. This is where the altered stimulus is added to the ego; sense of individual/personal identity. The mind now judges the stimulus as pleasant or unpleasant; as positive or negative. Because of that judgment the stimulus becomes a liked or a disliked impression in your mind. Every thought-form, every action, every memory within the mind is called an impression. This impression is now added to the ego; sense of self. To continue with the example of the smell of pancakes; your mind has now personalized the stimulus by judging: “Ah how delicious those pancakes of my grandmother were, I liked it, and now I should get some of those pancakes.” So now the stimulus is personalized and added to the ego. It is now added to your false sense of self. 4) The mind's process continues into the fourth quarter of the mind. The part of your mind that forms your ego has now decided that it should get those pancakes. The impression has turned into a desire: the desire to get a pancake. It is only until you obey your mind by actually undertaking Action to get that pancake that you will be able to have some inner peace again, or rather some false sense of inner peace. This little glimpse of peace won’t be for long, because selfish desires are continuously present; if not on the surface, it will be on the bottom. This is what the mind's process and its desires cause you: They disturb your concentration, your peace and tranquility like waves disturb the peaceful surface of a still lake. They force you to look for outside pleasures in order to experience a glimpse of satisfaction. If you would be truly free from selfish desires, you would always be at peace; you would always be Self-aware and content. It is our job to stop and control the mind's process so that we can stay unitied with pure consciousness. This is done through essential practices like mindfulness meditation and the more advanced approach of stopping this process: no-mind meditation. These meditations are most important if we want to realize the important distinction between the mind and consciousness. Unfortunately most of us do not possess the right knowledge nor are they conscious enough to be witnessing the mind's process. They live life unconscious of their own captivity. They are lead and lived by the mind and its processes and desires. The mind desires to express the completely altered stimulus by undertaking action through the body. This is the final part of the process, as now a “Re-action” to the external world is given by you (i.e. you move your body and use it to get and eat that pancake). Becoming aware of the mind's process by witnessing it when it is active is essential to discover the mind's structure.
Mind and Consciousness The mind and consciousness are two very different things. The entire purpose of yoga and meditation is to realize that most fundamental difference. This truth is difficult to understand when it becomes a concept in the mind. It is an experience one needs to have in order to understand how fundamentally independent consciousness exists without the mind. As Fokusan Gensan once said: "Knowledge, when compared to experience, is like a drop of water falling into the ocean." The good thing about proper knowledge though, is that it can bring you to the point of experience. Eventually there is only one truth and it is nowhere to be found within the mind. When looking at the mind and consciousness in relation to the teachings, you will see that pretty much every practice is aimed at the mind. The purpose of these teachings seem to be to control the mind; to shape it; to recondition it; to make it one-pointed in concentration; to make it more capable of doing certain things, etc. Are not all of the practices in all the scriptures and on all the web pages of this site as well as on those of thousands of other sites aimed at working with the mind? Are they not aimed at changing or transforming something within your personality/abilities/experience? Secretly, all practices have a much deeper purpose than what they refer to. The only truth is not found in any practice that involves the mind. Considering the fact that all practice is done with and by the mind, we can conclude that it is impossible to become truth in practice and mind. When looking at the distinction of the mind and consciousness in relation to people, we will have to conclude that hardly any of us are free. Most of us are completely fixed within the mind, meaning that our experience depends only on the experience of the mind. The one purpose behind every practice is to bring you to the point where you can completely transcend the mind and consciousness then becomes aware of itself. Authentic masters and teachings seem to talk to the mind when they say: "practice this, do that, don't do this, be like him etc." What they are actually doing goes beyond your mind's line of sight. In reality all authentic teachings are not talking to your mind, they are talking to you, to consciousness. You, are clouded by the mind, your experience seems to equal his. You are in a sleeping state. True masters realize this. They realize this and as they seem to speak to the mind, they are actually talking to you by saying: "Psst, You there. I will guide your mind through these stages of practice and purification. I will keep him busy doing all these things until you can take over control and awaken from your sleeping imprisonment. I will promise the mind the most beautiful experiences and abilities which are in reality beyond his comprehension, but he will want to practice purification of itself in order to reach that. What happens then is that the mind's prison walls will become more and more transparent and eventually, you can just walk through it and be free." The most important distinction to realize, is the distinction between consciousness and the mind; between yourself and everything else. We spoke of the true purpose of all practices, well this is it. Their purpose is to bring you to the point where you can clearly see yourself; independent of everything else (everything else equals the mind). You are the observer, you are consciousness, you are never the mind; you can only use the mind. Only the mind can change and transform; the true you is absolutely unchangeable. Read about practical mind control techniques on a separate page in the BRAIN-MIND submenu.
Please help this site stay FREE
|
