What is mind mastery? We are sold the myth that “enlightenment” is a rare occurrence that can only happen after decades of meditation, deprivation, and effort. The truth is that you are already enlightened. The eternal, never-changing part of you shines a light through your mind that illuminates all objects of experience. You cannot turn this light off, nor can you affect it in any way.
Your life is about to get a a lot simpler. Most of what you’ve been told about your self and the world is false. It is time for you to fully appreciate the power of your mind, imagination, intention, and creativity.
When you realize that what you are waiting for and searching for is already here, then you can relax into this perfect moment of awareness.
Our programmed thinking
One of the biggest psyops is the illusion of time. There have been cultures that have no past tense in their language. Without past tense, the past doesn’t exist. TIme is a creation of the collective imagination that is maintained through shared languaging. To demonstrate, we are going to do a thought experiment together… Let’s practice mind mastery.
Take 3 deep breaths. Now, just focus on your breathing. Feel your lungs expanding and contracting. Notice that you are not breathing your body. There is an innate intelligence that is breathing you.
In this moment, forget your past. It no longer exists. I’m not asking you to pretend the past didn’t happen. Just, in this moment, it is not in your memory banks so it doesn’t exist. Pretend that someone wiped your memories clean. Poof!
Now, let go of any expectations that you have for the future – whether that is 1 minute, 1 hour or 1 year from now. No expectations. Just rest in this present moment.
Without memories of the past or expectations of the supposed future – who are you?
I invite you to get curious about who you are and the nature of your true self. You can let your imagination unconsciously create what you don’t want or you can learn to use your genius and imagination to create the life of your dreams.
You are Not Your Thoughts
We have been conditioned to live in the experience of our thinking as if that is reality. When you start just watching thinking, you realize that thinking just happens. You are not controlling your thinking. If you were controlling your thinking, then all of your thoughts would be happy and empowering. They are not.
“I think, therefore I am.” Nope. Not even close. I am aware of my thinking. There is an aware presence that is aware of the thoughts that stream through my mind like clouds floating through a blue sky.
Since you were 4 or 5 years old, you were made to sit still and pay attention and memorize thoughts that a teacher deposited into your brain. You have been programmed with ideas, thoughts, and beliefs – none of which are “yours”. Schooling focuses on training brains as if they are muscles. You have not had the opportunity to get to know how your mind really works.
We are held captive by our thoughts, believing that they are all true. We basically are living in our heads. Yet, most thoughts are negative. Most of our thinking is habitual, conditioned programming.
Humanity’s greatest addiction is to thinking. We have been taught that all of our thoughts are true. If a really uncomfortable feeling or body sensation arises, I might jump into my head and start analyzing it. This is another way of blocking the emotion and sensation instead of just letting it be. When I let any uncomfortable thought, feeling or sensation just be, it naturally dissolves.
Mind mastery: What You are Not
You cannot experience your true Self, because this empty presence generates all experience. You are not an experience, so you cannot experience your true Self — pure awareness. A powerful exploration is to explore what you are NOT.
You are Not Your Body
When you are too busy with material things to have time to listen to that Voice [the Inner Voice of the Spirit] you become chained to the emotions of your body and the demands of material things. You are enslaved by them. The moment you begin to listen to your Inner Voice, that moment you become freed from slavery to the body. The high heavens of God’s omnipotent and omniscient universe then becomes your dwelling place.
— Walter Russell
We have been conditioned to believe that we are our bodies. In this belief, when my body dies, I die. Pretty scary stuff. I just disappear into the void? Is this true? Am I just my body?
I am aware of my fingers typing these words, so I am not my hands. I am aware of my feet standing on the ground, so I am not my feet. I am aware of my whole body. Who is this “I” that is aware of a body? Since I am aware of my body, I cannot be my body. There is an awareness that is aware of the body. (You are that present awareness.)
You cannot be that which you are aware of. Anything you are aware of is an “object” in your experience. You are aware of your body. So you are not the body. It is an object in your experience.
mind mastery: You are Not Your Mind
Mind mastery allows you to use your mind as a tool, not your master. Let’s pretend that you are a camera lens. You can open your lens wide so that you perceive everything at once – your surroundings, sounds, body sensations, thoughts coming and going. You perceive all of this at once. Or you can focus your attention on a very small part of reality – your thoughts or sensations. When we narrow our focus, we tend to become tight and stressed.
Play with this. Since most of our input comes through our vision, relax your eyes and take in as much of the world as possible. Just breathe and take it all in. How do you feel? Now, narrow your vision and focus tightly on one object before you. Stay focused for a minute. How do you feel now?
We have been programmed to view life through our inner narrator. This is a very narrow and biased focus on reality.
We have been conditioned to trust our minds. Minds are not trustworthy because they have been programmed with layers of false beliefs. You can only experience your conditioned thinking. Billions of dollars have been invested in education and media to control minds. I had a sudden realization one morning after I woke up and the self-defeating garbage thoughts started up again about me, my life, the bleak future, etc. “Wow! My mind is super toxic!” I suddenly realized. And then I started laughing. Being bound by our minds is a terrible way to live.
You are aware of your mind, so you are not your mind. All experience is perceived through the mind. You are not your mind because you are aware of your thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, and sensations. You cannot be that which you are aware of.
Once you understand that your Mind is a tool of Awareness, you can use it to create a beautiful life. Until you understand that your Mind is just a tool, it will be your master and create a life of suffering.
Your body-mind is a vehicle for your spiritual essence just like your car is a vehicle for your body. Your body-mind is a vehicle for your Absolute Self to create reality.
Are You Unaware?
I invite you to the practice of self-inquiry by observing your own awareness. Are you unaware? Sailor Bob Adamson asked me this several years ago. Of course, I am not unaware. “Do you exist?” he asked me. Yes, I exist. “Are you sure?” Absolutely. “Would you rather exist or not exist?” Well, even in my most challenging moments, I would prefer to exist. The truth is that it is impossible for you to not exist. Honestly, just try for a moment not to exist. You exist whether you like it or not.
Let’s explore this Aware Presence that you truly are. Take a moment and focus on an object that is before you. It could be a coffee mug, window, dog. Any object that you see before you. Just focus on it for one minute. Now, tell me – who is focusing on that object? You will say, “I am”. Now, focus on any sounds that you hear. What do you hear? Who is doing the hearing? Now, feel your feet on the ground. Are your feet hot or cold? What do you feel? Who is doing the feeling?
Consciousness is the light that emanates from within you and illuminates all experience – thoughts, ideas, feelings, sensations, perceptions. Without consciousness, you would not be aware of anything. You are pure awareness or consciousness.
The Absolute Self and the Relative self
To reach a higher level of being, you must assume a higher concept of yourself.
— Neville Goddard, The Power of Imagination
There is an Absolute Self and a relative self – which one is real? The purpose of our exploration is to realize the Absolute Self and to build a “bridge” to the relative self of mind, personality, ego, body, and time/space.
For the Absolute Self, there is no development or progress. No seeking. No suffering. No attaining. From the perspective of the relative self, there is suffering, seeking and attaining. We need the relative self to do our work, fulfill our calling, realize our purpose here on earth. Therein lies the paradox of our existence.
The Absolute Self is the Aware Presence that you are. It is your essence. It cannot be described. It is not an experience. You cannot attain your Absolute Self because it is pre-existing. It existed before your body was born and will continue after the body expires. It is aware beingness.
You cannot experience your true Self because all experiences appear to the true Self. You cannot know your true Self with your mind, because mind (and all thoughts) arises in your Awareness.
Your Absolute Self can be compared to the empty space in a room. The space is not affected by people coming and going or the furniture in the room. The space is not bothered by anything. You are that space in which all experience arises. You, Aware Presence, is not disturbed by any thought or feeling.
The relative self is your person. This comes from the word “persona” which means “mask”. Your person is the mask you wear to navigate society. Caprice is my avatar. Your name/avatar is who you think your are. It is relative because it is an image of you that is constantly changing. Some days I am happy, on top of the world, and feeling good about myself. Other days, I feel like a loser who cannot do anything right. My self-image is constantly changing and this colors how I view the world.
Enjoy the Show
Who is aware of this great show called MY LIFE? What is aware of Caprice? It is the Absolute Self which is aware presence. Non-duality points us to the Truth: There is not an object seen and a seer – there is just seeing. There is no thought and a thinker – there is just thinking. Awareness is our real nature. Awareness is the only reality. Join the No Cogs interest list and we will let you know when the Self Knowledge learning path is open.