A digest for conscious living
I somehow managed to inadvertently turn the sound on my alarm clock off so I overslept and did not complete my Practice this morning. Luckily I was able to make it up in the afternoon before dinner.
I think true freedom lies more than anything in the ability to choose what I focus my attention on. I heard someone say today that we all worship something- we worship whatever we put our attention on by creating it in the universe of our minds. The things we cultivate in our minds become our idols. If I am unable to choose what I think about, I am bound to allow my mind to control me, and as the old saying goes, “the mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master”.
If I do not learn to focus on the objects of virtue and truth, I give up whatever freedom has ever been available to me to the monkey mechanism that has raised humanity to the cusp of transcendence, but which, if left unchecked, will eventually warp and turn in on itself and leave me far worse than if I had not had it at all. In the world in which we live, a mind without guidance becomes a convoluted, self centered, virtual hell which is cruelly experienced in the midst of paradise.
It is not easy however to be able to chose what I focus my attention on. It is probably the most difficult task there is. It not only involves analyzing my thinking and reasoning process, it is also a process of studying my emotions, recognizing my behaviors, identifying my fears, and ultimately forsaking my ego-self as the default point of reference in my universe. This is not the easy solution. It is an arduous and rigorous path to follow, and it always leads in circles when pursued with the wrong motivations. I think in fact, true progress along this path is usually made when all other routes have been found to be dead ends and the traveler sees that there is in reality only one path that will lead to a new land.
Goodnight,
Kikta