(Stillness in the Storm Editor) The mind is often spoken of as the source of our emotional problems. If we could only “get out of the head and into the heart”—as some say—we might be better off. But I think the mind’s ability to be programmed by our actions, which includes free-will choices of a metaphysical nature, is very important to consider. For when we, the programmer, fail to gain control of the programs accumulated by the mind, we become victims of its disorganized condition, often a product of social programming from unacknowledged forces in society and culture.
The Birth of the Negative Ego (Egoism)
We spend most of our lives allowing our minds to run wild, filling them with distractions and subtle programming from media entertainments. And from this disempowered infantile state, we might blame the mind itself as the source of all our troubles. Some think that the ego is a demon or dark version of ourselves hidden within and that if we could only destroy it completely, we would be enlightened. But the ego also appears to be that localized point of identity, which allows the infinite higher-self to take form, molded by our choices and the mind’s awesome power to direct consciousness energy. Yet, if we never gain mastery of the mind it will become our greatest enemy, making us feel pain, limitation, and suffering at seemingly every turn.
The negative ego is born when we fail to nurture changes in identity that are unavoidable as one gains experience. When a part of the self seeks to stay rigid and fixed, when it rejects change and growth, then trappings of egocentric consciousness overwhelm the evolving soul. Furthermore, culture and society are filled with egocentric philosophies and belief systems that lead many to think identifying with the ego is not only required but essential to one’s survival. Those who allow life to change them for the better are often rejected by their fellows lost in the pits of egoism.
When we don’t know who we really are, the mind seeks to hold onto the past, creating misery and a co-dependent need for justification from others.
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Most of us suffer from some form of egoism because trauma creates an awareness of the self that acts in a protective fearful way. Whole portions of the population that have almost no self-knowledge; and therefore, are co-dependent on other people suffering from negative-ego to feel safe and secure. In short, the misery of egoism loves company—those who dare to know thyself are doomed to be abandoned by the throngs of empty souls who know nothing but false identity.
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The Mind is a Tool that Becomes a Weapon in the Wrong Hands
The mind is an incredible tool; and like all tools, if they are not used wisely, they become weapons of destruction.
The mind is creative and dynamic by nature, it is that thing that allows our consciousness to organize and integrate the past with the present, creating a venue to contemplate possible futures. In this sense, the ego described by many as evil or destructive is only a product of our lack of mind-mastery.
Reclaiming dominion over one’s consciousness is the solution that will end the hardships of a life suffered through unconsciousness. In doing so, one transforms the ego into a tool for expressing higher consciousness. But this state of spiritual maturity cannot come about through rejection of the mind in favor of emotions or what some call the heart. It was this separation of the mind from the heart that arguably caused the negative ego to flourish, and suffering to go unhealed. The mind and heart are polarizations of a dynamic system of unified consciousness that must become one again through our careful efforts.
Programming and the Organizing/Healing Power of the Conscious Mind
The conscious mind is where the present and the past merge, where what is unknown becomes known. It is here where our free will has the greatest power to reorganize the subconscious, known to us as habits and destructive instincts that were installed over a lifetime of poorly contemplated choices.
Every time we take an action that is not in alignment with a high and holistic ideal, we install a new program in the subconscious that will likely cause frustration later in life. But all programs can be re-written, just like all contracts can be renegotiated—only through the power of the conscious mind.
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Therefore, there are two primary ways to regain power over the mind and ego, first by always seeking to make choices that are in alignment with the higher self’s ideals—which requires using one’s imagination to explore what that ideal actually is. If we seek to be unconditionally loving, then we can imagine scenarios where we give that noble vision expression—reprogramming the subconscious. This process allows us to let go of our materialistic shallow value system that is normally a product of unconsciousness to make contact with spiritual values that are soul-healing and empowering by nature. It has been said that the spirit is a perfect, eternal and everywhere present reality, therefore an ideal that reflects spiritual values is beneficial for all beings over a long enough course. Hence, unselfish love and service of others are spiritual values that all beings tend to benefit from—unless their minds are distorted by the negative ego.
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Second, we can review the past to forgive and accept ourselves and others, making the unconscious conscious. This is essential so as to allow the conscious mind the space to reorganize programs hidden behind a veil of unconsciousness—for only light can dispel darkness. If we are not careful, what we fear and try to hide from will continue to control us behind a veil of unknowingness.
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Meditation and Mindfulness
The below article offers techniques for reclaiming sovereignty over one’s mind-space by using meditation practices. These techniques are holistic tools for entraining consciousness with structures that allow one to gain more control by becoming conscious of the unconscious aspects of our being—such as the body and the biological functions that we rarely pay attention to. By allowing our conscious awareness to flood the body and mind during meditation, free will can act with greater precision and holistic integration so as to restore alignment with the higher self—our holistic transcendent nature.
All seasons have their moments of action and stillness; as such, meditation provides a way for the overly performance-centric habits of modern life to be balanced. Without taking time to pause and reflect on our experiences, they settle into the subconscious mind as programs we have no control over. Meditation is a technique for allowing the organizing healing power of the conscious mind to take root in the tree of our beingness, sharpening our focus and enriching our experiences.
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The Soul Sickness of the Unconscious Self
What we fail to make conscious in life (those things we are unconscious of) control us as impulses, habits and what has been called negative self-talk.
Many in the modern world are unconscious of their spiritual nature (the higher self) and as such, have low self-esteem and lack confidence—a kind of pandemic soul sickness that leads to most of the hardships on Earth. This condition of spiritual unconsciousness makes us more easily controllable by culture and society that seek to suppress the higher self’s sovereign nature in favor of an ego that is co-dependent with a sick and diseased society. The symptoms of soul-sickness are boredom, uncontrollable negative emotions (bi-polar disorder), addictions to food, sex, drugs and thrill-seeking, and close-mindedness—to name a few.
Thus, by using techniques of self-mastery and mindfulness, the troubles of the negative ego and the selfish separate self can be dealt with and eventually the products of an immature consciousness (suffering and disempowerment) can be transcended. When one finally starts to gain control over their consciousness, the temptations of the negative ego and addictions of all kinds will be overcome, and life’s challenges are embraced as opportunities for soul growth instead of insurmountable obstacles.
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The Fruits of a Mastered Mind and Consciousness
When one’s mind has been properly tuned by the higher self’s ever-spiritualizing nature, life ceases to be experienced as endless victimization and becomes a joy of blissful self-discovery, filled with ever-increasing purpose and focus.
But in our world of people sick from disillusionment with life and materialistic vision, the pitfalls of slavery and victimization can be overcome through self-mastery. A mind that is mastered from within is governed by the spiritual self, which is implicitly sovereign and can easily discern fact from fiction. And once that inner state of holistic mastery has been achieved, we are no longer deceived by enslavers and those who want us to be pawns of destruction.
In short, the solution to all our personal and earthly problems starts from within.
When we seek to reclaim our sovereignty by mastering our own consciousness, we become an agent of truth, freedom, and justice for all, pouring out love and enlightenment with ever-increasing precision and accuracy. And the trail we blaze forward stands as a beacon of hope for all others who may not have even considered such a state of being was within their grasp.
On a world filled with people sick from the negative ego, sometimes called Wetiko, the path of self-mastery and sovereignty can be a lonely one. But eventually, the crucible of striving for internal peace produces an enlightened soul that is immune to the shallowness of separation identity (negative-ego). And in time, those bright lights find others on the path and The Great Work of uplifting our brothers and sisters out of the pits of darkness can begin.
Source – Fractal Enlightenment
by Susan L. Magine, October 28th 2016
If you could listen to the thoughts of others, what would you hear? My guess is that if you listened, even for a small while, to just about anyone, you would hear endless thoughts of worry, negativity and loads of self-criticism.
Why do I think this? Because this is what is going on, most of the time, in my own head. And also because I have noticed that whenever I talk to other people, usually one of the first things out of their mouths fall into one of these categories. None of us are strangers to doubt, fear, or pessimism.
When the mind is in a negative state it can launch an endless litany of insults and animosity at us, all in vicious defense of our supposed worthlessness. It’s the reason we often look in the mirror with an agenda, searching only to see what we do not like, while blotting out the rest.
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It may tell us that we are no good, that other people are better, that we will never be like those other people. It can say that we are doomed to fail, so we might as well not even begin. And on and on it goes, until the negativity grinds itself a deep trench within our minds, causing it to be the most traveled route for thought to take.
Negative self-talk is an epidemic, and one we need to heal. For if we can learn to be kind to ourselves, surely we will find it easier to be kind to each other.
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| Image added by SITS. |
- Feeling sorry for yourself
- Thoughts of unworthiness
- Complaining
- Criticism
- Expecting the worse
- Victim mentality
- Resentment
- Worry
- Blame
- Hopelessness
- Irritation
- Anger
- Fear
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How to Stop your Negative Self-talk
In the quest to quiet your negative thoughts, your first instinct might be to combat them with their positive counterparts. However, you’ll soon notice that your thoughts and words are too contrived, too earnest, and not at all sincere. You can’t force yourself into optimism. Attempting to do so will require far more stamina than most could endure. Besides, you can only fool yourself for so long.
You might also try to stop the thoughts altogether, and it may work – but only as long as you can keep your guard up. Fighting them will eventually turn into a cantankerous battle: you vs. yourself.
The problem quickly becomes obvious as the conundrum presents itself, for when you fight yourself you both win and lose, essentially getting nowhere. And, as the negative mind would say, you are still a loser.
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But you can’t give in to the negativity. The damage negative self-talk inflicts on your well-being may be hard to measure, but it’s not hard to spot. At the very least, it can stop you from reaching for your personal goals, and at worst it can cause you to spiral into a cycle of depression and possible self-hatred.
Yet as damaging as negative thoughts can be, all they really are is a bad behavior that has formed itself into a pattern … which is actually good news. Why? Because patterns can be broken, and new ones can be formed. It may take effort, it may take courage, but it can be done.
Change inevitably requires some degree of understanding. To swap your negative self-talk for a more supportive conversation, it’s important to differentiate between the mind’s logical and emotional dialogue.
The thoughts that are logical, such as “don’t jump off the cliff”, are there to protect you, so you must listen to those.
But the thoughts that are purely emotional, with no basis in fact, such as “you aren’t good enough”, are the ones that lead you astray. Acknowledge them, accept them, but don’t let them stop your progress, or scare you into inertia, claim your happiness.
Think of the negative self-talk as a crying baby; you probably don’t like to hear it, but at the same time you can accept it because you know it’s what babies do. The negative mind behaves the same way – it’s always going to be there, making noise when it wants to, and although you can’t stop it, what you can do is acknowledge it, appease it if need be, and then simply tune out of it and move on.
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Change Your Negative Self-talk
To help you groove some new channels into your mind for positivity to flow, it’s important to couple your mental efforts with some physical action. This will help train your mind from dual angles, both mentally and physically. Meditation can do this for you, as it is the best practice to bring tranquility to the mind.
The following meditation works on the heart center, opening your energies to the experience of the positive self, while bringing mental balance to the psyche. Practice this one daily, and watch your negative self-talk turn into a whisper.
Meditation to Stop the Negative Self-talk
Posture: Sit with an erect spine. Keep the first two fingers straight. Curl the ring finger and little finger into each palm. Bend the thumbs over top of them to lock them into place.
Bring the arms close so the elbows are by the sides, and the hands are by the shoulders with the two fingers of each hand pointing straight up.
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Bring the forearms and hands forward to an angle of 30 degrees from the vertical. Press the shoulders and elbows back firmly but comfortably. The palms face forward.
- Eyes and Mental Focus: Close the eyelids. Roll the eyes up gently and concentrate at the brow point, the Third Eye area at the top of the nose where the eyebrows would meet.
- Breath: Create a steady, slow, deep and complete breath.
- Mantra: Mentally pulse rhythmically from the brow point out to Infinity the sounds: Sa ta na ma
- (Sa is Infinity. Ta is Life. Na is Death. Ma is Rebirth/transformation. This describes the cycle of life. The entire mantra means, “I meditate on Truth, Truth that I am.”)
- Time: Try it for 40 days. During that time eat lightly and speak only truth directly from your heart. Practice for 11 to 62 minutes.
- To End: Inhale deeply and exhale three times. Then open and close the fists several times. Relax.
(Author is a KRI/RYT (Kundalini Research Institute, Registered Yoga Teacher). Meditation is a KRI teaching, as taught by Yogi Bhajan.)
Stillness in the Storm Editor’s note: Did you find a spelling error or grammar mistake? Send an email to [email protected], with the error and suggested correction, along with the headline and url. Do you think this article needs an update? Or do you just have some feedback? Send us an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading.
Source:
https://fractalenlightenment.com/38816/life/free-mind-negative-self-talk-meditation-positive-mind
I’m new to your site and have only read a few articles so far- I need more reading time!! I just wanted to express my sincere thanks for this amazing piece. Thank you for sharing your incredible mind so that others may benefit. The sense of peace that comes from truly understanding oneself is so wonderful, I wish this for everyone. Sorry to gush, it is quite lonely at times but I prefer this to the chaos of false attachments. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! It’s hard to know what effect our efforts have, as a writer I ‘hide’ behind the keyboard. It’s extremely encouraging to know my efforts to educate based on my own distilled wisdom is of benefit to others on their path.
Thanks again for sharing!
Justin