Tag Archives: Mind

The Power of Belief

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Gods grace

Bruce Lipton wrote a book some years ago called The Biology of Belief. He describes how our beliefs influence our physiology, including gene expression. This came out of early research on epigenetics (gene expression). We can describe beliefs as mental structures. They’re a framework on which we hang our stories about the world. The mind likes to have explanations for whatever happens so it can feel comfortable and in control. But how well do these stories and beliefs serve us? We receive a massive amount of information through our senses. Our stories and beliefs become part of a pre-filter to … Continue Reading… →

Discrimination

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Choices

Discrimination is a curious word. It means the act of distinguishing or making fine distinctions; discernment. But we often use it today to mean treatment based on category rather than merit; for example racial discrimination. I view the latter as ego-driven judgment that separates self and other. This is not discernment. Rick Archer wrote an article on ethics & spiritual teachers as an introduction to his panel at the Science and Nonduality conference this fall. He highlights the importance of discrimination on the spiritual path: in our choice of teachers, in what we accept as truth, in how we live … Continue Reading… →

The Origin of the Senses, Part 1

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Part 1 This article started from a simple question on the blog but things have deepened since I last explored the topic. First, by senses, I mean our abilities to experience qualities in and around us. We have physical sense organs for sensing physical qualities like the visible spectrum. But our ability to sense and experience is not at all limited to those organs. We have more subtle mechanisms for subtler levels all the way down to and including consciousness itself. Sensing is built in to the nature of reality. The world is created to be experienced and we’re here … Continue Reading… →

Unity vs Duality

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Early on, silence and expression can seem opposed. For example, in a meditation practice, we may seek Yoga. Yoga Sutra 1 v2-3: Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind. Then the observer is established in their own nature. Seeking a silent mind, we may rail against the mind’s constant expression. And yet that railing is the mind wanting to control. Or as Yoga puts it, aversion that leads to suffering rather than liberation. In an effortless practice, we allow the mind to do its thing – partly because the practice causes the physiology to settle and … Continue Reading… →

How Many Brains?

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In some ways, the whole body can be seen as a “brain” in the sense that the brain is an interface with mind and consciousness. However, there are certain centers that are more focused as a nerve plexus. We could say they’re more connected. We usually think of the brain as being in the head between our ears but recent research has discovered other major centers of nerve concentration that have other specializations. The brain between the ears is composed of about 100 billion neurons. It behaves as the central processor, the place where most of our sensing is interfaced … Continue Reading… →

The Importance of Actual Yoga

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In Yoga, the key is settling the mind. Then the Self “behind” the noisy mind can shine through. Yoga Sutra 1 v2-3: Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind. Then the observer is established in their own nature. This state of quiet mind or yoga is known by many names like Samadhi, transcendence, or Turiya. Many techniques today try to force or control the mind to settle. But as this is not arising naturally, it is difficult to achieve. When it happens, a rare clear transcending may be seen as an awakening. But real Self Realization … Continue Reading… →

Our Drivers

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Becoming self-aware and learning to recognize where we have work to do can be a difficult process. But the difficulty is only in the complexity and the discomfort of seeing our shadows. It also requires a degree of letting go of control and protective stories. The complexity arises partly because we’re built in layers so there’s layers to what moves us. And partly because many dynamics are layered in themselves. For example, we have unresolved trauma from a nasty experience in our childhood. We didn’t have good skills for healing so we learned to suppress it instead. When experiences remind … Continue Reading… →

Awakening The Body

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As I wrote about back on Melting the Body, the process of purification and clarity moves from our becoming a good reflector of consciousness into the mind, senses, emotions, then physical body. Enlightenment is just the beginning. As that awakening becomes more embodied, the laws of nature that create the appearance of this physical form are also awakened. They then shift from having a fixed, rigid role to becoming more fluid. Apparently, Sri Aurobindo spoke of waking the bodies cells. I suspect he was referring to the same thing. While they still sustain this body, those devata (laws of nature) … Continue Reading… →

Listening to Someone Awake

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After someone awakens, they begin to notice the difference between speaking from the mind and speaking from deeper within. Sometimes we notice silence speaking through us, perhaps saying things we didn’t know personally. Of course, I’m not talking about channeling. I’m talking about our universal higher Self moving through us. I’ve written about the 4 levels of speech. We’ve all met people who just talk reactively and mindlessly. And many people speak from the mind. In that case, everything is about concepts and polarities of right and wrong, good and bad, and so forth. But if we can step back … Continue Reading… →

The Receptors

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The mind is powered mainly by the 3rd chakra at the solar plexus. And the mind field or mental body is a field that surrounds the entire body to some distance. Why then do we subjectively experience thoughts as being in the head? Consider where we have our receptors for thinking. We can describe the brain as a receptor or antenna for the mind. The brain is the physical interface for mental energy. Thus we recognize thinking as happening “in the head.” The movement of thoughts is not restricted to the brain though. Thoughts move through the “space” of the … Continue Reading… →

The Trinity of Self

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Atman or the Cosmic Self has a three-fold nature. It has a subject or observer aspect, the process of observation, and the object or observed aspect. I illustrated this here. As consciousness is aware of itself both globally and at every point, it can observe its own dynamics and experience this directly. “Locally” or personally, we experience this as the ego or I-sense, the intellect, and the mind. Samkhya describes how Buddhi (intellect) recognizes self as different from other, creating Ahamkara, the I-sense or ego. This arises in early childhood as a baby distinguishes itself from mother. Manas or mind … Continue Reading… →

The Irony of Seeking

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At some point on our life journey we tend to become seekers. The desire for more, experiences, exposure to some teaching; something triggers a shift. We transition from a life focused on our individuality to something bigger and deeper. Usually, a good part of the seeking process is framed as self-betterment or escape. In other words, we’re still very much personally oriented. The search is usually driven by aversion to pain or a grasping after more pleasure or both. As Yoga observes, both of these lead only to suffering. At the same time, the seeking activity helps keep us on … Continue Reading… →