Be Ordinary

Notice the moment is here or the busy mind hijacks attention. The mind is goal-oriented, oscillating between past and future. The mind is not here. Being present is the most ordinary state. The mind has no present tense and cannot grasp what is beyond its scope. When presence happens, it is unrelated to the individual. Purpose is a human created idea. Nature has no purpose. The sun, moon, stars, trees, vegetaion, creatures, flowing oceans, are no means to an end, but simply are. To be present is nothing special. No superior or inferior exist. Relax. Struggle falls away.  Being here now is all that is real.

Stop bullying yourself with Mind

The most effective way to stop your mind from being a bully, to stop tormenting you, from being the source of your suffering, is through disidentifying with it. Simply come to recognize it is not who you are.

The ego mind isn’t you. But, it isn’t your enemy either.  It exists to keep you safe. Whenever ego mind insults, doubts, is unsupportive, this is not echoing low self-worth, belief you are not enough. Ego is simply threatened by something you do. The only way to make peace with ego mind is to realize full potential.  This is rising above or going beyond its limiited sense of reality. Allow true Self to take charge. To see through the tormenter is to be aware beyond this ego mind. It only exists to help you grow out of it.

As long as ego mind is in control, suffering occurs. The ego does not align with true Self. Ego mind is not interested in love, happiness, joy, peace.  Ego is a constant problem-solver to help body and ego survive.  Yet, its survival tactics are not always needed. All the resistance, anxiety, self-doubt, self-condemnation and negativity don’t determine what we can or cannot achieve.  Mind cannot intimidate us without our own consent.

We are taught to mistake ego mind’s desperate attempts to be heard for who we are.  What is the best course? Come to recognize the voice of ego mind and learn to ignore it.  See ego mind as a gift.  Be gentle with yourself.  Re-training the mind to be positive and kind is not the answer. We cannot force ego mind to forget its evolutionary programming. Instead, use ego as a useful tool and move on.

Rather than allow ego to gather momentum, be the witness. View ego as a facade. Distance from its never-ending stream of repetitive, automated, thought patterns. Shift into the voice of our true Self, the naturally supportive, loving and accepting core of who you are.

Redefining true responsibility

Many views exist on responsibility. Some feel taking it is key, others prefer to avoid related discomfort, pain. A part of you would argue taking responsibility is like taking control of life. Yet what is really under our control?

Society distorts things. We are taught being responsible is doing what we are told by our elders (parents, teachers, mentors), and being irresponsible is acting from our perception of individual needs. The mistaken fear often adopted is if we act spontaneously, this will be like avoiding social, family and cultural responsibilities on our shoulders. In fact, this is a huge misunderstanding or way our minds are manipulated away from truth.

In truth, response is possible only if you are spontaneous, act in the moment, now. Response means that your attention, awareness, consciousness, is fully present. Come what may,  respond with your whole being. It is not a question of being in tune with anyone else, some holy scripture, or some imagined personality. It simply means to be in tune with the present moment.

This ability to respond in the here and now, based on feelings at present is responsibility, another term that silently refers to meditation.  This is a forgotten secret. Remembering and putting this into practice changes how you relate to yourself and the world.

Dream Analysis of the Week- Shower of Change

Dream:

I ws in the shower.  I did not physically ressembe my current appearance. I had short black hair and I was a cartoon character. As the water came down on my body, the colour was washed off and there was nothing left. 

 

Insight:

This may be viewed as a shapeshifting dream.  It is a reminder of what Shakespeare reminds us: "All the world's a stage and men and women are only players."

Water dreams or falling water echo we are healing from the past, and optimistic about things. It also refers to purifying ourselves physically and spiritually to preparing for new realities where we realize a different state of mind and being.  If showering or bathing evokes unsettled thoughts or feeling "dirty", something deeper may need to be addressed. These generally include emotionally distressing or stressful situations that arise for acceptance and healing.

To dream that our life or body is a cartoon implies we don't take life too seriously or would be better off if we found ways to lighten up.. This could mean we would benefit from growing aware of a stressful habits or thinking patterns.  Consider it a possible wake up call to reframe our life, to remind us we can always shift perspective.  We can always erase a version of ourselves through integrating lessons and/or letting go of what we outgrow.

When rewriting (or rescripting) our dreams, we are growing more conscious of who we are and our true power.  This is a way to actively approach the storyboard of our soul journey. That is, we close our eyes and run through the images in our mind, and then rewind the image and rewrite it – rewrite the story, in whatever way we choose. In essence, we are taking charge of the image on our own terms.  At any given moment, we realize we decide how we wish to feel and where we will allow energy to flow.  When focused, every thought and feeling can be harsessed and redirected consciously. 

5 Reasons to Lucid Dream

Its widely agreed that lucid dreaming has many benefits and yet how do we get here and practise consistently?  Consider 5 Reasons to lucid dream;

1. Know Power of Intention

People are motivated to do things because of an underlying intention.  As we make the intention conscious (or grow aware of it), this creates momentum for the experience to take shape in our lives.

2. Strengthen Memory

Good dream recall  strengthens memory. This essential to lucid dream. This starts with the firm resolve to recall your dreams. Dream journaling helps. A proven technique is to wake up a few hours earlier, stay up for fifteen minutes or so, then go back to sleep with the intent that “I will wake up in my dreams, I will remember my dreams.” 

3. Be Willing to Explore Techniques

Eastern and western techniques exist to help orient the dream journey.  Taking supplements, using technology that tracks brainwaves, visualisation and specific meditation techniques are some of the options available.

4. Feel the Urge to gain mind mastery 

The real point here is not to gain mastery over your dreams but mastery over your mind.  By gaining mastery over your mind, you grow fearless in the dark. The nighttime lucid dreams and yogas can illuminate, eliminate fear, the primordial emotion  of samsara.

5. Interested in Universality

The practices of the night lead us to this unified field and awaken us to the universality of the human condition.  In truth, when we go to sleep, we actually going to meet every other sentient being on this planet, at this deepest possible level. We’re going to sleep together and rest in the same luxurious bed of the primal mind. Our job, when we arise each morning, is not to forget this nightly reunion.