This week, I strive to share continued insights and reminders that I gained from attending the Oneness Experience, a certification process for becoming a Oneness Blessing Giver. One of the key themes that deeply resonated with me was the importance of "Getting Out of our Minds".
For most of our human existence, we have been taught and culturally conditioned that our intellect is one of the most important tools to sharpen, attend to, and grow. We are taught the importance of learning - the acquisition of knowledge and information. We are encouraged to go to school, to get good grades, to test well, and to demonstrate our smarts in everything we do. We are rewarded for our wit, our ideas, and our analysis of situations with respect, promotion, and admiration. The more we are rewarded, the more importance we place on the use of our minds.
At some point in our lives, our intellect seems to be taken over by mental chatter and distraction, consuming our brain. The tool we have relied on for making decisions and choices somehow becomes clouded with unconscious thoughts, noise, and the voice of our inner critic. I call this our Monkey Mind. The Monkey Mind distracts us and creates a state of disconnection, judgment, and suffering. The Monkey Mind wants us to believe that suffering occurs outside of ourselves and tells us, "because of that, I am this", or "because this person did this to me, I am this way." This is how the Monkey Mind gains power. The truth is this... the Monkey Mind does not want to be responsible for creating the internal suffering we experience. It wants us to blame, judge, and hold onto the belief that suffering is a result of our external environment and world. When we buy into this, we blame others and hold the external responsible, giving enormous power to the problem. We empower the problem rather than empowering ourselves!
How do we catch ourselves in this natural human cycle? How do we shift from blaming and judging everything that appears to be outside of ourselves to becoming responsible within ourselves? How do we end the suffering?
One approach is to realize that THOUGHTS HAPPEN AUTOMATICALLY. Thinking is an automatic function of the brain. We are not the one who is thinking!
This is so important to digest and I invite you to really soak this concept in.
* What if you could observe your thoughts all the time without attaching to them?
* What if you could fully embrace that your mind automatically does the thinking?
* What if you could understand that this automatic thinking emerges from lifetimes of experiences, unconscious beliefs, cultural influences, and group mind?
* What if YOU were NOT your thoughts?
When we shift into observation and detach from the Monkey Mind, we begin to witness the Monkey Mind as an empowering tool rather than a disempowering one. By observing our thoughts without experiencing the self-judgment and shame that comes with attaching to its voice, we can then make new conscious choices that serve our highest and greatest good. We then take responsibility and empower the divine wisdom that lives within.
Join me this week in observing your Monkey Mind. Create the space to contemplate these questions and write the answers down in your journal.
1. How active is your Monkey Mind? (Do you experience it's involvement once a day, multiple times a day, or all the time?)
2. When is your Monkey Mind active? (Does it kick-in to overdrive at night when you are trying to go to sleep? Does it kick-in when you have an important meeting or interaction with someone?)
3. What does your Monkey Mind say to you? (What statements or words does it speak inside of your head?)
Receiving Deeksha or the Oneness Blessing is another wonderful way to quiet the Monkey Mind. Come join us in stillness and community at Vie Nouveau on Monday, March 15th, 22nd, and / or 29th at 7:30pm or at Conscious Conversations on Monday, April 5th at the Golden Door from 6-8pm.
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