tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35381778358773981712024-03-13T05:26:30.506-04:00Enlightenment Through Self AwarenessA place for people interested in introspection, self awareness, mindfulness, meditation and training the mind to abide in a state that is free from the constant flow of meaningless chatter, mind theatrics, and discursive thought.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-15781436745300613012016-09-13T19:23:00.003-04:002016-09-13T19:23:58.563-04:00Accessing Higher States of Consciousness<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwp1ILzoGw8HYHGtCPL2iEFgU2GDudToqIJW5YHRJNECboDdYs0UsDRfmY7jA5RWb-8jmGtGQF6FMRIfrofPvSls8wOHorvFz7mQeZpnr58wyORCiPijBmwFZisf8LX7e-0kZ-EZod3cN/s1600/light500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwp1ILzoGw8HYHGtCPL2iEFgU2GDudToqIJW5YHRJNECboDdYs0UsDRfmY7jA5RWb-8jmGtGQF6FMRIfrofPvSls8wOHorvFz7mQeZpnr58wyORCiPijBmwFZisf8LX7e-0kZ-EZod3cN/s200/light500.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Accessing higher states of consciousness is often mistakenly believed to be something only mystics, sages, monks, gurus and shaman are capable of, but the truth is, we all are capable of accessing higher states of consciousness. All of us have had some experience with higher states at some point in our lives. Metaphorically speaking, we are all bouncing along like a wave in an ocean of consciousness, constantly in motion between various states, some higher, some lower than the previous ones, and sometimes just shifting sideways on even ground. Depression is a very low state of consciousness compared to joy. Gratitude is a much higher state than envy. Deep concentration, intense learning, or problem solving are much higher states of consciousness than wallowing in self pity, self doubt, or being lost in fantastical thinking and daydreaming. Some states are driven by emotions and others by mental or thought activity. Since thoughts and emotions react and interact with each other, both have easy influence over the lower states. The higher states tend to be more immune from internal or external influences than lower states. Higher states are governed by attention and concentration. The lower states are prone to distraction and wandering minds. They are frequently immersed in self destructive or self impeding behaviours, operating from outside of conscious awareness, by the sub-consciously driven Ego.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-24c73726-25d8-0e9a-61fd-f57dcc4cf3a1" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The states of consciousness that the mystics, sages, monks, gurus and shaman refer to are at the upper end of our consciousness spectrum. They are highly stable, free of non-essential thought and mental activity, abiding in pure, calm, sublime, tranquillity and equanimity. When the mind is no longer wandering off reliving past events or imaging future ones, it becomes fully immersed in the present moment, regardless of the pleasantness or unpleasantness that exists in that moment. This mind is free from the habit of passing judgements on everything, instead, simply observing from a place of detachment. These states are completely free from Ego, because Ego itself is nothing more than a collection of thoughts that a person has about their self, so if the words and pictures in the mind fall silent, so does the Ego. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As elusive as these higher states may sound, they are not as rare and difficult to access as they may seem, and odds are that you have already experienced glimpses of them before. If you have ever had a moment that 'took your breath away', such as seeing a falling star, or seeing some magnificent wonder of nature, you have experienced a state of higher consciousness. At that moment, you were not thinking about your grocery list, or the local gossip, or worrying about tomorrow, or feeling fear or anxiety, or any other lower state of being. You were fully engaged in the present moment, and at peace with that moment.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artist, musicians, and athletes access some of these higher states routinely. Artists can become deeply absorbed, almost entranced in their work. Intense focus on detail and perfection causes them to become so deeply connected with their artwork that nothing else exists at that moment. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Creativity is a higher state of consciousness, and creativity is a manifestation of inspiration. Merriam Webster defines inspiration as: "</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation; the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions".</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The origin of the word inspiration is 'in spirit' from the Latin word </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">inspīrāre</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which in turn is from </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">spīrāre</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which means "to breathe". It's not hard to see the connection between spirituality, breath meditation, and higher states of consciousness. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Musicians not only rely on creativity but must also have strong intense focus and concentration while engaged in their craft. If they allow their mind to wander off into a daydream, they can quickly lose concentration and drop their rhythm, or miss a note, and their music will be negatively impacted.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Athletes, who are always looking for a competitive edge, have come to recognise a phenomenon they call 'Being in the Zone'. Wordnik.com defines 'In the Zone' as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"a mental state of focused concentration on the performance of an activity, in which one dissociates oneself from distracting or irrelevant aspects of one's environment."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> What this translates to is, being fully immersed in the present moment without the distractions of a wandering mind. Meditation and Mindfulness have become routine practice for many athletes who want to learn to stay 'in the zone'.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Common to all of these higher states, the creativity of the artist, the intense concentration of the musician, the athlete's 'zone', and the states the mystics speak of, is that they are all rooted in the present moment, and operate outside of conventional or fantastical thought. The higher the state of consciousness, the more rooted in the present moment, the less influenced by the Ego, and the quieter and more peaceful the mind becomes.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of the lower states of consciousness share some common traits as well. They are Ego driven, disconnected from reality in varying degrees, and the mind is almost continually being engaged in endless loops of mental chatter and monkey mind theatrics. The lower the state, the greater the disconnect from reality, and the bigger the Ego. An example of this can be seen in thought disorders such as psychopathic or narcissistic behaviours, both of which are associated with 'big egos’ and a disconnect from reality, and both are clearly very low states of existence. The implications of learning how to gain control over our own minds and states of consciousness are quite profound. If a person could learn to manage their own thoughts and mental states, they could regain control over their own thought disorders and drastically improve the quality of their life.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Among the lowest of states that we can can encounter are those that hijack our consciousness and completely disconnect us from reality. Daydreams and fantasies are the playground of the Ego and can cause us to indulge in unrealistic expectations of life, setting us up for even lower states of suffering when reality does not live up to our expectations. When mystics speak of quieting the mind, it is daydreams and fantastical thinking they are referring to, not skillful uses of thought. For many people, a wandering mind has become the default state that consciousness falls into when the mind is not engaged in intentional purposeful activity. Putting the brakes on fantastical thinking leads to an end to our self created mental suffering and allows the mind to migrate toward resting silently whenever it is not being intentionally put to skillful use.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bridging between higher and lower realms of consciousness are states that still involve using imagination and conventional thought, (words and pictures in the mind) but are rooted in the present moment, and used for skillful purposes such as problem solving, learning, concentration, deep listening, and includes any states that are free from Ego.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What mystics teach are various methods of focusing our concentration and attention inward with the intention of understanding our own mind for the purpose of mental self healing. From this simple activity we can learn to recognise and consciously shift away from self harming, self defeating, and self limiting states, and gravitate toward higher ones. They teach methods of honing concentration and awareness through practices like Samadhi meditation, training the mind to stabilise and not constantly wander off aimlessly. Concentration and attention put the mind into learning mode. Every student has heard a teacher exclaim "Pay attention or you will never learn anything!"</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Practices like Vipassana meditation consciously engage the mind in the activity of simply paying attention to itself. This is done for the purpose of learning more about ourselves, and uncovering the real causes of our lower states of consciousness and self created suffering, and then developing mental skills that allow us to consciously choose to let go of and disengage from any mental activity that is not serving in the best interests of our selves or of others.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Through simple non-judgemental observation of our mental activity we start to notice how thoughts and emotions influence each other, and ultimately influence our actions, reactions and interactions with the world around us. We are literally seeing our own Kharma. When we objectively observe the mind without judgement from a higher state of consciousness like learning, our mind starts to connect the dots, and we start to recognise harmful thought patterns, and we learn to take responsibility for harmful thoughts by not indulging in them. By letting go of them we are not giving them any of our energy. When we indulge in thought patterns, we are feeding them with our energy, and they will keep coming back for more in repetitive loops that can quickly spiral out of control. When we stop feeding them, they wither and die off. We are signalling the mind that these thoughts are not important enough to waste energy on, which starts to break down the feedback loops and the lower states of the repetitive monkey mind. As these repetitive patterns of Egoic thought start to break down, quiet space in the mind starts to open up, and the mind shifts naturally into higher states.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Advancements in the fields of psychology and neuroplasticity continue to validate the millenniums old teachings that the mind is not fixed and rigid, but rather, that it can be moulded and reshaped. It can be re-trained to avoid harmful states of consciousness, states that many people seem to almost wallow in, states that are really nothing more than mental bad habits that have become addictive. Like any bad habit, breaking it starts with bringing awareness to the problem, recognising when it is occurring, and letting go, re-directing consciousness to some other activity that is rooted in presence, such as mindfulness or watching the breath. Repetition, vigilance and diligence are key to breaking the bad habits of the mind. Developing introspective self awareness carries the power to bring about the type of profound inner changes that lead to true trans-formative enlightenment and an end to our self harming and self created suffering.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxLosbWmRi9Y_QLVxxK62bOuD7UB6PzN88JZr0sI7DNxmkj_n_BmJjCyEhSRQ_eqirM6GyZfMjjSsMO5U0pfqZKYyyHXYNKbNFLlunQ6_KmR7xEo7he04JVDDz95BJjEjzgd8dhnzh5T1/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxLosbWmRi9Y_QLVxxK62bOuD7UB6PzN88JZr0sI7DNxmkj_n_BmJjCyEhSRQ_eqirM6GyZfMjjSsMO5U0pfqZKYyyHXYNKbNFLlunQ6_KmR7xEo7he04JVDDz95BJjEjzgd8dhnzh5T1/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-20303760074234568612016-07-06T18:00:00.000-04:002016-07-06T18:23:48.628-04:00Daydreams Influence Kharma<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVbu5-kxojvvgT_LS-sU202dqi1XKfSVNEcWysPGYjeioAp1wDq98hBBjAaWQUNL3VURiozIU6U44LSvz8h3ypIVY3oVw7tzONDt7LaoMXbsTqYMz_vWktGJ0Bxxt8cymUpz8AChS0N1J/s1600/daydreaming-quotes-graphics-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVbu5-kxojvvgT_LS-sU202dqi1XKfSVNEcWysPGYjeioAp1wDq98hBBjAaWQUNL3VURiozIU6U44LSvz8h3ypIVY3oVw7tzONDt7LaoMXbsTqYMz_vWktGJ0Bxxt8cymUpz8AChS0N1J/s320/daydreaming-quotes-graphics-8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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When we allow our minds to wander off in thought, we become disconnected from the present moment and from the reality that exists around us. We enter a sort of pseudo-reality dream-like world within the mind, as we reflect upon past events, or try to imagine our future. The simple fact is that most of our mental activity distracts us from reality and since it is not reality, can be classified as fantasy, or daydreams.<br />
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Daydreams and fantasies imprint upon our memory in the same way as any external event. Some will produce stronger imprints than others. Some will be forgotten, Others will feed and shape our Ego. Just as it is with events in reality, those that stir or invoke emotions leave the strongest imprints on our memory.<br />
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Because we live in a society that practically worships big Egos, we are never really taught the importance of inner reflection and self awareness. Without self awareness, the Ego is free to operate without any checks and balances and this free reign of our unobserved Ego often leads to clashes with other Egos.<br />
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In our fantasy versions of reality, where we are script writer, director, and star of the play, we have complete control and dominion over everything, and usually create versions of realities that inflate and reinforce our Ego. Events that occur in physical reality seldom bend completely to our wishes, and when our Ego does not experience reality the way it thinks things should be, we suffer.<br />
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When we anticipate future events, the mind likes to play out various scenarios searching for what seems to be most favourable to our own desires and will. In this fantastic reality, we can always say just the right thing to fit the circumstances, and of course, we can always achieve the results we want. We exist in a universe of infinite possibilities, and physical reality does not bend so gracefully to our will or our wishes as we would like. No matter how many scenarios we run through in our minds, we can not possibly imagine every outcome in a sea of infinite possibilities.<br />
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When we encounter an anticipated situation in physical reality, the Ego (which has unrealistic expectations of control, since it has become accustomed to having control of it's inner fantastical reality), will sub-consciously try to manipulate the situation into playing out as close as possible to our preferred fantastical reality. Since other people's Egos are doing the same thing, the likelihood of our Ego clashing with other Egos increases. Our responses, actions, reactions and interactions with physical reality are influenced by a combination of our life conditioning (memories of similar prior experiences), our views of who or what we believe we are or should be (Ego), and unconscious programming from our fantastic reality. We are indeed creating our own kharma.<br />
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The way to break free of this cycle of Kharma is to learn to observe the inner workings of the mind by paying attention to what is going on inside at all times. Attention is the mind's learning mode. As every grade school teachers says, "Pay attention or you will not learn anything". As Carl Jung said, <i>“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”</i><br />
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Driven by fear of the unknown, fear of making a mistake, fear of not being in control, fear of saying or doing the 'wrong' thing, or any of many different fears, the Ego will most assuredly defend itself with flawed logic to justify all of its daydreaming as being necessary to be prepared for whatever may arise. Ego wants to say or do just the right thing at just the right time. After all, this is precisely what the Ego can do in fantastic reality. We convince ourselves that with enough preparation we can somehow control physical reality like we do with fantastical reality. More suffering.<br />
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So where is the flaw in this reasoning? In fantasy, thoughts seem to flow effortlessly into words during mental conversations where we can always say or do just the right thing. If the circumstances of physical reality played out exactly the same way in physical reality as they do in fantastic reality, this might actually be useful. However, in physical reality, there are far too many other variables for our limited minds to be able to consider or compensate for. Driven by a fear of saying or doing something less than ideal to our Egoic expectations, we become reluctant to just allow that same easy natural flow of thoughts to manifest outside of Ego's control. The simple truth is that if we can just let go of our preconceived ideas and conditioning, and our need to be in control, opting instead to trust in pure present moment awareness, then our thoughts, speech, actions and re-actions can arise from a place of purity and truth. Some aspects of conditioning (inherited kharma) may still be there, and may not be what the Ego desires, but our actions, re-actions, and interactions with reality will certainly be much more appropriate, genuine and authentic when we let go of our need to control reality and trust in the natural flow of life instead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKdODJlco8rSM7rShhqMabElVqZ2UqJhoyOuiRqZlbzk27TgQ7gCKKqLIuKoRDewUfZ3CjkZ_CtP0EC6lJ4LGex3IlPBLZc94FxNezuYiR_C5m1qGrjPBCPAnEQ4JmwSlqvPWsG-4f8GT/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKdODJlco8rSM7rShhqMabElVqZ2UqJhoyOuiRqZlbzk27TgQ7gCKKqLIuKoRDewUfZ3CjkZ_CtP0EC6lJ4LGex3IlPBLZc94FxNezuYiR_C5m1qGrjPBCPAnEQ4JmwSlqvPWsG-4f8GT/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-43467110180178850652016-05-13T23:02:00.000-04:002016-05-13T23:02:47.247-04:00Does fantasizing cause suffering?<br />
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Daydreaming and Fantasizing cause us to suffer!</span></h2>
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Any time our mind is left to wander unattended, without being engaged in an activity that is rooted in the present moment, (such as learning, problem solving, planning, creating, etc.), it will tend to revert to a default state of daydreams and fantasies, a place to keep itself occupied and amused. It seems almost as though the mind itself is afraid that if it ever stopped, it would never start up again. Instead, it drifts off into repetitive, endless mental projections of past and future. This state is comprised of nothing more than fantasies, daydreams, mind theatrics, inner dialogues, re-inventing the past, or imagining the future. It is not reality, it is our imagination running away unsupervised. Imagination is a very powerful tool when used skilfully for creativity, but can be very harmful to our psyche when allowed to run away unsupervised.<br />
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This default state of mind is often called 'monkey mind' because of the way it is constantly jumping from one fantasy to the next. These fantasies have little or nothing to do with reality as it occurs in the present moment. Daydreaming can actually hijack your consciousness and cause you to miss out on reality. When your consciousness is hijacked (fully submerged in a daydream, or 'lost in thought'), you actually become disengaged from the present moment. It is a common experience to be driving along in a car and suddenly realize that you don't know if you stopped at that last stop sign or not. Or to sit down to eat a meal, and suddenly find it's gone, and barely remember having taken a bite. Or having a conversation with someone, and your mind wanders off, until suddenly you realize with embarrassment, that you have no idea what the other person just said. You were not present for these events, you were lost in Fantasyland. Not only can this be embarrassing, it can endanger your life and the lives of others. Truth be told, the root cause of most car accidents is a wandering mind, not paying attention, not being rooted in the reality of the present moment.<br />
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The majority of our mental suffering, stress, worry, fear, anxiety, depression, anger, etc., etc., can be traced back to too much indulgence in daydreams, fantastical thinking and mind theatrics. In Fantasyland, we are the script writer, director, producer, and star performer of our own self choreographed version of the world as we would like it to be. Because we are writing the script, the outcome is always exactly as we wish. We can be the hero, the villain, the victim, or whatever else we may choose. We have absolute control over how things unfold and what the outcomes will be. In our fantasies, everything is completely within our control, even if we imagine it to be out of control. Its our choice as to how the fantasy unfolds. We have absolute power and dominion over everything, and it is precisely this level of control that causes our mental suffering and dissatisfaction with the real world, where power and control over the unfolding of events is much more elusive. We have created an internal conflict between the way things are and the way we want them to be.<br />
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We also have a rational mind that operates by making constant comparisons. We compare self with others, others with others, things with others, things with things, discriminating between safe and unsafe, right and wrong, good and bad, etc.. Everything we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, sense, or interpret is being compared to our memories, knowledge, and past experiences. Comparing is how we determine what is safe to eat, what is potentially harmful to us, and what brings us pleasure or respite. It is part of learning, and is basic to how we navigate our way in the world. Whether we realize it or not, we are also comparing reality, and life as it unfolds, to our fantasy versions of the way we think life should be. In reality, we do not have the same level of control as we do in our fantasy worlds. We find that in reality, we actually have very little control over anything beyond our choices and how we interact with the world. This lack of control causes us to seek further refuge in our fantasies and turn away from reality. When we don't get what we want or what we feel we deserve in life, when life doesn't play out as smoothly as it does in our fantasies, we suffer. We become depressed, anxious, nervous, fearful, stressed. We all have our own unique combination of mental pain we inflict upon ourselves. Even when we do get what we want, we only end up wanting more of the same, more money, a bigger house, a faster car. We get what we want and yet, we still suffer, because even getting what we want does not bring us any lasting happiness, peace or tranquillity.<br />
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Because our thoughts are linked to our emotions, mental suffering can lead to some very real physical problems as well. Emotions are physical and chemical responses to events that are experienced in the mind, either in reality or in Fantasyland. Our minds do not discriminate between fantasy and reality. We experience very real emotions in response to our mind theatrics. This can be easily proven to yourself. Remembering the loss of a loved one, even years later can still invoke grief, but remembering good times spent with that loved one can still invoke joy. Emotions are experienced physically in the body as a result of chemicals and hormones that are released by the brain into the body. Different emotions have their own chemical cocktails. If we experience fear, real or imagined, our bodies release adrenaline, if we are nervous, anxious, worried, or stressed, cortisol is released. These chemicals are supposed to help our body physically deal with critical and dangerous events. The fight or flight response is an adrenaline boost to give extra energy to muscle tissue to either fight, or escape as quickly as possible. When these chemicals are released into the body, and there is no corresponding physical response, (such as fighting off a threat or running away from danger), these chemicals are not burned off. Instead they accumulate in the body with negative health effects like weight gain, high blood pressure, increased risk of cardio-vascular problems, and many other health problems as well.<br />
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Daydreaming is nothing but a bad habit, and like any bad habit, the key to breaking it is to bring awareness to the problem. Not just awareness on an intellectual level, because this will not solve the problem any more than reading a book about flying a plane can make you a pilot without any practical experience. The bad habit of allowing the mind to wander off has to be broken at an experiential level, by paying direct attention to what is going on inside, seeing how our thoughts influence our actions, recognizing the consequences of our actions, then deliberately choosing to disengage from thought patterns that are not serving in our best interest. A good starting point is simply paying attention to the activity within your mind, by actually 'listening' and hearing the 'voice in your head'. With determination and resolve, practice catching yourself whenever the mind wanders, and redirecting your attention to a present moment task. Try focusing on the breathe, placing your full attention into one of the five senses, such as deep listening, or focusing intently on a body part or movement, or any mindfulness task that can hold the attention for a little while. If this is done with full attention, thoughts will subside momentarily in anticipation of what might happen next.<br />
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With consistent repetitious practice, catching the mind when it wanders, and constantly pulling it back to the present, the mind will gradually experience increased concentration and longer attention spans, and grow to become more peaceful, tranquil, and quiet. Eventually this new peaceful state of the mind being at rest will become the new default state that the mind falls back into when it is no longer actively engaged in skillful legitimate tasks.<br />
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Paying attention is the first and most important step in learning anything, which is why teachers always tell students 'Pay attention or you won't learn anything'. This simple act of self awareness with full attention allows the mind to 'do the math' and 'connect the dots', becoming directly aware of how our thoughts affect our emotions, which in turn affect our actions, reactions, and inter-actions with our external environment, and also to see the impact this has on the world around us. In other words, we are learning to see our own karma. We see first hand how our outer world is a direct reflection of our inner world. Direct observation leads to understanding and learning in a way intellectual knowledge can not provide us. With practice we learn how to uncover thought patterns that are harmful to ourselves and others, and to disengage from them by simply 'letting go', and refusing to allow our consciousness to be hijacked. We see repetitious patterns and recurring themes to our thought patterns, which operate like feedback loops. Those we indulge in grow stronger, and those we learn to let go of, wither and die. It is this direct observation of our karmic creation that allows space for choice to open up, choice to stop indulging in thought patterns that are harmful to ourself or others. The sanest thing a person can do is turn their attention inward and observe their own insanities with the intention of purifying and freeing their own mind.<br />
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<i>"Mental excretion is represented by imagination, that is, a continuous production of waste images, the by-product of past perceptions, which flow through and out of the brain in a meaningless and unbroken stream. In fact, dreaming goes on night and day, without a break." -- Rodney Collin (20th c. Fourth Way spiritual teacher) The Theory of Celestial Harmony</i><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-68701479113625421982015-09-27T16:05:00.001-04:002017-05-25T17:19:00.405-04:00Deep Introspection, the True Path to Enlightenment<br />
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The true path to enlightenment is a journey of deep self awareness, being the watcher of one’s own thoughts. When watched closely and consciously, over time one comes to understand that the Ego has two primary purposes, first is self preservation or survival, and second is the pursuit of happiness. Survival takes priority over happiness. It is extremely difficult to be happy when you feel threatened. Ego tries to provide self protection by trying to predict your future, so you can avoid what you don’t want and pursue what you do. This is accomplished by relying on past experiences and conditioning as a starting point to create and generate all of the discursive mind theatrics, daydreaming, and inner dialogues that constantly play out in our heads. We are deluding ourselves with the belief that we can somehow control what has yet to unfold in our lives. We imagine multiples of scenarios, sometimes to the point of obsession, generating a version of our world either as the way we want it to be, or the way we don’t want it to be, and completely biased by the way we interpret our environment. Despite our best efforts at forecasting the future with our fantasy versions of reality, we discover that life never quite plays out exactly the way our Ego expects it will. How can it, when we live in an environment of infinite possibilities? </div>
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The only basis our Ego has for making its predictions, is memories of our past experiences. These memories have been filtered and distorted by our perceptions, judgements, preferences, and reactions to the various life events we felt were worth remembering. The thought patterns we generate are also strongly influenced by our system of beliefs. Most of us go through life defending but rarely <a href="http://trainthemind.blogspot.ca/search?q=questioning+belief">Questioning Beliefs</a>. How often do we ever examine our beliefs to see where they came from and why we choose to accept them, especially when there is no basis to support them? Blind faith is faith that has absolutely no basis in reality, yet many of us chose to cling to our beliefs anyway. We hold sometimes hidden fears or aversions to a reality that might be different than the one we prefer to believe in. This is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a>.</div>
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When the hopes, desires, or beliefs of the Ego are out of sync with reality, we experience internal disharmony and inner conflict, consciously and/or subconsciously, and this leads to mental suffering. When things don’t turn out the way we think they should, we allow ourselves to wallow in whatever unique blend of self imposed mental suffering we have chosen for ourselves; anger, depression, greed, self hate, anxiety, fear, regret, just to name a few. </div>
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The Ego’s excessive, non-stop thought processes have tipped the body/mind/soul trinity out of balance. Our body must rest when it is tired or it will damage itself. The spirit already naturally abides in a state of contentment. Usually we are unaware of it this peaceful state because it is masked from our view by the constant chattering of a mind that never seems to rest unless we are sleeping. </div>
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If the Ego is supposed to be protecting us, then why is it causing us to suffer? Despite all of its self preservation instincts, where the Ego runs amok, paradoxically, is in looking out for its own best interests, both survival and happiness combined or by running away from happiness and pursuing safety first. </div>
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Self preservation with the best possible outcome, and with all of our favourite preferences being met, in a perfect world ‘according to Me and the way I want it to be’ seems perfectly logical to the mind. Otherwise it would not imagine it that way. If Ego is going to create and control a reality, even if it is only a fantasy, then why not create the best possible outcome, one that is in Ego’s best interest, as Ego chooses to see it. But when we don’t get what we want, we suffer.</div>
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Since we live in a dualistic world of opposites, good/bad right/wrong happy/sad yin/yang, and you can’t experience one without the other, it can also occur that the Ego chooses to flee from happiness, in search of safety first from some perceived threat. A person holding a negative view of the world, or of the way they feel they have been treated within it, may find themselves experiencing depression, fears, or anxiety. Either of these two extremes can spiral out of control, or as in bipolar, bounce back and forth.</div>
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Since our emotions respond to fantasy and imagined realities with the same physical responses and the same hormonal and chemical releases from the brain that real events trigger, such as Cortisol (the stress hormone), or Adrenaline (the fight or flight hormone), our mental suffering can actually cause physical harm to the body in the long run. The mind that is trying to protect us is actually doing us harm. If this sounds like a form of insanity, its because it is, but it goes unnoticed because so many of us experience it, that we accept it as normal until it becomes too problematic to endure. Any type of self inflicted suffering can not possibly be considered to be sane. And any thought based disorder can be overcome by paying attention to what is going on inside. </div>
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When the mind is quiet and at rest, it can heal and regenerate its energy instead of constantly expending energy with its incessant inner chatter. Quieting the mind helps to restore the body/mind/soul back into harmony with each other. Quieting the mind allows spirit to reveal its peaceful, contented nature. However, as any meditator can tell you, trying to force the mind to stop thinking is like shoving a large bully, you may knock him off kilter for a bit, but he will come right back at you. So how then does one learn to quiet the mind and put an end to self harming thoughts? By developing an <a href="http://trainthemind.blogspot.ca/2012/05/awareness-of-thought.html">Awareness of Thoughts</a>, through deep introspection, by becoming the watcher,the observer of thoughts. </div>
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The default state of mind for most people is discursive thought, the so called monkey mind that is constantly jumping from one thought to the next, always wandering off and hijacking our consciousness. We can become so deeply lost in daydreaming that we may not even remember if we stopped at the last stop sign or not. We were not actually consciously present in our own bodies as we drove through the intersection. </div>
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The deep introspective self awareness process is about learning to regain control of our attention through mindfulness and meditation practice, and then turning that attention inward to watch the flow of thoughts and emotions, as well as the results those thoughts and emotions have on our interactions with others and with life itself. In other words, we are observing our own <a href="http://trainthemind.blogspot.ca/2012/02/kharmic-creation.html">Kharmic Creation</a>. </div>
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The self awareness process is one of learning what the mind is doing to itself simply by paying attention. Attention is the state of consciousness the mind must be in to learn. Every school child knows that if they want to learn something, they have to pay attention and observe what they are being shown. Simply inquiring ‘I wonder what my next thought will be’, then looking closely for the answer, is a simple way of developing this skill. </div>
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Bringing the discursive wandering monkey mind under control requires developing two essential skills from within meditation, and combining those skills with a mindfulness practice outside of formal sitting meditation.</div>
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The first essential skill is to learn to steady the mind by developing strong concentration skills and increased awareness. This can be accomplished by simply paying attention to what is going on inside, with the intention of catching the mind whenever it wanders off, and continuously pulling it back to an object of meditation, such as the breath. With diligent practice we can retrain the mind not to wander off in discursive thought and mind theatrics. Over time the mind learns to become steady and controllable. It is not difficult to see how beneficial to everyday life it would be to build and develop a mind that stays focussed without constantly wandering off.</div>
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The second essential skill to develop is to take those increased awareness and concentration skills and turn them inwards, to observe the flow and patterns and content of thoughts and emotions, as well as the cause and effects thoughts have on yourself and others. In other words, learning to observe your own Karma. The goal is to 'Know Thyself' thoroughly and intimately, but to do so in a completely objective, non-judgemental way. Simply allow the thoughts to happen without allowing the mind to become engaged and lost in them, like what happens when we daydream. Practice being the observer of thoughts rather than becoming lost in them. Listen to the inner dialogue and observe mind theatrics by being aware of and paying attention to them.</div>
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Observing the flow of internal events, thoughts, emotions, feelings, and physical sensations, allows the mind to see and learn what it is doing to itself. Totally objective and non-judgemental observation is extremely important, because judgements can prejudice and influence the learning mode by pre-supposing outcomes based on our past experiences and conditioning. </div>
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Simple observation is sufficient for the mind to learn what it is doing to itself some contemplative reflection, such as <a href="http://trainthemind.blogspot.ca/2012/08/developing-self-awareness-bug-in-jar.html">The Bug in the Jar Method</a> of capturing and examining, then releasing a thought, may help in seeing some of our self inflicted suffering quicker.</div>
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These essential skills develop symbiotically, each helping the other to grow and strengthen. Increased concentration helps the mind to remain on the task of self observation. As self awareness develops, the mind starts to connect the dots between the thought patterns, and the effect our thoughts have on our inner states and emotions, as well as our interactions with others and the world around us. We will soon discover that we have the choice and ability to stop indulging and blindly, subconsciously, following in thought patterns that are not serving in our best interests. When we stop indulging in them, we stop feeding them. When we stop feeding them, they die off. They are no longer consuming our energy. We are sending a message to the brain that says they are not important enough to deserve our full undivided attention. This process eventually brings about a reduction of mental activities and discursive thoughts, which in turn makes it easier to maintain concentration and awareness. </div>
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As this codependency develops, the practice begins to sustain itself. If we begin to slip back into old patterns of thought or behaviour, because the practice of watching and being aware of our inner world has become a habit, the Karmic result of those patterns becomes so obvious that any re-emergence of uncomfortable inner disharmony and turmoil will quickly steer us back on course.</div>
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The key to developing these skills is sustained attention (concentration) and awareness. Attention is simply the act of close observation. Awareness is a silent knowing. Knowing when you are thinking, knowing what you are thinking, what emotions you are experiencing, and what is going on within your five senses. </div>
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This practice will eventually bring about a calming effect on the mind, allowing quiet space between thoughts to open up. When you observe this silence between thoughts, allow your attention and awareness to shift toward sustaining the silence. This is not done through any forceful means, but by simply allowing the mind to rest and abide comfortably in that state, holding the intention that when the mind drifts, to keep pulling it back, in the same way as pulling back to the breath in <a href="http://trainthemind.blogspot.ca/2012/04/breath-meditation-one-brick-at-time.html">Breath Meditation</a>. Allow this silence to become your meditation object. From this silence, be on the watch for the earliest beginnings of any mind movements. Observed from this vantage point, the beginning of a thought can be easily dropped, returning to silence. Missing the beginning of a thought can allow the discursive processes to hijack consciousness again. As this practice develops, the duration of the silent periods will increase and eventually begin to appear spontaneously.</div>
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These periods of quiet mind need to be transitioned into everyday life, otherwise all of this work will have served little purpose. This is where mindfulness practice kicks in. Going about your daily activities of life, use the skills learned in meditation to maintain concentration and awareness, and to keep the mind focused on the five senses, as well as any mind activity. When walking, pay attention to the physical sensations of the muscle movements; when eating, pay attention to the taste buds; notice smells, sights, and sounds as they occur around you. Ground yourself in the present moment. When you find yourself without any place to put your attention and the mind wants to begin to wander, place it on your breath, just like in the breath meditation practice. When holding a conversation, give full attention to listening instead of trying to think of a response. If it does start to wander, maintain awareness and observe the content.</div>
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Keep training the mind in this way until it becomes second nature, just like the breath itself. There is a direct correlation between the amount of time and effort put into this, and the amount of results and benefits you experience. Poor effort equals poor results, great effort gives great results, 100% effort yields 100% results. Therefore, the goal is to train the mind to maintain awareness of itself 100% of the time. A mind that can abide in silence is a mind that is contented, at peace, free, and therefore a truly open mind. When the mind is quiet, it is free of all insanities and therefore is possessing perfect sanity. To strive for anything less than perfect sanity can only arise from a place of insanity.</div>
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Freeing the mind in this way will not prevent unfortunate events from occurring. Conditioned responses to those events may also still occur, especially if one has never learned of any other way of responding to the event. What does change, with enough practice, is a sort of disconnect from those responses. An event may still trigger anger for example, but from a position of observing, the identification with the response is lost. It no longer feels like ‘Me’ that is doing the responding. Without this conscious disconnect, the mind becomes absorbed into the anger, and in doing so can stimulate further releases of brain chemicals. Since there is no distinguishing between the real event and the mind’s reaction to it, this negative state of consciousness can spiral out of control, deepening the anger into rage. Disconnected observation, over time reduces the intensity and frequency of similar reactions to similar events. Eventually, the practitioner reaches a point of being able to see the event, feel the chemical release associated with the response, take control of the mind by diverting its focal point to something neutral, such as the breath, and watching the chemicals quickly dissipate and dissolve.</div>
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Understanding all the Ego’s inner workings and nature from an intellectual level is not sufficient to bring about any real inner change. It must be observed and experienced first hand by practising and developing these skills. As all great teachers have said, ‘You must do the work yourself’. You are the only one who can experience what goes on inside your own head, therefore, you are the only one who can do anything to change it. Watch what goes on inside, see through all of your self created illusions and delusions, and make some space for the peaceful contented nature of spirit to blossom from within.</div>
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“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” -The Buddha</div>
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Michael L. Fournier</div>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-42380092909243955582015-01-18T12:16:00.000-05:002015-01-18T12:16:55.095-05:00Hallmarks of a Successful Mindflness Meditation Practice<div>
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From Zero to Enlightenment in ??? Days</h2>
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Human nature dictates that when we enter any sort of practice or discipline, we feel the need to gauge our results, to know how well we are doing, or even if we are practising properly. Traditional wisdom has been that trying to keep track, to compare, to figure out ones position in relation to the goal we seek, whether full enlightenment, or simply just a calmer, more peaceful mind, is nothing but a distraction and hindrance to the practice. For others however, not knowing what to expect or how to even know if they are making any progress can be a deterrent. </div>
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Throughout most of the last few thousand years that meditation has been practised, it would have been very difficult to prove or disprove much of the benefits or progress that a practitioner was making simply because it is a highly subjective and mostly inward experience that can not easily be viewed or measured externally. However, this does not mean that progress is not capable of being measured. In fact, science and medicine are both studying and proving that the physical and mental benefits that result from prolonged mindfulness practice are not only real and measurable through brain scan technology, but also are extremely beneficial to one's happiness, health, and well being.</div>
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First time meditators frequently find the experience unnerving since this is often the first time they have had to sit quietly in a way that allows them to fully notice just how busy their mind is, and to sit with it and try to become comfortable with it. With the realization that they don't seem to have the ability to quiet their own mind at will, they may feel as though their mind is uncontrollable. The sudden realization of not being in control of ones own mind can be extremely uncomfortable and may even scare some people away from meditation.</div>
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For those who are brave enough to weather the storm of thoughts that must be faced in all of the early meditation sessions, the first hallmark quickly becomes self evident, the realization that the free flow of discursive thought is of such volume and intensity as to have become an impediment to ones own well being.</div>
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For the practice of mindfulness and self awareness to develop at a pace with which one can observe real progress within themselves, there are two essential skills that need to be developed. The first is to learn to steady the mind, to develop strong concentration skills through increased awareness, by simply paying attention to what is going on inside. With diligent practice, we can retrain the mind not to keep wandering off in discursive thought and mind theatrics by learning to notice when it does and to keep pulling the mind back onto task. With continued practice, the mind learns to become steady and controllable. It is not difficult to see how beneficial to everyday life it would be to build and develop such a skill.</div>
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The second essential skill to develop is to learn to take those increased awareness and concentration skills and turn them inwards, to learn to observe the flow and patterns and content of thoughts and emotions as well as the causality and effects of those thoughts, or in other words, to observe our own Karma. The goal is to 'Know Thyself' thoroughly and intimately, but to do so in a completely objective, non-judgemental way. Simply allow the thoughts to happen without allowing the mind to become engulfed and lost in them like happens when we daydream. </div>
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Sustained attention is the mind's learning mode, we learn by paying attention. Paying diligent attention to the flow of internal events, thoughts emotions, and physical sensations, allows the mind to learn what it is doing by becoming aware of itself. Objective and non-judgemental observation of ones thoughts is key, because judgements prejudice the learning mode by pre-supposing outcomes based on our past experiences.</div>
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Both of these essential skills develop symbiotically, each helping the other to develop. Increased concentration allows the mind to remain on the task of self observation, and as self awareness develops, and the mind starts to connect the dots between the thought patterns, and see the effect those thoughts have on our inner states and on our interactions with others, it will naturally stop indulging in thought patterns that are not serving in our or others best interests. This results in a reduction of mental activities and discursive thoughts, which in turn makes it easier to maintain concentration and awareness. In other words, the practice begins to sustain itself. Even if one does begin to slip back into old patterns of thought or behaviour, because of the practice of watching and being aware of the inner world, the Karma of those patterns becomes so recognizable that any re-emergence of uncomfortable inner disharmony and turmoil will bring the practitioner back on course, and in this way the practice becomes self correcting.<br />
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The key to developing both of these skills is sustained awareness and attention. Awareness is a silent knowing, knowing that you are thinking, knowing what you are thinking, knowing what emotions you are experiencing, and knowing what is going on in your five senses. This skill is developed simply by paying attention and being aware of everything that is going on inside at all times. </div>
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Formal meditation is the training ground for learning these skills, and everyday life is where the training is put to use. As the ability to be aware of ones inner self develops and increases during meditation, it then becomes essential to transition these skills to everyday life, otherwise all of the training will have served no real purpose.</div>
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Increased concentration, awareness and attention allows the inward reflecting mind to stay on the task of self awareness, and self observing. As a result, this increased self awareness allows one to recognize and to stop indulging in thought patterns and behaviours that are not serving in our own best interests. This process of self observation allows the thought patterns that generate our self created disharmonies, regrets of the past and worries and fears of the future. to become obvious and thus easier to simply let go of.<br />
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The process of repeatedly noticing thought patterns and behaviours that do not serve our best interest, and dropping the habit of indulging in them causes them to gradually become less frequent. These thought patterns require our indulgence in order to exist. If we indulge them, we are in essence conditioning the mind to consider them as important and therefore they will persist. When we form the habit of letting them go over and over again, we are retraining the mind to understand that they are not important, and eventually will stop arising.<br />
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With ongoing persistence, the mind will find itself ever increasingly abiding in a silent, peaceful, quiescent state. This state is the true state of being fully present. Even the slightest mental activity of noting or judging ones surroundings or outer world can only occur after an event since the mind takes time to form thoughts. Therefore, any form of reflection serves to take one out of the present moment. This does not mean that skilful reflection should not be engaged in. Rather, any skilful reflection must occur with complete mindfulness and not allowed to spin off into discursive mind theatrics.<br />
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As this process of being fully present, through silent observation of internal and external events develops, it becomes obvious to the practitioner that this mind state is one of true freedom, free from any self created disharmony. This in turn allows one to realize that the feedback loops of thought that are generated are not really an essential part of our existence.<br />
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To the beginning practitioner, this may cause some confusion, since it is easy to think that we can not exist without thoughts. We are not loosing or inhibiting any ability to reason, plan, learn or problem solve. We are simply learning to stop allowing conditioned thought patterns to colour our judgements and reasoning, and to stop engaging in mind theatrics and the mental role playing of the Ego that seems to spontaneously spin off from legitimate uses of the mind.<br />
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A mind that can abide in silence is a mind that is at peace, content, free and therefore a truly open mind.<br />
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So how long does this process take? That depends on the practitioner, and on how conditioned the practitioners mind is, and how much effort, dedication and diligence the practitioner is willing to put into their practice.<br />
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Although there are stories of individuals reaching enlightened states in relatively short periods of time, this is more of an exception to the rule than anything else. Expecting the mind to flip spontaneously into an enlightened state is a lot like expecting to win the lottery the first time you buy a ticket. Realistically, the benefits of the practice are developed over months, years, and often over a lifetime. Quite simply, it is a function of the effort that is put into it. Poor effort yields poor results, great effort reveals great results, 100% effort produces 100% results. You get out of it what you put into it.<br />
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You have to do the work!<br />
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-63860327314248552482014-09-28T15:07:00.000-04:002016-03-06T15:34:05.723-05:00Stopping Thought<br />
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Learning to stop thoughts in their tracks can be a very useful tool to have in your arsenal of mindfulness/self awareness techniques. Keep in mind however, that gaining the ability to stop and even hold thoughts at bay for some amount of time is not a complete solution to the long term goals of ending discursive and unnecessary thought processes. In the early stages of this journey, the discursive, monkey mind Ego is strong, so when you push it or try to force it, it will push back.<i> T</i>hat is to say, that you can likely expect a flurry of activity to follow. </div>
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However, using thought stopping techniques combined with being actively engaged in objectively, and non-judgmentally, paying attention to the thought processes, thought content, mind theatrics, emotional states, etc. by bringing full attention and awareness to them, in the present moment, as they occur, not by reflecting on them afterwards, will prove to be very effective. As one continues the practice of objective non-judgmental thought observation, patterns begin to reveal themselves, along with the consequences that follow, as well as any physical sensations that may appear, such as from the brain releasing fight or flight chemicals into the body. These patterns, when left to spiral out of control, are the various thought based disorders we all seem to inflict upon ourselves to varying degrees, such as stress, anxiety, fears and phobias, depression, anger, or any of the other thought based disorders. Through this continued observation of these patterns and thought loops, those that are no longer serving in ones best interest begin to become very evident.</div>
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It is in combination with the recognition of these thought patterns that are no longer serving in either our or societies best interests, that thought stopping techniques are most useful. Halting a thought in its tracks that you have just recognized or identified as part of a self destructive behavior can prevent the situation from escalating any further. It can stop one from saying or doing the wrong thing or doing something harmful. With sufficient practice, it can stop a fit of rage in it's tracks or halt addictive behaviours.</div>
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The simplest way of temporarily suspending thought is through taking control of your awareness and using it to control where you place your full attention. This is not as hard as it seems, there are many easy ways to do this. Simply place your full attention and full awareness into one of the five senses. Pick an object in your immediate vicinity, or an imaginary spot on the floor or wall, preferably low to minimize other visual distractions, and stare at it as intently as possible, as though you were expecting something to jump out at you and you don't want to miss it. Place your full attention and awareness into your hearing, without judging or trying to identify or name the sounds, just listening for perhaps the faintest possible sound, or trying to single out just one sound out of the many. Any of the senses will work, the faint odours that surround us that we usually ignore, the physical sensations of sitting, standing, walking, movement, etc. Focusing complete attention on the complexities of the breath is another way, what does it feel like as the air passes through the nostrils, fills the lungs, as the abdomen rises, and as the process reverses to the out breath. This is one of the practical applications of practicing breath based meditation. </div>
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Any time your full awareness and attention are captivated completely, thought halts naturally. This pause in thought can now be used to regroup, and consciously choose not to indulge in or follow that pattern any further. As the mindfulness/self awareness practice advances, and as the stability of sustained concentration increases, it becomes easier to use the mind activity itself as an object of awareness. </div>
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For those engaged in the full path to Enlightenment, (Nirvanna, Buddhahood, Christ Consciousness or any of the other names this misunderstood mental state is referred to as) or more simply the complete freedom from self harming discursive thought patterns, this state can be induced through the development of long term sustainable concentration trained to remain focused on the continuous movements and activity of the mind until all un-neccesary, unwanted, harmful mental activity and illusion has been seen through and by consciously choosing to no longer indulge in them. Just like un-used muscles, these patterns atrophy and start to die off eventually no longer presenting themselves.</div>
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For the brave, practicing sustained no thought states for prolonged periods of time, as long as you realize that there may be a burst of thoughts later, also has it's advantages. This helps to build sustainable concentration, which is another tool that has to be sharpened. There is nothing wrong with allowing the thought flow to burst forward afterwards. First, this whole process is about learning to regain control of one's own mind, rather than letting it run wild, so this allows some degree of control by choosing to allow the space for the discursive free flow that may follow. Besides, these free flows occur less and less frequently over time as one continues to break down and stop indulging in thought patterns that no longer serve a higher purpose. As well, it provides a somewhat controlled jumping off point, controlled in that you are now expecting thought flow, and from which you can return to objectively observing your thoughts.</div>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-87663336174284601552014-06-07T16:32:00.000-04:002014-06-07T16:32:02.439-04:00An Overview of the Mindfulness Path
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One of the things that make
this practice seem so difficult is that it feels a lot like a box
full of puzzle pieces thrown at us, because of the large number of
teaching methods, traditions and interpretations. We are left to try
and solve the puzzle when we haven't a clue as to what the picture
looks like. To make matters worse, it is often steeped in mystery,
the mysteries of the spiritual world. This comes about quite
naturally because it is all but impossible to describe experiences
that occur outside of thought using conventional language and
thoughts. It's like trying to describe the smell of a flower to
someone without a nose.
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Fortunately, with advances
in science and psychology, a very practical approach to the practice
begins to emerge. The practical benefits of a meditative mindfulness
practice can be scientifically proven and measured, which in turn
allows for a greater interest in learning and sharing and
understanding of which techniques are most productive. It basically
boils down to retraining the neural pathways we build in our brains.
Those that fire together, wire together. Our monkey mind thought
patterns have wired together as a result of the habit of allowing our
minds to wander. The Buddhist path is literally about breaking the
habit of allowing the mind to wander off, by learning to pay
attention to it and recognize the disharmony an unsupervised mind
left running wild can cause.</div>
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As the Buddha predicted,
anyone who truly wants to, can free their mind from all stress and
suffering, and science is enabling us to better understand and
validate methods to do so. So the talk tonight is an overview of the
process from as practical of a viewpoint as I can. The more we study,
learn and understand how the process works, the more we can help each
other to free their minds. We need to understand what we are doing,
why we are doing it, and how we go about it.</div>
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So to start off I would like
to define just what it is that we are trying to accomplish, what the
ultimate goal is, and to demonstrate some of the techniques that can
be used.
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We often hear of the
practice as being about getting rid of Ego. To get rid of something,
we must first clearly understand what it is that we are trying to get
rid of. So lets define Ego from a practical standpoint.
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Ego is simply a collection
of thoughts, judgements and perceptions about ourselves, and our
environment that we have chosen to accept and cling to. Because we
never question the validity of our own thoughts, they have acquired
the habit of running free, un-checked, un-supervised and
un-neccessary. We allow those thoughts to define our sense of self,
who we think we are, who we want to be, and how we remember ourselves
as having been in the past. It is not who we really are.
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Who we really are is that
part of us that knows and is aware of our own existence in the
present moment. Present moment experiences are like that awestruck
moment when the mind quiets briefly to watch a beautiful sunset.
Thoughts spoil such moments, don't they? Thoughts and judgements
keeps us from truly experiencing the present moment by keeping us
engaged in mind theatrics and judgements. Isn't it obvious that our
mind created fantasy worlds are not real?</div>
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We don't need our Ego
consciousness thoughts to tell us right from wrong, to to help
someone in need, we can do so on instinct, we know how to do that.
The reality is that far more often we allow our thoughts to prevent
us from helping someone in need, we are afraid to get involved, or we
don't like the way the person looks.
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Most of our physical
movements and actions are guided from outside of conscious thought,
but when we are absorbed in thought, we fail to notice this. We don't
have our Ego dictating to the foot a detailed set of instructions on
how to walk. We KNOW how to do this. We learned how to do this by
paying attention to what we were taught.</div>
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Every single wrong doing any
of us commits, whether as an individual, or as a group, including
countries committing genocide or war (which is really the same
thing), always begins with a single thought in someones head.
Everything that stops us from being who we want to be, from being the
best person we can be, begins with a thought. Every fear, worry,
anxiety, regret,or mental stress we place upon ourselves, always
begins with a thought that we have entertained in our head.
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These thoughts are formed
from the perceptions we have of the world around us and the
experiences we have, from how we think, perceive and believe that the
world is treating us. We allow our thoughts to create division
between us and the world. We view life in a “Me against the world”
way, as we struggle to fit in, to learn what we are taught, to work
hard and to pay our bills.</div>
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The Ego mind speaks to us in
words and pictures, inner dialogues, in fantasies, daydreams, always
with “me” as the central character, and carries us off into all
sorts of apparently fascinating places that mind seem to wander to.
The monkey mind neurons have become so strong that we easily become
hopelessly lost in our thoughts. We become so lost that we miss out
on most of what is going on around us in the present moment. It is
only when we are NOT lost in thought that we can truly experience the
present moment.</div>
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The present moment is not
something as elusive as it may seem to be. The present moment is
characterized by the mind being so completely absorbed in reality
that thought subsides. When this occurs it is usually accompanied by
pleasant feelings. We have all experienced being fully in the present
at one time or another, such as watching a shooting star in the night
sky, or an overwhelmingly peaceful moment in nature, perhaps staring
at a waterfall. It can even happen in tragic moments like in the
events of 911. Such an event is so shocking that it stops the mind as
we try to make sense of everything we are seeing and hearing. These
events have captured your attention and awareness.</div>
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Egoic thoughts, monkey mind,
are where attention wanders to when you do not have control of it.
This is just a bad habit, and all bad habits can be broken. This
entire practice is about learning how to regain control of your
attention and to free your self from the ever wandering Ego, by
learning to observe and understand how your own uniquely programmed
mind works.
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The ultimate goal of getting
rid of the Ego means retraining the mind, out of its habitual
practice of wandering off into inner dialogues and fantasy worlds. It
means learning how to recognize and curb thoughts that are not
serving you in your best interest, by no longer indulging in them.
When you stop indulging in them, they begin to occur less frequently.
Just as neurons that fire together wire together, the ones you ignore
and don't indulge in, atrophy, they wither and die. This is
characterized by a mind that abides in silent awareness rather than
being lost in thought. In the present moment. The ultimate goal is to
completely break the habit of allowing the mind to wander off
unsupervised.</div>
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This does not in any way
inhibit your ability to think constructively, or creatively, it does
not inhibit the ability to reason, problem solve, learn, or
understand. It does not give you a new personality. It is simply
learning how to shut off the free flowing repetitious monkey mind. In
freeing the mind this way, awareness grows of the senses and the
world around you. It is as though you begin to merge with reality
instead of the fantasies and mind theatrics.
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Because everyone's journey
through life is so unique, the teachings can get confusing for some.
Every person alive has undergone a completely unique set of
experiences, and a completely unique set of personal judgements about
those experiences. Every Ego is unique. This in turn means everyone's
solution to solving the Ego problem is also unique. This is why
objectively, observing thought is so important. You are the only
person capable of figuring out what is going on in your head because
you are the only person capable of seeing it.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To learn and understand the
mind, it has to be put into learning mode....paying attention
mode........and learning how to maintain and sustain that attention
through concentration, and without judging. Judging only creates new
neural pathways by making use of the ancient survival mechanism that
the Ego developed from.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So in terms of the
teachings, one size does not fit all. It is important therefore to
always monitor your progress, by paying attention to your reactions
to changing situations around you in daily life, especially the
unexpected or unwanted ones, and observe what works and what doesn't.
Use what is useful and discard what is not.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Ego is the basis of our
entire world view, but it is created from incomplete, biased and
usually flawed information. Our judgements are tainted by our
beliefs, which by their very nature have little or no basis in truth.
They lack any substantial proof, but we choose to accept them as
truth. None of our beliefs should <i><b>ever</b></i> be beyond
questioning. Blindly accepting a belief can only lead to inner
disharmony especially if it is ever proven wrong.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Beliefs are a symptom of a
closed mind. Only an open mind can be free.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our 5 senses can not
possibly perceive every bit of information available in the moments
we form our judgements from. Especially considering that the mind is
far more likely to be lost in thought anyway, since that seems to be
where it usually is, and thereby misses out on even more of the
information that was available to us because we weren't paying
attention.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our judgements are tainted
by other peoples opinions and ideas. They are tainted by our
judgements of similar experiences. And there is always much more
going on than we can possibly be aware of. As a result, our
judgements are often severely flawed. Yet we still want to be able to
trust our own thoughts, and rarely ever examine how trustworthy they
really are. It is only through paying attention to our thoughts
objectively that we can start to understand them. This means we have
to learn how to separate ourselves from our thoughts. Objective
observation. Observing them as though they were objects separate from
us, which they are! Otherwise, how could you be aware of them.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is a difficult concept
to explain, the best way is with an analogy. Being absorbed or lost
in thought is like watching a movie or TV show that has you so
interested, so captivated, that you completely forget that you are
sitting in your chair watching it. You forget that you are in your
living room. You loose yourself in the drama and become completely
absorbed in the show. It is almost as though you become part of the
movie or show. This is similar to the state our thoughts take us to
when we become lost in them. Learning to observe your thoughts is
like remembering that you are still in your body, and in your living
room, watching TV objectively, you are separate from the show, and no
longer mentally absorbed into it. When you are no longer mentally
absorbed into thought, you fall back into the position of being an
objective observer. You become aware of your thoughts by actively
placing your attention on them rather than passively being absorbed
into them.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Ego developed as a self
preservation and survival technique, and is most assuredly
responsible for our very existence today. It formed as an ability to
judge our surroundings and activities, and decide if they were safe
or not, is it a snake or a stick? They look similar, but one might
bite. Our judgements, then combine with our perceptions of our 5
senses, and a memory signature of the chemicals that washed through
our body, such as adrenaline, and store this into a very quick
reacting part of our memory. In this way, when we recognize danger,
the same chemical wash is released causing us to experience the fight
or flight response.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In today's world, the sort
of things that cause us stress worry, anxiety fear or whatever
personal blend of mental suffering you choose to impose upon your
self, neither fight nor flight is usually a practical response. You
make a mistake at work or knock over Grandma's antique vase. You
can't fight it, you can't flee, so instead you are afraid or worried
or anxious, and since you did not engage in a fight or run away in
terror, your body has no means of burning off these chemicals. This
is the physical manifestation of stress and this takes a physical
toll on the health of the body.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: transparent;">Just
to be clear then, this practice is about eradicating the Ego, the
fantasy version of the sense of 'I'. In other words, putting and end
to the discursive free flow of thoughts that sit at the root of all
mental disharmony. This is what is meant by the Pali term Niroda, or
cessation. And to repeat again, it does not in any way inhibit your
ability to think constructively, or creatively, it does not inhibit
the ability to reason, problem solve, plan, learn or understand.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The practical path is
twofold, first to develop concentration by learning to sustain
awareness and attention, and to use that concentration to observe and
understand how our mind works, by turning that sustained attention
and awareness inwards, in learning mode, without judgements,
observing thoughts as they occur, without allowing ourselves to get
drawn into the inner drama, learning to regain control of the mind,
and to keep it from wandering off into useless trivial inner mind
theatrics. Concentration then can be defined as the ability to
maintain attention through sustained awareness. We are learning how
to be aware of where our mind is, and if it wanders, pull it back by
controlling where you place your attention.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For most of us, the habit of
allowing our attention to wander into mind theatrics began in our
most formative years, our early school years. How many times did the
teachers have to repeat the phrase 'pay attention'. Attention is the
minds learning mode, and if we didn't feel like learning, we allowed
our mind to wander off into our imagination instead. You can not
learn anything unless you are paying attention to it, and that
includes the mind itself. When you are paying attention to something,
you are learning. If you want to understand your mind, you have to
pay attention to it. When you place all of your attention onto one of
your 5 senses, or perhaps switching from one to the other, giving
them your full attention, you are in learning mode. You are learning
what it feels like to experience your environment.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now lets look at what
awareness is. Awareness is that part of you that knows without the
need for thoughts to run through your head to validate it. You know
you are in this room, because you are aware of your surroundings, and
you can know that without the mind having to hold an inner dialogue
with you about it.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A simple easy practice that
can develop the ability to sustain the attention is by focusing your
attention directly and intently onto one of the 5 senses and
sustaining it by means of awareness, by knowing when your attention
is there, and holding it there as long as possible, and pulling it
back whenever you recognize that it has wandered. When the mind
wanders, pull it back to awareness. You will have to do it over and
over and over again, as patiently as you can, until the mind becomes
accustomed to staying where you put it.
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thought is always suspended whenever
you place all of your awareness and attention totally, and completely
on any of the senses. Pick an object in the room, or a spot on the
wall, or on the floor and stare at it very intently, as though you
were expecting something to happen at any moment and you don't want
to miss it, and you will notice thoughts subside momentarily. Give it
a try.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That moment of silent mind was free
from Ego and completely in the present moment.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If you listen very intently to sounds
around you, perhaps picking out one dominant sound, or perhaps trying
to pick out the faintest sound you can hear, and thought will again
subside. Give that a try as well.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This also applies to
physical sensations, which is one of the reasons breath meditation
and walking meditation work so well, but only so long as sustained
concentrated attention and awareness is held there. When you are
eating, know that you are eating, when you are sitting, know that you
are sitting.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Other physical sensations
such as pain or an itch can also be used as a meditation object to
help quiet the mind. The same applies to odours and tastes. When you
place all of your attention and awareness into a sensation so
intently that the mind quiets, you often become aware of some of the
more subtle aspects of the experience that you would have otherwise
missed. Like eating pizza and noticing the subtle hints of the
different spices, or picking out the individual flavours of the
toppings. You become aware of the more subtle levels of the
experience that would otherwise be missed or ignored.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You might try staring
intently at a candle flame. Anything that helps you develop and
strengthen the ability to sustain concentration and awareness.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The second part of the
practice is to learn how to turn that awareness and concentration
inward. To observe all of the minds movements, thoughts, emotions,
reactions, feelings, sensations. Again, it is important that this is
done in a completely non-judgemental way. You do not want to start
building new thought patterns, and creating new karma.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Remember, concentration and
awareness place the mind into learning mode. All the mind has to do
is pay attention and observe without judging. Judgements are flawed
and will taint the learning process. With sustained practice, the
mind starts to connect the dots. It experiences with pure attention
what a silent peaceful mind feels like, and it also experiences what
the thinking mind feels like, and begins to recognize and learn from
the repetitious thought patterns and the emotions that accompany
them, and compares this with the quiet peaceful states of
concentrated awareness.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As the mind begins to
discover and uncover the negative effects of an Ego that runs wild,
wisdom begins to develop. Wisdom manifests itself as the ability to
discern useful thought patterns from harmful thought patterns. And as
wisdom begins to emerge, you gradually stop indulging in your impulse
reactions to your thoughts, you stop entertaining thought patterns
that are no longer serving in either your or someone else's best
interests. You start recognizing what your thought patterns are doing
to you, you see clearly how your thoughts are the sparks that ignite
the fires of mental stress, and you become aware of your reactions to
your thoughts, and your reactions to life, and the impact that your
actions and reactions have on you and the world around you, and the
impact this has. In other words you start to see your own karma in
action.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is one thing however,
that has not changed throughout the entire history of spiritual
teachings and practice. And that is the one simple fact that it makes
no difference how many books you read or how many talks you listen
to, none of it matters, unless you actually do the work yourself.
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Formal sitting meditation
then, can be thought of as the classroom. It is where you sit and
figure out <i><b>how</b></i> to develop concentration, practice
sustaining quiet minded awareness, teach yourself how to observe
thought objectively, and practice diligently observing thought
objectively until no thought passes unobserved. Formal meditation is
really just removing yourself from as many worldly distractions as
possible so you can spend some time alone, just you and your mind,
exploring your inner world.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But in order to gain any
benefit from these skills, they have to be developed into a new
habit, the habit of paying attention and always being aware of where
your attention is at. This skill has to be transitioned into all
facets of life, every waking moment, building new neural pathways
that will develop into long lasting inner peace, tranquillity, and
happiness. They have to be practised in the real world, in every
waking moment that you can possibly remember to practice. Practice
makes perfect.</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What I have explained to you
is the relationship between samadhi meditation, the concentrated
sustained awareness, and vipassana meditation, the inner objective
observation of thought. These two practices work hand in hand and
compliment each other. You need the skill of sustained concentrated
awareness to reflect inward and observe the mind movements, and the
more time spent figuring out the mind, the less time the mind becomes
willing to spend engaged in harmful, wasteful, or useless thought
patterns. This results in a natural calming and quieting of the mind,
in turn allowing greater concentration and better sustained
awareness. They work hand in hand, complimenting each other. Which
one should you develop first? Conventional teachings usually
recommend training in samadhi first, but experiment with both and go
with what provides the best results for you. Ultimately, both need to
be developed.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnffAT5YiuRSBsnHBOOezUDUqwI2DnRkiskIVGcFALEQS4_XcmsiT7oFQOAhaAHzhAVNBbuOIjqq3jz5aP1gwADHYwMeFuxNliGKKCwS3bXK4hNLLtsekDF21hw26SOrXdMHwl3OHbiEE_/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnffAT5YiuRSBsnHBOOezUDUqwI2DnRkiskIVGcFALEQS4_XcmsiT7oFQOAhaAHzhAVNBbuOIjqq3jz5aP1gwADHYwMeFuxNliGKKCwS3bXK4hNLLtsekDF21hw26SOrXdMHwl3OHbiEE_/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-32290762805526301982014-03-30T21:26:00.002-04:002016-03-06T15:28:32.069-05:00Can inner change really change the world?<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="cpu change the world-med_" class="size-full wp-image-5699 aligncenter" height="119" src="http://blog.smartbear.com/wp-content/uploads/imports/cpu%20change%20the%20world-med_.jpg" title="Gelsinger and Meyer" width="200" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
How does inner transformation change the world? As one studies their own mind, (observing thoughts and the co-dependent relationship they have with emotions) one gains awareness of how their thoughts and actions cause ripple effects, and the occasional tidal wave, out into the global consciousness. We see how our thoughts influence our words and actions, and how our words and actions influence others. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Global consciousness is constantly being shaped and influenced by the quality of thoughts and memes that permeate society. Unfortunately, most people are oblivious or feel helpless about the influence their thoughts have in shaping both their inner and outer worlds. It is the chaotic thought processes of the masses, fuelled by individual desire and greed, that have allowed mankind to create such a chaotic world as the one we currently live in. </div>
<br />
<br />
Global consciousness is currently undergoing its own transformation or awakening. There are masses of people in the world today that are waking up into various levels of higher consciousness and awareness. This is being witnessed around the world as an unprecedented numbers of people keep coming together in extremely large unified groups all around the world, pushing for change, and standing up to the powers that be, exposing corporate greed and political corruption at an ever increasing rate.<br />
<br />
People are standing up for environmental issues, political rights issues, economical and resource sustainability issues. They are standing up to the excessive greed and lavish excess enjoyed by a very tiny minority, while billions are left to starve in abject poverty. They are standing up to the concentration camp animal abuses that have become a normal practice in the food industry, and exposing corporations who are putting public health and safety at risk. And they are waking up the impossible sustainability of a monetary system that depends on continuous infinite growth at any cost in order to survive, while depending on a finite world of resources that are no longer viable, such as carbon fuels. Our very survival as a species may well depend on this awakening in order to avoid extinction.<br />
<br />
More often than not, this global awakening is being fuelled by people who have undertaken various inner trans-formative paths, such as yoga or meditation, or one of the many other paths of Ego transcendence. And this can be witnessed as well by the rapid spread in the Western world of businesses and institutions that teach yoga and meditation, and in the increased interest in Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as many other other spiritual practices.<br />
<br />
Global consciousness will continue to awaken as inner trans-formative practices continue to bear fruit, as practitioners continue to see the positive benefits within themselves. As the practitioner continues to maintain focus on the inner world, the positive ripples will occur on their own.<br />
<br />
It is important that the focus of the practice not be allowed to become distracted by the desire to change the world, that is always Ego driven. Maintain the inward focus and the right outer ripples will always take care of themselves. As positive ripples continue to radiate out into the collective consciousness, their influence will help others to see the benefit of engaging in some form of inner transformation.<br />
<br />
To change the world, change the self first.<br />
<br />
<span class="st">“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― <i>Mahatma Gandhi </i></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKUsPE6ThmFbblTUV7-nbtMze8mWLJVFuBwWi66ekOSIuvEyhbQ6Ef511mzOZbMq_VFsY1v1a_it2bhx33fVUx8u622E2AN2plxZDQgjxnxNMS546gj51XeckPopbX0ViuL3d8BwmkDmb/s1600/88x31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKUsPE6ThmFbblTUV7-nbtMze8mWLJVFuBwWi66ekOSIuvEyhbQ6Ef511mzOZbMq_VFsY1v1a_it2bhx33fVUx8u622E2AN2plxZDQgjxnxNMS546gj51XeckPopbX0ViuL3d8BwmkDmb/s1600/88x31.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-31820739618477884332014-02-02T22:28:00.000-05:002016-03-06T15:33:09.066-05:00ego vs. Ego<h2 style="text-align: center;">
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
ego vs. Ego</h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="http://jayati7.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/demon.png%3Fw%3D317%26h%3D239" class="decoded" src="http://jayati7.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/demon.png%3Fw%3D317%26h%3D239" height="150" width="200" /> </h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What is Ego? From a psychology viewpoint, Ego is viewed as a necessary and intrinsic part of our psychological makeup. It is viewed as something we need to strive to constantly improve, we need to build our self-esteem. From a spiritual view, Ego is something we are striving to free ourselves from, to transcend, rise above, and eliminate completely.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Thus we have two somewhat opposing viewpoints of Ego, one says we can't ever be free it but must constantly strive to improve it, and the other that Ego can and should be transcended and eliminated.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Why is it that the logical, highly educated minds behind psychology believe the Ego can not be perfected and thereby transcended, but Self-Esteem and therefore Ego can be improved upon? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The simplest answer is that they find themselves unable to control their own Ego, let alone transcend it. Likewise for their colleagues, friends, family members, and in-fact everyone they know of, or have ever heard of, except for a small handful of Enlightened monks, gurus, and perhaps a few others who have laid claim to transcending their Egos. Since Ego transcendence into a silent state of mind is purely subjective, and there is no known method to prove or disprove the existence of Ego, these claims tend to be simply disbelieved and summarily dismissed. This dismissal is a very typical reaction of Ego, whether individually or as a group. Egos are only interested in anything that validates their own views and opinions, and quickly dismisses anything else as being irrelevant, unreliable, or some other reason it can find to justify the dismissal. Sweeping this relatively small amount of evidence under the carpet and relying completely on their own subjective experience, they find themselves justified in their reasoning that the Ego can not be "gotten rid of".</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If this viewpoint was correct, one would have to wonder then, how methods that teach the path and steps that lead to this mysterious state of consciousness have managed to continue being handed down so successfully for thousands of years. Any teacher within any of the non-dualistic traditions will quickly tell you it is because it works, spiritual transcendence is a real phenomenon. It is important to note here that not all who successfully transcend their Egos are as publicly visible as the teachers and gurus or as highly revered as the Buddha, or Jesus, or His Holiness The Dalai Lama. They can exist in any walk of life including a homeless person.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If then, the spiritual teachers and gurus are correct, why is it that so few people are able to attain this state of consciousness? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
First lets look at the two ways one can reach this state, one is spontaneously, and the other is through extensive practice. There is no possible way to predict or deliberately bring about a spontaneous transcendence. It does seem to be brought about as a result of enduring tremendous suffering and stresses (physical, mental, emotional, or a combination) and the resulting mental activity spiralling out of control, causing so much disharmony and anguish, that a breaking point is reached. This causes the mind to "step out" of its own activity, almost as though it self destructed. This is not something most people are willing to voluntarily attempt, and there are no guarantees it will produce the desired result.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The second method is extensive practice. Before practice can begin, one must first figure out exactly what to practice and how to go about it. This requires trying to somehow comprehend methods that are purely subjective and experiential. It is like trying to understand a description of the taste of chocolate, or the smell of a rose, from someone else's experience if you have not yet had a comparable experience. Once one has figured out what to do and how to do it, the real practice begins. Practice continues until perfection is reached. </div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
The practice requires maintaining constant sustained observation of every thought and every emotion, from that place of non-judgemental detached awareness, and constantly pulling back to this place whenever you catch yourself having drifted out of awareness and into the Ego's mind theatrics.</div>
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To perfect this technique requires a level of daily practice that begins in the first moments of awakening in the morning and continues until one falls asleep at night.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
This is a level of commitment that few seem to be willing to commit to. Such a level of commitment exceeds the level of commitment that world class musicians, singers, and athletes commit to, since they are afforded time away from their practice.</div>
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The results of this practice are directly proportional to the effort put in. 100% effort yields 100% results. Ninety minutes a week in meditation because that's all the time you have, well ???????</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKUsPE6ThmFbblTUV7-nbtMze8mWLJVFuBwWi66ekOSIuvEyhbQ6Ef511mzOZbMq_VFsY1v1a_it2bhx33fVUx8u622E2AN2plxZDQgjxnxNMS546gj51XeckPopbX0ViuL3d8BwmkDmb/s1600/88x31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKUsPE6ThmFbblTUV7-nbtMze8mWLJVFuBwWi66ekOSIuvEyhbQ6Ef511mzOZbMq_VFsY1v1a_it2bhx33fVUx8u622E2AN2plxZDQgjxnxNMS546gj51XeckPopbX0ViuL3d8BwmkDmb/s1600/88x31.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-25409609000027087752013-12-15T19:13:00.000-05:002016-03-06T15:29:03.599-05:00Observations from Silent Awareness<br />
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Observations from Silent Awareness</h2>
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Once one has learned to quiet the mind at will, and begins to spend increasing amounts of time as the silent observer, abiding in pure awareness, the more one comes to realize just how unreliable, untrustworthy and trivial all of the mental activity produced by the discursive, egoic, thinking part of the mind really is. This leads to a tendency to ignore, reject, or choose not to engage in the mental activity when it returns. From this state of mind a thought can be seen to pass and fade away, returning the mind back into silence. Thoughts are like weeds, if you do not feed them (give them your attention), they will not grow and will eventually die of starvation.<br />
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As one practices abiding in silent awareness while going about their daily activities, one also quickly comes to realize that there is a lot more going on within consciousness than the discursive, thinking, egoic mind can even begin to properly be aware of, let alone comprehend.<br />
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Although the ego may issue commands, the intricacies of carrying them out exceed the thinking minds capabilities. For example, one might decide to go empty the dishwasher. Once that decision has been made, for most people, the mind spends the duration of the task mentally wandering off into various forms of mind theatrics, daydreaming, fantasizing, etc. thereby missing what is really going on. But when the mind is completely silent and observant, and the actions and motions of the body are watched as tasks are being carried out, one may for example, observe the eye make contact with a plate or glass, and then the hand impulsively reach out and pick up what the eye was trained upon. The leg muscles engage without needing to be told by the thinking mind, and the body turns and walks over to the cupboard and puts it away. There is no way the thinking mind, if it had to command each individual muscle flexing or tendon tightening, perfectly coordinating all of the individual electrical impulses that cause all of these movements to occur, could even begin to consciously control this entire dance of events that all flow harmoniously together to produce the result requested from the thinking conscious mind (empty the dishwasher).<br />
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As if the immensity and complexity of carrying out these tasks are not already incomprehensible enough, there is also all of the various biological functions that are also being simultaneously coordinated. Everything from heartbeat, to digestive systems, to electrical and nervous system, cell growth and development, converting food to energy, waste elimination , and considerably more are being coordinated by means of a communication network in the body that communicates at or near the speed of light. This in turn requires the underlying intelligence to be able to function at or above the speed of light.<br />
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Watching from silence reveals that there is some form of intelligence operating that is far superior in capabilities to anything our mind can possibly think or comprehend. While it may be convenient to simply ignore or dismiss this hidden intelligence and give the sub-conscious mind the credit, this does not appear to be the case to one who chooses to investigate first hand. When one is able to quiet the mind sufficiently to see all of it's activity cease temporarily, the observation of the continuity of the tasks being carried out seems to imply that the source of this intelligence is not within the brain or even within the body, and any investigation through introspection fails to find a source from within the body capable of carrying out such complicated tasks. The brain seems to be playing traffic cop, and simply relaying signals to coordinate the flow of movement (sometimes under the misguided directions of the Ego), but the underlying intelligence can not be found.<br />
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Before dismissing the notion that this intelligence exists outside of the brain, with the brain acting as interpretor, consider this. Human life begins at the moment of conception as a single celled organism. This cell begins dividing into identical cells, and continues dividing until at some point the cells stop being identical, and start to form various parts of the body, from flesh, to bones, to skin, to organs, and even to begin forming the brain itself. Since no brain existed yet, where is the intelligence that coordinates which identical cells start to deviate and when? Who or What plays traffic cop to keep everything synchronized and in harmony? What is coordinating the heartbeat while the brain is still developing?<br />
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Even DNA can not properly explain the coordination of these events, unless DNA has access to some form of intelligence enabling it to communicate with all of its neighbouring DNA strands, and in turn cells, etc. under the immense intelligence, coordination and guidance of some form of consciousness the rational thinking mind can not yet comprehend. Communication (whether between DNA strands, cells, or even human beings) requires intelligence in order to be able to send and receive information, process it, or even to know that it is required in the first place.<br />
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Perhaps this is why science cannot explain or understand the high percentage of so called "junk" (non-coding) DNA in our physical construction. Even broken down into the various functions that science has thus far come to understand or believe about the purpose of "junk" DNA, the question remains, "Who or What is the guiding intelligence behind these individual functions.<br />
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All this considered, and in turn compared to the closely observed usual activities of the thinking mind with all of its "Important Things" that need to be thought about right now, (such as the discursive minds many false predictions of the future, mental rewrites of the past, various ways of trying to define itself and re-define itself through various fantasies and daydreams), the mind quickly reveals itself to be very trivial and producing useless unreliable information that only leads to the many negative states of mind that pervade humanity, hatred, anger, depression, fear, greed, etc..<br />
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The more time spent in pure silent awareness, the stronger the pull is to remain in pure silent awareness. The more thoughts are observed and recognized for the roller coaster effects they produce on our well being, the easier it becomes to reject them as they arise and return to pure awareness. In this way, the path becomes self correcting.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzQgaNlF8Ri4Jf9obCuuzlDPP7H-oDACV6cq0u8GPNUBIvRa4bfdowhySOnh_bn9MIz-3X0-pv9hCP8b6CUfW01O6oCRJHg4CEB1etmN7lOZeFq5csduCIfMu6ou7M3vGbIJGM9cgLoZp/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-1282655796727004642013-06-16T14:28:00.000-04:002016-03-06T15:36:06.329-05:00I AM ?<br />
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I AM ?</h2>
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Anyone on a serious inward spiritual journey will inevitably come across the feeling that they are being guided along on their journey by some unknown force. The right people, the right books, the right lessons in life, the right teachers, all seem to be right where you need them and at just the right time to keep you moving in a forward direction along your spiritual path. (So long as you continue to pay attention and follow your intuition.) This is called synchronicity.<br />
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Since this is an inward journey, and all the answers that have any real meaning can only come from within, the question then arises, "Who or what is guiding me". And of course there is only one possible answer, "I AM". I am guiding myself.<br />
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This is a deeper sense of I AM than simply something arising from the Ego that "thinks" it has all the answers. This is the sense of Self that is the I AM that can only be found when you look deep within with questions like:<br />
-<i>Who is making me feel guilty when I make choices that hurt others?</i> - I AM<br />
-<i>Who is causing me to feel happy when I help others? </i>- I AM<br />
-<i>Who is it that is driving the car when I am lost in thought or daydreaming? </i>- I AM<br />
-<i>Who is setting my internal moral compass?</i> - I AM <br />
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This sense of I AM has been described by all the great mystics and spiritual leaders for thousands of years. This sense of I AM is not the final destination, it is really only a signpost along the journey, directing one to look deeper into the true nature of one's Self. Inevitably the question arises, "If I AM my own inner moral guide, them Who Am I?" Indeed, Who or What Am I really?<br />
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Once one has seen through the veil of the illusory self, the Ego, and realized that there is a lot more to one's Self than a collection of thoughts and ideas about who I AM, and that there is a lot more to one's Self than just a collection of cells formed by sub-atomic particles held together by some mysterious energy force that allows the body to animate itself even when the Ego is asleep in some sort of mind theatrics, it becomes quite evident that there is a lot more to one's Self than meets the eye.<br />
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The journey then turns toward discovering the true nature of the Self. When the mind falls completely silent, and all discursive and directed thought ceases, as well as all mind theatrics and dreaming, there is only a sense of pure awareness, a sense of pure consciousness. There is only Conscious-Awareness. Conscious-Awareness is a state that is completely free from all inner turmoil, free from all mental chatter, free from judgements, ideas, concepts and disharmony. It can only be encountered with one's full attention to the present moment. <br />
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Meditation is the gateway to discovering how to access this state.With repeated encounters of this direct attention, one finds that over time and with much dedicated practice, this state will become easier to encounter. The practice then shifts to bringing this level of attention into every moment of one's life until this state becomes the new "normal" state of being. Only then can one say I AM and fully know what it means to be "I AM". It is the permanency of this state that is called "Enlightenment"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzQgaNlF8Ri4Jf9obCuuzlDPP7H-oDACV6cq0u8GPNUBIvRa4bfdowhySOnh_bn9MIz-3X0-pv9hCP8b6CUfW01O6oCRJHg4CEB1etmN7lOZeFq5csduCIfMu6ou7M3vGbIJGM9cgLoZp/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzQgaNlF8Ri4Jf9obCuuzlDPP7H-oDACV6cq0u8GPNUBIvRa4bfdowhySOnh_bn9MIz-3X0-pv9hCP8b6CUfW01O6oCRJHg4CEB1etmN7lOZeFq5csduCIfMu6ou7M3vGbIJGM9cgLoZp/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-67441727569521110412013-04-28T16:32:00.002-04:002016-03-06T15:29:35.385-05:00Self Control<div style="text-align: center;">
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Self Control</h2>
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As we go through our lives, even though we seem to understand at some level that we are constantly being subjected to unknowns and anything can happen at any moment, most of us seem to believe that we have some sort of ultimate control over every aspect of our day to day life. We like to believe that we can control our destiny with absolute certainty. And of course, when things don't work out the way we had planned, we find much dis-harmony and stress in our lives.<br />
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Our outer world is filled with constant change and movement in often unpredictable directions. We forget that there are no absolute certainties in life. We make plans for our life to move in a certain direction, but then something unexpected happens and we become very stressed and agitated. We can build a great deal of mental anguish and pain around events that don't go our way.<br />
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When we allow our mind to become engaged in the stress of not getting what we want or expect, we find our mind can either wander into the past, as regret (If I could do it all over again I would do it this way) or into the future as anxiety, fear, anger, and worry (What if it happens again? Next time I will do this! or Oh No! How will I handle it the next time).<br />
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A mind that falls under stress quickly begins to feel helpless and trapped. We can even begin to feel like others are out to get us, or some unnkown force is at work disrupting our control over our own life.<br />
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Meanwhile, all of the inner turmoil our mind generates when this happens is accepted as something we have no control over. We look to outside places to lay the blame for why we feel the way we feel, or why life seems to be treating us unfairly. We can always find a place to lay the blame; if so and so hadn't done this, or if only that had not happened.<br />
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The single greatest cause of all of this inner stress, whether it is anxiety, fear, worry, anger, hatred, regret or any other stressful emotion is a failure to recognize what we can control and what we can not.<br />
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We think we can control our outer world and feel we have no control over our inner world, believing our inner world is shaped and molded by the external world. Both assumptions are incorrect. We have it quite backwards.<br />
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When we learn to accept the outer world for the way it is, and watch our inner world with complete self awareness, we learn we have control over our inner world. We can choose how to react, or choose not to react, to external circumstances. When we realize we have no control over what happens outside of us, we find inner freedom.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b><i><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The
ability to control one's outer world is an illusion. Believing it is
possible is a source of great dis-harmony and stress in one's life. </span></i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"><b><i><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The
in-ability to control one's inner world is also an illusion. Believing it is
impossible is an even greater source of dis-harmony and stress in one's life.</span></i></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnffAT5YiuRSBsnHBOOezUDUqwI2DnRkiskIVGcFALEQS4_XcmsiT7oFQOAhaAHzhAVNBbuOIjqq3jz5aP1gwADHYwMeFuxNliGKKCwS3bXK4hNLLtsekDF21hw26SOrXdMHwl3OHbiEE_/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnffAT5YiuRSBsnHBOOezUDUqwI2DnRkiskIVGcFALEQS4_XcmsiT7oFQOAhaAHzhAVNBbuOIjqq3jz5aP1gwADHYwMeFuxNliGKKCwS3bXK4hNLLtsekDF21hw26SOrXdMHwl3OHbiEE_/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-303436165395865252013-04-06T14:43:00.001-04:002016-03-06T15:29:03.602-05:00Wildfires in the Mind<div style="text-align: center;">
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Wildfires in the Mind</h2>
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As close observation of the inner working of the mind progresses, space between thoughts begins to open up and one can observe and experience periods of silent, peaceful, quietude in which all internal mental dialogue ceases. With diligent practice, the moments when thoughts subside become more frequent and easier to observe. The mind shifts into silent states in which it is aware without having to make any mental commentary or judgements.<br />
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From within this state of pure awareness, the next challenge is to try to catch thoughts as they begin to arise. In the beginning, thoughts will likely progress a bit before they can be caught, but as soon as this is recognized the mind should be pulled back into the silence. As the practice progresses, it becomes progressively easier to catch thoughts just as they begin to emerge. From within the silence this may be observed as a random word or visual image suddenly appearing and attempting to grow into a more complex thought form. The practice is to simply catch it as it emerges, and, as it is being observed it will tend to fall away on its own, so long as the thought is not being indulged upon.<br />
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When we indulge a thought with any amount of interest, it will grow and take shape because we are feeding it the energy it needs to take its form. If we simply observe without indulgence, we are giving it no energy or room to grow and it will wither and subside on it own like a plant that is not given any water.<br />
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There is however, a trickier, more difficult type of thought emergence to catch. To understand this more difficult thought emergence, we must first make a distinction between two types of thoughts. First there are the discursive, free flow, mind theatrics type of thoughts that always have a time component to them. This can include daydreaming, fantasizing, regrets of the past, worries of the future, etc.. In general, it can quickly be observed that this class of thoughts do not serve us very well, and are the greatest source of disharmony in our lives. They are also the most prevalent form of thought. For most people they run completely unchecked and unchallenged, which is why most people do not recognize them as a source of discord.<br />
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Secondly, are deliberate, intentional thoughts. This type of thought process always occurs purely in the present moment, that is to say there is no time component to them. These are the type of thoughts that are used in creativity, problem solving or in learning. They are a tool and as such, like any tool, should be put away when we are finished with them. In other words, when the mind is not actively engaged in creativity, problem solving or learning types of activity, the mind should be returned to the silent state.<br />
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It is this second type of thought patterns that give rise to the more difficult to catch type of thought emergence. Because we have engaged the mind, because we are indulging in mental activity, we are giving thought processes energy to take form. Within this process, a random word or picture may still try to emerge in the same way as it emerges from the silent mind. Because we have the mind engaged, and thus are providing our thought processes energy to grow, the emergence of discursive thought is like a spark hitting dry grass. The fuel source is there, the mind is engaged. The spark, if not caught immediately, will grow very rapidly and can quickly get away from the observer. Discursive thought then spreads like a wildfire.<br />
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If one were working with an open flame near dry grass one would employ extra caution and greater awareness of ones actions in order to prevent a wildfire. In the same way, whenever thought is intentionally engaged for a specific purpose, increased diligence in thought observation is of the utmost importance.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzQgaNlF8Ri4Jf9obCuuzlDPP7H-oDACV6cq0u8GPNUBIvRa4bfdowhySOnh_bn9MIz-3X0-pv9hCP8b6CUfW01O6oCRJHg4CEB1etmN7lOZeFq5csduCIfMu6ou7M3vGbIJGM9cgLoZp/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjzQgaNlF8Ri4Jf9obCuuzlDPP7H-oDACV6cq0u8GPNUBIvRa4bfdowhySOnh_bn9MIz-3X0-pv9hCP8b6CUfW01O6oCRJHg4CEB1etmN7lOZeFq5csduCIfMu6ou7M3vGbIJGM9cgLoZp/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-50150165792005074672013-03-24T12:59:00.000-04:002016-03-06T15:29:03.606-05:00The Pendulum of the Mind
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The Pendulum of the Mind</h2>
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<i>“The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong”</i></h1>
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If we pay attention, we will see that the mind is in
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and forth like a pendulum. We
live in a world of opposites. We can not know good without also
knowing evil. We cannot know pleasure without also knowing pain. This
causes our mind to oscillate, to swing back and forth. I like this, I can't stand
that; this is fun, that is boring; this is right, that is wrong; this is beautiful, but that is ugly, etc.. </div>
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This swinging of the
pendulum directly influences and is directly influenced by our
emotions as well. Happy vs. sad; love vs. hate; joy vs. despair; anger vs. tranquillity. Every emotion has an opposite. To experience one requires us to also experience the other. Then in comes the Ego trying to protect us from all this movement. The Ego
will try to cling to the pleasurable side of the pendulum
swing, and wants to prevent the pendulum from swinging back to the
other side. It is this attraction to one half of the swing and
aversion to the other half that causes all of the stress and anxiety we
experience in life. The Ego is trying to protect us from that which it has no
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Those persistent thoughts and worries that haunt us and just won't go away always bring with them
a tendency to want to suppress them, reject them, deny them and push them away. Yet the
harder we fight against them, the stronger and more persistent they
become. If fighting against them doesn't work, then what does? Self
Awareness does. Observing and becoming aware of how they affect us does. When we become
aware of a thought, we have separated ourselves from the thought. We
have risen above it. Using the pendulum analogy, if we rise above the
thought, it is like moving up the shaft of the pendulum. As we move
up the shaft of the pendulum, we are not being carried as far back
and forth. The further up the shaft of the pendulum we move, the shorter the swing. The more we can separate from the thought and objectively
observe it, the higher up the pendulum's shaft we rise. If we can rise all
the way up to the pivot point, we are no longer being carried along
by our thoughts and emotions, and therefore are no longer being subjected to
the effects of the swinging. We separate from the emotional roller coaster ride. At the pivot point, we find true inner
peace. We can observe the coming and going of a thought without being
carried along by it. We are no longer being driven by our Ego.</div>
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At this point, we are able
to truly see and observe reality as it is, without any judgements or mental formations. This change can only come
about through self awareness, through mindfulness. Objective observation is the key to making this shift. Become mindful and self aware and you will decrease the distance you are being carried between swings, and increase the distance between a peaceful mind and a turbulent one.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdc5-J95gGjSKZqIovUSr0gUL7gWnCWN2DPiSTVYxE-QSbrTBiM8nqwP83jx9PCfgfDXGI7vyH46pK5rOgJiLbsbaeLNQYUlHFZCLeRUH6g4yaf_YkKCSmKB1jocOMoLa3P_IdXxBVhHO8/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdc5-J95gGjSKZqIovUSr0gUL7gWnCWN2DPiSTVYxE-QSbrTBiM8nqwP83jx9PCfgfDXGI7vyH46pK5rOgJiLbsbaeLNQYUlHFZCLeRUH6g4yaf_YkKCSmKB1jocOMoLa3P_IdXxBVhHO8/s1600/CreativeCommon.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-57614238091607981462013-03-08T17:31:00.000-05:002013-03-08T17:31:00.515-05:00Chasing The Dragon, In Search of Happiness<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Chasing The Dragon</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nIEU_Ac21eSXqx-wvI2mVgYhXAwbeg7NdLskRv_cDGzafTy34OzuzE26zFkQqeYUc3KMSc_nCZUPc-cA9K7zqm-Bp9QlYP_IF0aBgDTIFSIRFFOOw7Z7WBUIo0ghe9In9OijJUp_gafi/s1600/Chasing_the_Dragon_by_GoodbyeSleep.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nIEU_Ac21eSXqx-wvI2mVgYhXAwbeg7NdLskRv_cDGzafTy34OzuzE26zFkQqeYUc3KMSc_nCZUPc-cA9K7zqm-Bp9QlYP_IF0aBgDTIFSIRFFOOw7Z7WBUIo0ghe9In9OijJUp_gafi/s200/Chasing_the_Dragon_by_GoodbyeSleep.png" width="145" /></a></div>
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There is a term in Chinese culture for drug use called "Chasing the Dragon". Metaphorically, it refers to trying to achieve the ultimate high. Looking for happiness in the external world is like chasing a dragon. We are constantly chasing things in the physical world, looking for them to bring peace and happiness into our lives, yet we always come up empty handed, unfulfilled, and looking for more.<br />
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We look for our happiness in a bigger house, faster car, new television or stereo, or the next great vacation. We even seek out our happiness in other people. After all, is that not what we are doing when we seek out a mate. We look to them for fulfillment and happiness, and after some time has gone by and we no longer find it in them, many of us choose to move on to someone else with the same expectations that this new person in our life will provide us with the happiness we seek.<br />
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We do the same with material objects, purchasing new and often more expensive things believing they will make us happy. The type of happiness we find when we acquire these new objects is very short lived, and yet has an addictive quality to it. The high we get from the acquisition leads to desire for more of the same. Yet, no matter how much material objects we accumulate, happiness remains fleeting, and yet we still want more. Advertisers know this and make large fortunes playing into this.<br />
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If we can learn to become aware of our thoughts, feelings and emotions, we can start to let go of the addiction. When we become aware of our reactions to our desires, they start to loose their hold over us. The mental addiction subsides.<br />
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True lasting happiness can be found, but not where most of us are looking. It can only be found in a place many are either reluctant or scared to look. It can only be found within, by facing our wants, desires, aversions, and fears. We have to see them up close and personal, recognize them for what they are, then let go of them and in doing so break the addiction.<br />
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It is only when we break the addiction with our thoughts, fears, desires, and aversions that we can find true happiness and inner peace. When we have completely broken the addiction, peace and happiness are what remains.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKhz8_d9mIHQ1rUoCsOT5norWXE-_nxmxZpEnJ9Sv2JJf2B1rkzpCV2j2-_yungE_xYlGkIsCVnLe-sMw17WNBqEPUHe21TRK1Kg9PuPMs7GZsf-OGNwcMoiS2llPH2NhBI-4pSBoHTvu/s1600/88x31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKhz8_d9mIHQ1rUoCsOT5norWXE-_nxmxZpEnJ9Sv2JJf2B1rkzpCV2j2-_yungE_xYlGkIsCVnLe-sMw17WNBqEPUHe21TRK1Kg9PuPMs7GZsf-OGNwcMoiS2llPH2NhBI-4pSBoHTvu/s1600/88x31.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-32418268684925295742013-02-09T15:15:00.000-05:002016-03-06T15:35:23.321-05:00Past and Future<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Past and Future</h2>
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<img src="http://skinnymom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/past-and-future.jpg" height="133" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 28px;" width="200" /></h2>
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The past and the future are the domain of the Ego, its playground. The present, in order to be fully experienced, must be experienced without the Ego. The present moment is experienced only through pure awareness. As soon as the inner dialogue of the Ego begins, even if the Ego is trying to run a commentary on the events at hand, we are no longer in the present. Observe closely, and we will find that the commentary always occurs after an event has taken place, and therefore is a past event.<br />
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The Ego, being nothing more than a collection of thoughts and thought energies, doesn't like to step aside and allow the events of the present to simply unfold. It feels it must be ever on the look out for dangers, looking for what it perceives will bring happiness. It believes that it knows what is best for us.<br />
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The past is never anything more than memory, used as a point of reference. The Ego clings to it as though it were a source of knowledge predicting how best to handle the future. The Ego refers to this as "experience", despite the fact that when the event was actually experienced, the mind was likely off in some other past or future thought rather than experiencing it in the present with pure awareness.<br />
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Ego will cling to past events with regret, when it doesn't like its prospects for the future. It will refer to the past as though it were a sage predicting how best to handle future events. Memory is used as a tool to constantly judge everything around us and to try and predict our future.<br />
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The future, as the Ego sees it, is really nothing more than plans. The Ego plans and concocts a future reality and presents it to us in the form of daydreams, fantasies, and mind theatrics. The Ego would like us to believe that we can control all aspects of our future and destiny.<br />
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When watched closely, the future the Ego predicts never plays out exactly the way it does in our mind. There are an infinite number of variables and possible outcomes to every moment. Yet our Ego has the audacity to believe that it can predict the one that will come to pass.<br />
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When events play out similar to the Ego's predictions, it is quick to take note and say "See, I was right". Ironically, when it misses the target, which happens far more frequently, it is either ignored or quickly dismissed as "Circumstances beyond my control" or something along that line.<br />
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Paying attention to the inner dialogue quickly reveals that the information the Ego feeds us is mostly useless and unreliable. Most of us completely miss this point because the Ego keeps us so busy with its inner chatter and mind theatrics that we don't notice. It is only when we start to pay attention to it however, that we begin to see through the facade and realize the deception. It is only when we begin to look that we begin to see.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-63062760660533705562012-12-30T15:59:00.000-05:002016-03-06T15:29:03.608-05:00Memory and Self Awareness<br />
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Memory and Self Awareness</h2>
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<img height="108" id="il_fi" src="http://dml.ucdavis.edu/images/DMLgroup.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /> </div>
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What is the role of memory in Self Awareness and Enlightenment? Does it serve a purpose? Or is it a hindrance?</div>
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As we progress through life we are constantly experiencing new phenomenon, and through the process of judging, we give certain phenomenon higher priority in our memory storage system. The problem most of us have with memory is that we judge nearly everything we experience. We like, dislike, want, don't want, call it good, bad, etc. and inadvertently give everything higher priority than it requires, which then causes confusion to the recall process, and often causes inner conflict as well.</div>
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To understand memory, it is best to view it with an analogy. Memory is like a huge underground catacomb of storage rooms filled with filing cabinets, stacked up row upon row, aisle after aisle. Every judgement we make creates an entry that has to be stored and filed away. The ones we find most significant, or have the greatest impact upon us, are given the highest priority. This priority filing system is based upon individual (what the Ego wants) preference.</div>
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A filing system built on priority quickly looses efficiency as the size of the filing system grows. It quickly becomes difficult to properly assess what is stored at what priority level. This means more time looking for the file, and increases the chances of being distracted by other files that have to be searched along the way. In the real world, a small priority based filing system, such as for bills at home will work OK, but a large filing system such as in businesses or hospital can not function this way and requires something more logical such as alphabetical. Our memory system is far more vast than any filing system in any office or on any computer.</div>
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We are adding new entries into our storage system on a continuous basis, causing our memory system to grow beyond easy retrieval. Every moment of our lives presents a new opportunity to create a new judgement and a new prioritized memory. To further complicate this, prioritizing allows our most important memories to surface spontaneously. They appear as discursive Egoic thought patterns, warning us of perceived danger, and reminding us of what we want to attract into our life. In other words, they set up our patterns of desire and aversion.</div>
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As well, when a discursive thought appears in our consciousness, it is like an invitation to enter the catacombs, browse through our memories, and use the material stored within to project into our mind theatre a different version of reality. This is what daydreams and fantasies are. We can find ourselves, if we are not aware of our thoughts, lost in the catacombs for long periods of time. Many of us find that we are on a constant cycle of entering into this fantasy world only to emerge and re-enter on the next discursive thought that emerges.</div>
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When one has learned Self Awareness, one recognizes when they have entered the catacombs, consciously chooses to exit, and instead prefers to remain fully present, in the Here and Now. As well, a Self Aware person is conscious of any thought patterns that occur, and avoids the process of judging. By not judging, new memories are no longer prioritized in a way that will allow them to re-emerge as unsolicited discursive thoughts. In Eastern philosophy, they are not creating any new karma.</div>
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Memory still exists and can still be retrieved when required, but without the prioritization caused by preference. This can be thought of as being a more logical filing system. The system now allows retrieval of what needs to be retrieved and becomes easier to find what is being sought because the entire system becomes organized in a logical format rather than a priority basis.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-48648794788319978082012-12-02T14:04:00.000-05:002016-03-06T15:37:01.493-05:00Boredom<div style="text-align: center;">
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Boredom </h2>
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Boredom is nothing more than a mental fabrication from a mind that is expressing its displeasure at not being entertained. When an undisciplined mind has been allowed to continuously run free and wild, and suddenly runs out of things to entertain it, it finds itself unable to deal with quietude. It has become too accustomed to continuous activity, thoughts, daydreams, fantasies, and various other forms of mind theatrics. Boredom can therefore be thought of as a symptom of a mind in need of discipline.</div>
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To one who practices self awareness diligently, boredom is not a problem. Boredom is the mind saying "Give me something to entertain me". When one is diligently watching thoughts as they arise, and looking into their nature, and contemplating their causes and effects, the mind is fully occupied and entertained, even if the body is doing nothing. When the mind is occupied, it can not get bored. </div>
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When the mind falls quiet, there again can be no boredom, since boredom is nothing but a string of thoughts saying "Entertain Me". No thoughts, no boredom! Silence is Golden!</div>
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Poet Dorothy Parker said "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." So why not apply your curiosity to the inner workings of the mind, and see through the illusion of self, clean up a few self defeating mental patterns along the way, and put an end to boredom.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-69017553627884723422012-11-18T15:55:00.000-05:002012-11-18T15:55:05.883-05:00Heel<br />
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Heel</h2>
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<img height="153" id="il_fi" src="http://drsophiayin.com/images/uploads/heel.JPG" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /> </h2>
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In many ways, training the mind to become quiet and remain in the present is a lot like training a dog to heel. You must keep it on a tight leash and not let it stray. You must be very vigilant in your training. If the dog is allowed to get away with negative behaviour, it will be harder to correct later.</div>
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Your mind, like a dog, wants to wander off, run free, sniff around to see what scents it can follow, and chase everything it encounters. You must learn to be in control, you must learn to be the master of your own mind.</div>
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The dog pulling forward is like a mind thinking about the future. A dog lagging behind is like the mind slipping into the past. The master must constantly tug at the leash to remind the dog to stay with you. Tug on the leash of the mind to keep pulling it back to the present moment of pure awareness. </div>
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This is real meditative practice. Don't give the mind any slack. When ever it tugs to pull away from the present moment, pull it back. Practice this continuously and diligently and eventually the mind will obey. When proficient with watching the mind at this level during meditation, transition your practise to incorporate it into your daily life as well. Bringing the meditative practice out into the world is the real goal of learning this process in the first place, just as the true goal of teaching a dog to heel is so that he will obey when walking out in public.</div>
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With repeated practice, the dog, and the mind will learn the obedience required to stay where it should be. After a while, the leash will be only symbolically held in place, the mind will come to know that "You are holding the other end" . With sufficient diligence of practice, eventually the leash will no longer be required.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-85985359585091830182012-10-28T19:59:00.001-04:002016-03-06T15:37:01.496-05:00Who Am I?<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Who Am I?</h2>
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<img height="240" id="il_fi" src="http://www.migmag.co.uk/books/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/whoami.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="180" /></h2>
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Perhaps one of the deepest existential questions is "Who Am I?" The answer to the question of who one truly is lies outside of the thinking mind's ability to comprehend. The thinking mind itself, and this includes the Ego, is nothing more than a collection of conditioned ideas, words and thoughts that are running inside the mind much like a computer program running on a computer. The thinking mind trying to comprehend "Who Am I?" is like a computer program trying to comprehend what a computer is, and what an electrical power grid is that powers a computer.</div>
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This does not mean that one can not directly discover who they really are, but to do so requires moving outside of the conventional thought patterns that define ones self. This is best done by examining "Who I Am Not!"</div>
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First lets examine the Ego. The Ego is an ever changing collection of thoughts and images one has of their self. These thoughts are constructed upon judgements and impressions one has based upon their life experiences, and on identification or rejection of other peoples opinions of them. The Ego is so fluid that it can change to an exact opposite view of itself in the flash of a moment. There is nothing of substance, nothing concrete at all about the Ego. The Ego can be easily transcended and left behind by anyone who undertakes such practice. Anyone who has the ability to enter and maintain a completely silent mind has experienced a state in which the Ego does not exist, even if just for that short period of time. If one was the Ego, then such a practice would result in one ceasing to exist. It is quite safe to conclude that one's true self is not the Ego.</div>
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And what of the body we inhabit. If we were the body itself, then the loss of a limb or body part would amount to a partial loss of the self. Yet this is not the case. Throughout history, not one autopsy ever performed has turned up anything that can be labelled as the person's self. Even when we search within our own sense of the body, looking for where our Self seems to exist, it can not be definitively pinpointed. There is a sense of the self around the area of the heart, but nothing physical or concrete. One's perception of self is centred in the heart yet ones thoughts of self are centred in the brain. No evidence of self can be found in the body.</div>
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And what of the mind and brain? Our mind goes completely silent and seems to cease existing during sleep. There are numerous accounts of people who wake up from comas after having been pronounced brain dead. If their self existed purely in the mind, then in these situations the self again would cease. The self is not the mind.</div>
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To paraphrase from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "In searching for the truth, when all of the impossibilities have been eliminated, then whatever remains must be the truth." We all have something within us that we can sense to be an unchanging sense of Self, something that hasn't changed for as long as we can remember. This awareness of Self exists outside of thought and can only be directly encountered when thought subsides. Deep introspection and contemplation of "Who I Am Not" is the doorway into reconnecting with "Who I Am". Sustained Pure Awareness, as encountered with the silent mind is the reunification with the True Self.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-65995933404304723772012-10-08T15:09:00.000-04:002012-10-08T15:09:25.115-04:00Religion<br />
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Religion</h2>
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<img height="192" id="il_fi" src="http://genealogyreligion.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/worldreligion.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="200" /></div>
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The criteria by which most people in the world today choose their religion is not really a matter of choice. They come into their religion by being born into it. It is the religion that their parents, grandparents and generations before have belonged to.<br />
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From the time they are young, there are indoctrinated into that religion, being taught all of the intricacies and beliefs of that religion. The natural tendency of human nature is to want to believe that we are always right, and therefore, there is a tendency toward believing that the religion one follows must also, therefore, be right. After all, everyone wants to believe that their parents, grandparents, teachers and religious leaders would not ever steer them wrong.<br />
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This in turn poses a problem. Followers of all religions want to believe that their "chosen" religion is the right path, which by default, infers that the others must therefore be wrong. Such beliefs serve only to divide mankind rather than unite. Such divisions have, throughout the history of mankind, led to many conflicts, disagreements, and arguments, not to mention some of the planets most devastating wars. Ironically, these divisions and conflicts run contrary to the core teachings of most, if not all, religions; teachings include things like love thy fellow man, or love thy neighbour. How can anyone love their neighbour at the same time as entering into conflict and war over whose religion is right or wrong?<br />
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Further complicating the matter is religious leaders, in an attempt to deepen their understanding of their own religion, undertake to learn about other religions. More often than not, they do not enter this undertaking with an open mind. They are not there to truly attempt to understand the other religion, but rather to seek out its flaws, and anything that runs contrary to their own beliefs, so that they can in turn pass on that information to their followers. Rarely if ever, does one look at their own religion with the same critical eye. Rather than trying to understand any flaws or conflicts within their own "chosen" path, it becomes easier to treat them as simply a matter of "faith".<br />
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Examining other religions with a totally open mind, and a valid attempt to understand what they are about, especially when examining the deepest core beliefs, rather than man's interpretations of the teachings, can show a very different picture than what is painted by a religious leader trying to point out fault. Rather than trying to find fault with other religions, why not look for what they have in common? Most major religions are in agreement over many things; that there is more to man than meets the eye, that there is a greater power behind the creation of all things, that we need to love and respect our fellow man, that we should all live by a code of ethics, and that we must all take responsibility for our own thoughts, ideas, and actions.<br />
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When we live our life in accordance to all that is common to these religions, we begin to see and understand that embracing the commonality of religions, while still respecting the differences in methodology, can serve to unite mankind. Only when we unite as a race of beings, embracing our similarities and respecting our differences, will we ever be able to truly move into a world of peace that we all seek.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-65593565756167021532012-09-30T14:09:00.001-04:002012-09-30T14:09:11.361-04:00There are no bad guys!<h2 style="text-align: center;">
There are no bad guys!</h2>
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Try and visualize in your mind the following scenario; you pick up the newspaper and read an article about a parent performing some horrific atrocity to a child. The police arrest the individual, who in turn accuses the police officer of police brutality.<br />
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Examine what thoughts, feelings and emotions you would likely experience as you read the article. Is there a tendency to judge the parent and in what way? What about the police officer? What emotions are felt toward the child? A common range of thoughts and emotions might go something like this; anger and outrage toward the parent, perhaps a strong sense of violation of the boundaries between right and wrong, a need to see justice? What about the police officer? Was he justified in bringing about some form of justice in a broken judicial system, or perhaps you feel he should also be punished because there are too many instances of police vigilanteism. Are there emotions tugging at your heart in sympathy for the child? How can there not be, after all the child did not deserve this.<br />
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Now lets re-examine from a self awareness stand point. When the above scenario was observed from a position of Ego, a great deal of thoughts, and emotions can quickly be observed. What thoughts and emotions you felt are a direct result of your own personal conditioning and views toward the world. Where one person may have felt anger and outrage toward the parent, another may have felt curiosity as to what brought a parent to this point. Whether you saw the police officer's actions as justifiable or reprehensible is again based on your own personal conditioning. Many of the thoughts feelings and emotions were likely to have had a very uncomfortable quality to them, especially if anger or outrage was among them.<br />
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These thoughts, feelings and emotions have a physical quality to them that do not feel very comfortable within us. They may even have a negative impact upon our physical well-being due to the stresses they produce. Now aside from that, what impact or benefit do they have on the parent, child or police officer? None! No matter what thoughts, feelings or emotions we may choose to engage in, none of them can undo what has been done, or help or change the situation in any way. Perhaps it may motivate someone to take action, but if action is taken from a position of strong emotion, its action can only lead to outcomes similar to the way the police officer handled the situation.<br />
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Now lets look at the what would happen if we had read the news article from a position of non-judgement and acceptance, in other words, not allowing any thought formations whatsoever to arise out of the situation. We would not have created any ill will, negative thoughts, or uncomfortable feelings within ourself. The event would simply have been an event that occurred. Feelings of love, and empathy for the child may still motivate you to take action to help the child, but now it can be done without the negative components that can cause irrational behaviour. If this were the position from which the police officer was operating, he would have simply done his job, the parent would simply have been arrested and brought in to custody. From there he would have been able to leave it up to the rest of the justice system to do the best job they are able.<br />
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A position of curiosity toward the parent might leave one wondering what drove the parent to commit the atrocity in the first place. Each and every one of us has had to face situations and events throughout our lives that cause us to act and react in certain ways. This is true for the parent as well. He or she may have been abused as a child, or witnessed horrific events in their youth. Something in their past has led to their actions.<br />
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A scenario laid out in this fashion shows the value of learning to become self aware. If we who practice self awareness and meditation for the purpose of transcending Ego find it to be a challenging task, what right then do we have to judge another person, one for whom self awareness may not even be a possibility. If we who are trapped in our Ego and are aware of it have difficulty controlling it, how then, can we expect someone else to be able to do so.<br />
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Compassion and empathy in turn seem to be the only healthy feelings one can harbour toward all parties involved, not just the child. Only when self awareness becomes so mainstream that every human on the planet practices it, and it is in turn taught in schools to our youth, can we expect to see violence, hatred, and anger start to disappear from the planet, and for the human race to evolve into a world of peace. As Ghandi said "Be the change you would like to see in the world"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-47530679437145567692012-09-16T21:04:00.000-04:002012-09-30T14:00:31.430-04:00Positive and Negative Energy Flow<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Positive and Negative Energy Flow</h2>
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When we examine those individuals that seem to have the most energy, it
becomes quickly obvious that they also tend to have the most positive
attitudes in life. It could also be said that those with the most
positive attitudes tend to be the most energetic. Either way, the two go
hand in hand. Looking at the opposite side of the spectrum, it is also observed that those individuals with the most negative attitudes tend to have the lowest energy levels.<br />
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There seems to be an obvious relationship between attitude and energy
level. This in turn poses the question as to how they are related. We
have to start by recognizing that this universe is more about energy
than we tend to think it is. Einstein recognized this relationship when
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<span style="font-size: small;">E=MC<sup>2 </sup> or Energy = Mass x Speed of Light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All that we perceive as solid is made of atoms, which are nothing more than tiny particles of concentrated energy. The speed at which the electrons circle the nucleus of an atom, (the speed of light) is what allows these masses of energy to appear solid. The atom actually is comprised mostly of empty space. To gain perspective, if the nucleus were blown up to be the size of a tennis ball, the electrons would be orbiting about a kilometer away. It is energy that keeps the electrons in orbit around the nucleus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Putting all of this in perspective, the physical self that we perceive to be solid is ultimately constructed and held together by energy. We would not be incorrect in thinking of ourselves as energy beings, or as conduits through which energy can flow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Energy can be of either a positive or a negative nature. We have the ability to make a conscious choice as to what polarity of energy we wish to have flow through us. Thoughts ultimately are just another form of energy, and as such they are the determining factor over which polarity of energy flows through us, positive or negative. We have the ability to choose, and to control which thoughts we wish to give our energy and attention to and thereby which direction our energy flows. Think of a battery, where the positive terminal is an outflow of energy. The negative terminal is an inflow of energy. Positive thoughts are a source of positive energy, and feeling the wonderful effects of positive energy can in turn bring about more positive thoughts. Negative thoughts are a great consumer of energy, leaving one feeling drained. As one experiences too much draining of energy, thoughts can easily turn toward the negative, further perpetuating the downward spiral of energy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Negative energy and attitude can be thought of as flowing
backwards, through us and into a vortex-like black hole. People with an
extremely negative energy flow are sometimes referred to as social
vampires, as they seem to just suck the life out of everyone and
everything around them. Often, they are not even aware of what their own
mental state is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When we allow positive energy to flow outwards through us and into the world it has a positive effect on our mental attitude. Likewise, having a positive attitude will polarize our energy to the positive. The more we focus our thoughts and attitudes in a positive direction, such as with the energies of Love, Kindness, Compassion, etc., the more positive energy, and in turn Joy, will flow into our life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The next time you feel like your energy reserves are low, stop and examine your state of mind and attitude. A simple shift in attitude, and perhaps even a few random acts of kindness can work wonders for your energy level.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-48926730028987797112012-08-26T16:10:00.001-04:002012-08-26T16:11:35.838-04:00The Subconscious Mind<br />
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The Subconscious Mind</h2>
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Our subconscious is not something we were born with any more than is our Ego. They developed hand in hand, starting from our early childhood. When we were born, we had no frame of reference to base our likes, dislikes, wants, don't wants, safe, unsafe, nor any other mental concepts. As our awareness of the environment began to develop, so too did our ability to judge that environment. Learning to judge and discern our environment allowed us to discern things we liked from things that could bring us harm. The volume of those judgements were too numerous to retain in our conscious awareness, and so we had to commit them to memory in a way that allowed them to resurface when we needed them most.<br />
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This repository of judgements is our subconscious. It is also the source of our Ego. Our Ego is really nothing more than a collection of thoughts and judgements we have formed about ourselves, about who we think we are, about how we think we fit into our environment and how we think others perceive us. Since all of these things are constantly changing and evolving, they really have very little to do with who we really are.<br />
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As we proceed through life, we continue to deposit judgement after judgement into this repository, and because this special form of memory is intended to help us discern our environment, we are in turn subjected to a constant barrage of prejudgements, resurfacing from the subconscious, to steer us away from harm and toward that which we prefer. It operates like a feedback loop.<br />
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The problem we run into is that we are constantly feeding new instructions into this feedback loop system on an ongoing basis, by constantly judging, and re-judging, and we never do anything to empty it out. When these feedback loops, designed to keep us safe, run unchecked, they can quickly spiral out of control and lead to problems like irrational fears, anxieties, and a whole range of unwanted emotions.<br />
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Because these judgements are constantly being heaped upon, and allowed to fester and grow without any sort of checks and balances or controls in place, our subconscious can be thought of as a cesspool of mental activity just waiting to bubble up into our consciousness. This is the source of our constant flow of thoughts that seem to continuously pervade the mind. We have allowed it to grow so extensively that it has little choice but to free flow into our consciousness.<br />
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While this egoic level of subconscious activity was essential for our early development, discerning right from wrong and safe from harmful, it is not essential in adult life and can even prove harmful. As adults, we know what we like and don't like, what is safe and what is harmful, what we want and don't want. We no longer require a constant onslaught of discursive thought to remind us.<br />
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The only way to clean out this cesspool is to create space through quieting the conscious mind, and then allowing this cesspool to bubble forth into consciousness without further adding to it. This is the Self Awareness practice of watching our thoughts. We simply allow the thoughts to surface, see them for what they are, and allow them to pass into oblivion by not indulging them to see where they lead.<br />
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When we do not indulge our thoughts and do not judge them, they do not re-enter the feedback loop system. When we stop feeding them, they stop growing, and will eventually shrivel and die. Since this is the source of Ego, the Ego will also shrivel and die, so long as Self Awareness is practised with sufficient diligence. The most important part of this practice is to NEVER JUDGE our thoughts since judgement is the gateway back into the feedback loop system.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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<br />Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538177835877398171.post-37738729285061606882012-08-19T21:54:00.003-04:002016-03-06T15:38:20.055-05:00Developing Self Awareness, The Bug in the Jar<h2 style="text-align: center;">
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The Bug In The Jar</h2>
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Many people go through life nearly oblivious to the constant flow of discursive thoughts running through their heads. They are often just as oblivious to the content of those thoughts, and how those thoughts can create an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and various forms of self inflicted suffering. It has been estimated that the average number of thoughts a person has in a day ranges from 60,000 to 90,000.</div>
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Occasionally, one may become aware that their mind never seems to shut off. Often this is observed as one tries to fall asleep at night. This simple observance may actually be a blessing in disguise, a sort of wake up call. Being aware of the excess activity of the mind occurs at a level outside of, rather than from within thought itself. Cultivating that awareness is a critical first step in learning to quiet the mind and free it from excess discursive activity. Meditation is the best place to practice learning to become aware of thought.</div>
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As one learns to become aware of thought, the Bug in the Jar method of observing thought can be a very useful technique. Start off the meditation session with a very strong intention to observe and catch yourself when you have drifted into discursive thought. The stronger the intention, the greater the success. As soon as you are aware that you have drifted into thought, capture that thought in a sort of freeze frame, like catching a bug in a jar. Now examine the thought for its content. What purpose does this thought actually have in THIS moment? Is it based on past events or is it a fantasy projection of the future? What feelings, emotions and further thoughts is it leading to? If acted upon, are these thoughts potentially harmful to me or anyone else? Will they lead to any level of REAL happiness for me or anyone else? When you have finished examining the thought, simply let it go, just like the bug in the jar, and wait for the next one to come along and catch it in the same way.</div>
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Examining thoughts in this way can be very enlightening. Most of our thoughts are not based in anything that produces happiness, and are often based in flawed egotistical interpretations of how we see the world or would like the world to be. We quickly see that we tend to make our self (Ego) the centre of every one of these thoughts, either as a hero, martyr, victim, or perhaps even a villain. We are always the main character in our own play. We may also notice that paths to potential suffering or hurt for someone, either our self or another can nearly always be found.</div>
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The nature of the self is that it wants to be happy. The nature of the ego is that it wants to protect us from every possible form of hurt or discomfort by thinking about ways to deal with what it may perceive as painful or threatening scenarios. The ego has developed itself into to a dominant position of trying to be on duty 24 hours a day, thinking it is protecting one from harm or suffering and thus taking priority over happiness. </div>
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When one begins to learn to observe thought in the manner described, the logical part of the mind begins to realize that the discursive thought producing ego is actually causing more unhappiness and harm than it is protecting oneself from. Since happiness is a priority, the mind becomes more complacent in the process of quieting itself and actually becomes a willing partner in quieting the mind.</div>
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Quieting the mind is not an impossible task. It just takes some practice and retraining. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael L. Fournier</td></tr>
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Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08382893912461705193noreply@blogger.com4