Lehal Library

Thought-Control Example A surface thought: "Right, I better get the cat a new flea collar..." "Right, I better get the cat a new fl..." Becomes: "Right, I better get the ca..." "Right, I better ge..." Getting better: "Right, I bet..." "Right, ?..." "R???..." Nearly got it: "???..." "...?..." — This is the pressure of a thought about to start Almost there: "......" — Lessening thought pressure "..." — Hardly any thought pressure Perfect!: "?" — No thought pressure at all = clear surface mind Thought-control and concentration exercises should be done daily for at least five minutes in total, and for longer if possible. This is best spread out over the day and made into several smaller exercises. (Waiting and traveling time can be put to good use.) Although this can be difficult and frustrating in the early stages, with a little regular practice the surface mind can be held clear with very little effort for extended periods of time. The Deeper Mind Once the surface mind gives in and the internal dialogue is silenced, you will experience a profound silence inside your mind that may feel a litde strange at first, a bit like sitting alone in the middle of a quickly emptying sports stadium after a big game and listening as it falls slowly into total silence as everyone leaves. You miss all the activity, and it suddenly feels strange and unnaturally quiet. This is because you are stilling surface thoughts that have been chattering away unnoticed in your mental background for your whole life. You have created a kind of forced, hollow feeling, a forced mental silence inside your mind. Holding this takes effort and concentration, which adds to the forced-silence kind of feeling. It will take some time for your deeper mind to get used to this mental silence and begin relaxing and expanding, so be patient. You will grow used to this and one day will learn to love it more than anything else. Once you have attained inner silence, you can think more profoundly and focus your mind completely on whatever you are doing. The criticism by religious groups of the practice of meditation and of clearing the mind stems, I believe, from people jumping to conclusions when they hear terms like emptiness, emptying the mind, inner silence, or entering the silence. Some religious people claim it is not safe to empty the mind, as tile devil or some evil entity may then try to enter and inhabit it. If, however, you take into account how difficult it is to empty die mind and hold it clear for any length of time, it becomes evident that this emptiness only comes through disciplined mental effort. You are blocking your own thoughts, and are thereby also blocking any other thoughts from entering your mind. In a way, meditators fill their minds with silent mental static and use this to suppress all thought. The clear mind, or empty mind, associated with meditation can more accurately be thought of as forced mental silence that has become easier through practice. I have found that the practice of holding the mind forcibly clear can be an effective countermeasure against intrusive energies and thoughts, regardless of their nature or origin. A spirit entity that wanted to invade or mentally interfere with someone would find it much easier to slide in among that person's internal mental dialogue, and hide among the meaningless chatter of an undisciplined mind. If that surface mind is held clear and silent through disciplined mental effort, there is no place left for spirits to hide. 86