Unity of Auburn April 26, 2020
Mastering Our Thoughts and Instincts
Talk Notes
Law of Mind Action
- Thoughts held in mind tend to produce after their own kind.
- The things that we allow to consistently occupy the mind, especially when they are supported by strong feelings will tend to show up in our lives.
“Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and ... know nothing but the word of God.”
Martin Luther
“The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement, developed mainly in France, Britain and Germany in the 1700’s which advocated freedom, democracy and reason as the primary values of society.”
“Humankind is the power of God in action. To humankind is given the highest power in the universe, the conscious power of thought.” The Twelve Powers, p. 68
“The thinking faculty in humankind makes each person a free agent, because it is our creative center; in and through this one power, we establish our consciousness-- we build our world.” Keep a True Lent, p. 114
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” (from the Dhammapada)
"For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy." Bhagavad Gita
Power
- Dominion – Mastery
- “The mind and the body of man have the power of transforming energy from one plane of consciousness to another. This is the power and dominion implanted in man from the beginning… the power faculty plays an important part in controlling the expression of the many emotions, inspirations, and thoughts.” Charles Fillmore The Twelve Powers
Negative thoughts and feelings are not necessarily accurate reflections of things that are true about us. They are symptoms of a state of consciousness, the one that operates on autopilot.
RAIN
R recognize
A accept, allow, acknowledge
I investigate
N non-identification
Recognize
- Move in closer to any uncomfortable or unpleasant feelings, sensations, or thought and notice how you are reacting, especially how they are showing up physically in the body.
- Step back into observation rather than reaction.
- Sometimes it is helpful to say silently “here’s aversion.”
- Without getting into story, simply name what is present, such as:
- “annoyance,”
- “thoughts of being mistreated,”
- “body firing up,”
- “hurt,”
- “wanting to cry.”
Accept (acknowledge, allow)
- Be with it without attempting to change it.
- Try to have self-compassion instead of self-criticism.
- Don’t add to the difficulty by being hard on yourself.
Investigate
- What are the effects?
- What does it feel like?
- Where and how do you experience it?
- What effect does it have on thinking?
Non-Identification
- Have a feeling/thought/etc., instead of being it.
- Disentangle yourself from the various parts of the experience, knowing that they are small, fleeting aspects of the totality you are.
- See the streaming nature of sights, sounds, thoughts, and other contents of mind, arising and passing away due mainly to causes that have nothing to do with you, that are impersonal.
- Feel the contraction, stress, and pain that comes from claiming any part of this stream as “I,” or “me,” or “mine” – and sense the spaciousness and peace that comes when experiences simply flow.
This same technique works well with dealing with sensations of physical discomfort
- Try deliberately and gently focusing attention on the part of the body where the experience of discomfort is most intense.
- Bring awareness into the sensations there even though this may seem counterintuitive.
- Explore and investigate, see what happens.
- Remember that it is fine to bring attention back to the breath, or move mindfully.