Mind Growth Pt. 1

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by D_420, Apr 30, 2012.

  1. #1 D_420, Apr 30, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 30, 2012
    The mind is a substance, a very real substance. Just as the brain is made up of matter, so is the mind made up of matter, but matter of a different kind - naturally it is much more subtle and powerful than the matter of the brain.

    When you think, you are allowing a tiny portion of your mind to manifest itself through the corresponding actions of the brain. It is not the brain that does the thinking, the brain is only the receiver, the receptacle. It receives impressions from above and molds itself according to those impressions. Therefore the brain, or more accurately, the entire physical organism, is a tool - an instrument designed for our own use, to use however we see fit. We are not our physical body, to identify ourselves with our physical body would be like the toolman identifying himself with his screwdriver. Although we could perhaps appreciate the intimacy that this toolman has with his beloved screwdriver, is it not a bit irrational if he slept with his screwdriver, ate with his screwdriver, bonded with his screwdriver, as if it were him?

    Evolution works in such a way as to accomodate space for new faculties by losing grip with other faculties that are already in our possession, only to pick up the old faculty again at a later stage, with the added new faculty. This is the most intelligent way that has been designed for us to progress along the path of life as a species. If we were to hold on to all of our aquired abilities while striving to aquire a new ability, we would have only the smallest amount of power left to actually make any real progress with. If this were the case then evolution would take even slower than it already does. Therefore all those faculties which we have aquired in the past through countless years of slow but steady evolution have been stored inside of us, as latent faculties. Sleeping, slumbering, as it were. Nevertheless, the germ is there, it cannot be eradicated. All those things which we deem supernatural, divine, psychic, etc. lays dormant within each and every one of us. It was (and still is, to some degree) necessary for our evolution to delve deep into the physical world in order to learn about and conquer it, to bring the physical in line with the divine, to control it.

    We can each help to speed up the process of our own individual evolution by training our mind to express itself more clearly upon our physical bodies. It is obvious that we need a physical body in order to operate in the physical world. The same holds true for the mind world, therefore every creature capable of rational thought necessarily has a mind body, though these bodies can greatly vary in size and usefulness, even among members of our own species. In regard to size expressed in physical terms in humans it can range from a few feet in size to hundreds of metres, though the latter case is only really possible in those people who have become a little more than human. It is shaped almost like an egg, though the sides are more elongated than the top and bottom. In the average human it usually extends a good few healthy metres from the physical body, though the material of it is very poorly developed.

    Each day we can devote a few minutes of our time to being aware of our thoughts as they run through our head. Perhaps you can find some "alone time" to fully devote yourself at simply noticing what thoughts pop up into your head. You can close your eyes if you wish. You don't have to try to control your thoughts, just observe and be aware of them without getting completely absorbed in any particular stream of thought. If during this period you catch yourself absorbed in a thought, it's ok, at least you caught yourself! Push the thought aside and simply return back to being the quiet observer of your thoughts. The point of this exercise is to not lose yourself, to not forget yourself.

    After a few days of performing this exercise for only a few minutes each day, you'll find that your thoughts begin to come up less forcefully and less intruding. At this stage you may begin to become faintly aware of those thought-currents that lay underneath the internal dialogue, which many people have termed "pre-thoughts." It is a trademark of a developed mind to think using only these "pre-thoughts," because it uses more of the subtle matter of the mind which naturally allows for quickened mental calculation. If this is a part of yourself which you want to develop, it would be much more useful to practice this for two minutes each day than to practice for 20 minutes one day and then skip the next day. Don't be discouraged by initial failures, Perseverance is your greatest asset. Just as you'd push yourself forward with all your strength on the treadmill, or in the ring, or on the pilates mat, or while squeezing out that last full-body rep, even when it feels like every cell in your body wants to give up, you dig deep and push on regardless; in the same way once you start pushing your mind, you'll start wanting to push your mind more and more. This is why it's important to do it every day, to get over that initial slump. I'm sure you wouldn't expect yourself to swing a golf club perfectly for the first time - don't expect yourself to instantly be an expert at this either. Of course the real benefits of this type of practice far outweigh the benefits you would gain from putting an equal amount of effort in learning how to play golf.

    Every vibration in thought sets up a corresponding vibration in matter. When a thought is born, it immediately draws around itself a particular type of matter corresponding to the nature of the thought. So if we produce a loving thought, it will naturally attract around it and clothe itself in a particular type of matter which most readily responds to the vibration of love. If we produce a hateful thought, it will clothe itself in matter which responds to the vibration of hate. So we find that our thoughts produce real things, real entities, around us. If we think good, we will attract good. If we think evil, we will attract evil.

    Every change in consciousness is accompanied by a change in matter, particularly that matter which immediately surrounds the consciousness. This is why, the closer we physically are with someone, the more we seem to rub off our nature on to that person, because our higher bodies (which extend beyond the physical body) are not only touching each other but are literally melting into one another. If you have ever met a highly developed person, you will find that He will bring you close to Himself so that His good influence rubs off on you and helps you. In a similar but more humble manner, we can each strive to develop only good and loving thoughts inside of ourselves, so that in our day-to-day lives, we are literally helping each person that we interact with without even trying to help, however small and humble your good influence might be, it is better than nothing, and it is surely better than affecting our peers negatively.

    Once our body has vibrated in a certain way, it sets up a route, a tendency, towards that same particular vibration in the future. It is easier for the body to vibrate along the same line than to take up a new route. Therefore, unless compelled by an outside force or an act of will, our mind will usually follow the path of least resistance and move along the paths to which it is accustomed, because that requires the least expenditure of energy. If that particular vibration has been repeated enough times a tendency will be set up in the body to repeat the vibration of its own accord. When this happens, the change in matter will begin to occur spontaneously without any action coming from the consciousness, but it affects the consciousness nonetheless, because of the inseparable link that exists between matter and consciousness. This is known as habit.

    Most mental habits are relatively harmless, though they do not do much for the active growth of the mind either. Some habits are especially harmful to the health of the person, especially those habits of entertaining evil thoughts, of brooding over people with a loathsome kind of mentality, or of giving in to every whim and desire which sweeps across the person. When we think bad of someone, not only are we hurting the other person through the thought-vibrations that we send out (which reach the person regardless of distance) but we are also hurting ourselves by encouraging the grosser types of matter to collect around us. On top of this, once our thoughts reach a person, they will play and dance around the person, irritating and provoking matter out of the person of a similar type according to the thought. Thus if the thought is of harmful or evil intention it will bring out and invigorate all the evil and unwanted aspects of the person that it's directed to, not only retarding your own evolution but retarding your fellow human-being's evolution as well. It often happens that a person who is trying to do good and who is trying to conquer his evil desires is misunderstood or otherwise misinterpreted by another person. The second person consequently broods over the first in a less-than-loving kind of way, exciting the poor man's evil tendencies which he is trying so hard to conquer. So we find that violence is not restricted to the physical world, nor is it necessary for emotional outbursts to find a physical means of expression in order to prove harmful.

    That faculty of the mind which aids us in both rationality and concentration is deliberate, sequential thinking. Instead of allowing our minds to wander and drift about aimlessly, we can learn to train our minds to always think with a definite purpose. This involves holding the mind at a single point, on a single subject, and only allowing thoughts of that particular subject to touch the mind. If you have persisted with the first exercise of simply watching and being aware of your own thoughts every day for a few weeks, you would have become adept at it and you will naturally want to move on to something more difficult. This will only really benefit those who have become good at watching their own thoughts and therefore truly desire something more difficult. Be honest with yourself in regards to this.

    Find a quiet place to chill, you'll probably want to close your eyes in the beginning. Endeavor to think of only a single thing, be it a person, an abstract concept, a virtue, etc. It's up to you. If you choose to think of a person your mind will naturally wander to the relationship that you have with the person, the last time you saw him/her, an event that you both attended or a specific memory of time spent together, the person's opinions or life-views, etc. All of these things would be acceptable streams of thought in the beginning, however you'll want to pay strict attention to the relation that exists between each stream of thought as it enters your mind, in order to stop yourself from thinking of things that are not related to your subject. You may find that one moment you're thinking of the person or concept which you intend to think of, then the next moment you're thinking of something completely different, with no clue as to how you got there. This happens because for that shortest space of time your mind became inattentive, you forgot yourself. If that happens, don't fret, just return back to the intended stream of thought. It's important to keep your attention active and in motion, do not allow your mind to become passive. There will be some people who are instantly very good at this exercise, almost one hundred percent of the time it will be because they are approaching it from a passive state of mind. For these people i would suggest choosing Activity as a virtue to dwell upon, or to choose a very active person from their life to think of, as embodying that virtue. I also wish to point out that people with naturally passive minds often (always) have the tendency of denying to themselves that they are passive. When fixing the mind on a virtue, such as Love, once the mind has absorbed and understood the effects of Love, the mind should be steadily fastened to the nature of Love.

    The point of this is to deliberately hold the mind in place through the direct action of the will. Once you begin this you'll find that your brain will fight you every step of the way, kicking and screaming, as it were, but it is like a child that doesn't know what's best for itself. Remember, the body is our tool, therefore we must not yield to its commands, instead it must listen to our commands and carry them out perfectly according to our wish. The mind must learn to move from one point to another through the deliberate motion that we choose to set up within it. After you've practiced this exercise a few times it will be more beneficial to slowly narrow down the streams of thought that touch your mind, so that you're only left with one specific thought-stream to dwell on, no longer jumping between the streams. When this happens, the mind will naturally be in a very concentrated state. As a result of this, the creative force which is usually expended through forming links and connections within the mind is transmuted into a state of rapt absorption. This results in the mind sucking in, absorbing, the object of concentration. The longer the mind is held in place while it is in this concentrated state of mind, the more of the true nature of the object will be revealed.

    Once the brain has been trained along these lines, thoughts will naturally grow out of one another in an orderly, sequential manner, making us much more rational as a result. Not only does it improve the rational nature, it also strengthens the Will, trains the lower nature, and expands the mind. Thoughts are the actual material with which the mind body builds itself out of. When we practice concentrated and deliberate thinking, we are literally building material up into our minds, making it bigger, stengthening the bonds which bind the body together. On top of this, through the action of the body working in harmony with the mind, those forces which we know as the astral or feeling-forces are naturally strengthened and brought into more intimate contact with the physical body. This is because all the mind-currents which control the physical organism must necessarily run through the astral body in order to reach the physical body. The result of this is that the dreams will become much more vivid and easier to remember. This also opens up the potential to work with and raise the finer emotions and the higher feeling-forces.

    In the latter exercise you would find it very beneficial to let the mind dwell on those specific virtues which you desire to possess. People of a devotional character will naturally find it easier to dwell on people rather than concepts or ideas. If you find it easier you could imagine a person as being the absolute perfect embodiment of the virtue which you seek, as if this person is just effortlessly radiating this virtue from the core. It doesn't matter whether the person is physically existent or not. For those people who are more attracted to ideas and concepts than they are to people, a very real kind of devotion to an idea can be roused within such a person, which appeals to the moral and intellectual nature of the person through inspiration and beauty.

    The physical body is constantly changing, throwing out atoms, taking in atoms. It is always replacing the matter with which it is built out of. I think I've heard that the cells in our body are all replaced in 7 years.. Whether this is actually true I'm not sure, but the point behind it remains solid. In a remarkably similar fashion, the mind is also constantly replacing its own matter. This is how it is possible for one to build and expand their mind. If we persist at thinking in a certain way, eventually all the particles of the mind will be built in such a certain way as to accomodate that manner of thought. Therefore that which we had to once put all of our effort forth in striving towards, eventually starts becoming the most natural thing to do, until it becomes completely automatic and we can then focus all our attention on the next thing.

    As a man thinks, so he becomes. Down here we are what we eat. Up there we are what we think.

    -depending on the amount of action this thread sees, I might decide to add more information and exercises.
     
  2. I like it! The basic connection you make between the physical and the mental, how the mental determines the essential nature that the physical forms itself after, in terms of brain structure as well as overall atomic structure in reality, is something I definitely believe and think/write about a lot. Also when you talked about 'pre-thoughts,' this is another thing I have noticed and thought would be good to develop. At a certain point I started noticing myself 'translating' my thoughts, where I already had understood all of the information I was trying to convey using word-thoughts, and that for me to put it into words would take like 100x longer than just using that initial 'thought spark' which had all of the information anyways.
     
  3. Didnt finish yet, but I'm sub'n and continuing later.
    I like reading this, good thought and really intelligent ways to kinda expand in my own unique way.
    Nice man
     
  4. Thank you, OP! Excited to give it go.

    :wave:
     
  5. Thanks for the input.

    I understand exactly what you're saying. It's quite a curious thing, though to describe it in words is rather difficult. That 'thought spark' is essentially another language, but it is a language which lacks any sense of time, as we'd understand it. The reason there is no sense of time in mental understanding is because time doesn't exist in the higher worlds. Everything that happens, happens in the Now - the eternal present moment. Therefore to translate that mental understanding into physical words, we have to necessarily take each bit of information and put it together in relation to every other bit of information as a series of events that are relatable to a timeline. This is definitely what takes up most of the effort in translating.

    When I was receiving direct teaching in the mental world I would comprehend all the knowledge which was given to me as if it were all condensed into a little ball; the ball would touch my mind and in a single moment and I would instantly understand all aspects of what was being conveyed to me. Though, once I tried comprehending the teachings down here, I would find the information jumbled and irrelevant to any sense of time; I still understand it, the connections between the information-bits still exist, but the information wasn't connected to any sense of time.

    Even in that world which is below the mental world, that realm which is responsible for dreams, the most important lesson that it holds is that the Now is the only thing that exists. Everything that you do has the Now for its expression. Thus it is all about what you decide to do in this very Moment. When we live our lives constantly striving to get closer to the Now, we are literally training ourselves how to operate in the higher worlds and we are getting closer to our Source as a result.
     
  6. #6 esseff, May 4, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: May 4, 2012
    Sometimes it seems like there's no need to bring these things into the linear time realm, as the reason for doing so might be to just make someone else aware of what's been experienced. These realisations always affect the perceiving consciousness in a way that allows the individual to make the right use of them.

    There are times when I feel that attempting to inform others about what I perceive actually corrupts it into something that is more likely to confuse than help.
     

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