A digest for conscious living
Last night I was invited to a dinner party where I had a few drinks. I had a bit of a headache this morning so I postponed my practice until the early afternoon. Not surprisingly, I found it much more difficult to focus and calm my mind, and my Sammadhi state was much less stable. At the risk of stating the obvious, it must be said that alcohol is a drug that must be consumed in very measured moderation, if at all, if one is to maintain a stable Awakened state.
I think there is a widespread misunderstanding about the power of thought. I think many people believe, as I do, that by being very vigilant about what they think, and striving to dwell on positive thoughts as much as possible, they will be able to change their life situation and state of mind accordingly. The problem however, is that thoughts arise from our mind much as hair grows on our bodies- it is a continuous and involuntary process. Even by withdrawing from society entirely, it is extremely difficult to choose what one thinks about enough of the time to effect true change on one’s circumstances or Dreamscape.
Although I recognize that as the agents through which we exact change on our environment thoughts are extremely powerful, I have come to realize that they are actually a secondary reaction to something deeper. As human beings, we are primarily emotional creatures. It may not always seem like it, but I believe that in fact most of our thoughts actually arise from, and orbit around the emotional state which we happen to be in. Further, I believe that mechanisms and processes taking place at the subconscious level govern our emotional state. For the most part these processes are beyond the scope of our awareness, making it very difficult to control our thoughts for a prolonged period. It is like shaving, we can do it every day, but the next day, the hair will grow right back the same as before.
Thoughts are abstracted reactions to feelings. It is our feelings that provide the primary energy from which our thoughts arise. If we observe the process closely enough we will realize that for the most part, we don’t become aware of our emotional state until we focus our attention on it and begin thinking about it. This creates the illusion that the thought gave rise to the feeling, when in fact it was the other way around- the emotional state was already there, we were simply not aware of it. This misperception can make finding the source or cause of our general state of mind quite tricky. The more we think about our feelings, the more attention we draw to them, which makes us to perceive them more clearly. This then produces more thoughts accordingly, reinforcing our state of mind in a self feeding loop. A paper cut hurts only as long as one thinks about it- if one is engaged in vigorous action concentrating on something else, one will hardly notice it.
It must be understood then, that if we want to have a mind clear enough to maintain the Awakened state, being mindful of what we think about is only part of the process. In fact, it is more important to cultivate a stable emotional state- once this is achieved, our thoughts will naturally grow from and reinforce this state.
Creating a stable emotional state has nothing to do with thinking or rationalizing. It has more to do with the emotional energy which is generated through the friction between our minds and our environment. Thus it is our actions which over the long run generate this energy and charge the emotional battery within our subconscious. This reservoir of energy has been charged with the emotinal energy which we have generated throughout our entire lives. It may well be that there is a great deal of negative energy that was collected along the way. It is very important therefore, to find a way to empty this energy in order to be able to refill ourselves with positive energy. Tomorrow I will discuss how meditation can help us achieve this and thereby provide us with the ground from which positive thoughts will arise of their own accord.
Goodnight,
Kikta