Lehal Library

16. Taming the Mind The surface mind is always active while you are awake. It can be likened to a huge message and reminder pad. Its function is to keep you aware of everything that is going on around you. It chatters away constantly, reminding you of everything, constantly stating and restating the obvious; playfully making witty comments about everything while making sure you know exactly what is happening in the world around you at all times. "Is that a car in my drive? Milk, I've got to get milk! Damn, my car's well overdue for a service! Why did she say that last night — what did she mean by that look she gave me?" Et cetera. This is what is called internal dialogue, or monkey mind, using the more Eastern term. We don't really notice these thoughts and images as they constantly flutter through our minds, and they do serve a useful purpose in our daily lives. These are, however, absolute nuisances when you are trying to clear, relax, and focus your mind. It's like having someone inside your head constantly chattering away at you while you are trying to do serious work. You cannot concentrate fully unless you have a little mental peace and quiet in which to do it. This is part of the reason why many people can concentrate better while listening to music. Music occupies the surface mind and slows internal dialogue, thus allowing deeper levels of thinking and concentration. Most teenagers can work and study perfectly well with loud music blaring. They cannot, however, do the same in total peace and quiet because of the incessant internal dialogue. While music can help silence internal dialogue, with regard to mental training it is best considered an artificial prop. I do not advise it be used unless absolutely necessary. To deeply relax the mind and attain the trance state, where you can work with a deeper and more powerful level of mind, it is necessary to silence the constant chattering of internal dialogue. Surface thoughts also create inner tensions that reflect into the physical body as physical tension, making projection more difficult. Thought-Control Exercises Breathing Thoughts Away: Center your attention on the process of breathing, using this to hold your mind totally clear. Feel each breath entering your body and filling your lungs, then feel it leaving your body. Follow the breathing process with your mind, but do not think about it. Feel it, be aware of it, let the feeling of breathing occupy your entire mind. This exercise is enough to occupy the surface mind and to keep its rambling thoughts at bay. If you need more than this, count your breaths. Count up to ten breaths, then start over again. Mentally counting is not a breach of thought-control discipline. When you count each number, drag out the mental word over the whole of each breath. For example, follow the IN breath carefully and then count (mentally) "Onneeeee" (one) for the entire OUT breath. Hold your mind clear during the next IN breath and count (mentally) "Twwooooo" (two) for the whole of the OUT breath. While you are holding your mind clear, surface thoughts will attempt to creep back into your mind. When this begins to happen (and it always will in the early stages) quickly and firmly push them away before they have a chance to take hold and complete their message. You will get progressively better at this with a little practice. You will soon be able to detect thought pressure alone, and thus stop thoughts before they have the chance to form into actual mental words inside your surface mind. When you get to the stage where you can sense the pressure of thoughts as they are about to start, you are really getting somewhere. You can then begin pushing thought pressures away before they can form into actual thoughts. Eventually, with a little practice, you will be able to hold your surface mind totally clear, like a blank slate. The pressure of thoughts wanting to start will stay with you for some time, even after you master them. This pressure will, however, progressively ease with regular practice. 85