Quiet the Mind (Part 4)
Did you have an opportunity to experiment with some of the exercises discussed in Part 3 of this series? What, if anything, did you discover?
At the outset of this series, many subscribers were excited. They told me how they anxiously awaited techniques for quieting the mind – and how they would implement them right away.
Once I offered the first two techniques in Part 3, the emails – and enthusiasm – diminished considerably. I think I know why – and some of you may not like what I’m about to say.
The reason most people can’t quiet their mind is that they don’t want it badly enough. They have not made the commitment to have a quiet mind.
There’s no doubt that just about everyone wants a quiet mind. But many of you want it only if it can fit nicely within the context of your current life. You want peace, but you also want to hold on to the majority of your current beliefs. You want to keep engaging in most of your current activities.
You’re not against change; you just don’t want TOO much of it.
I also realize that some of you are very committed to a quiet mind – far more committed than I will ever be. This isn’t an attack or criticism of those who aren’t committed. As I see it, you are exactly where you’re supposed to be right now. You can’t force it. When you are ready to loosen the chains of the mind, you will do so, and not a minute before.
I know a little about the difference of being committed or not committed to a quiet mind because I went through both of these stages. For a long time, I wanted a quiet mind, but wasn’t willing to pay the price I needed to pay to move in that direction.
You see, although a quiet mind sounds wonderful, the road to getting there is not smooth for most people. There is turbulence. Fear arises. This should not be surprising, since most of us have our identity wrapped up in the thoughts and beliefs of our active mind.
We are attached to conditioned thoughts and emotions, to the point where we believe we ARE them. In this series of messages, I am inviting you to relinquish the grip of these thoughts and emotions. Trust me, your mind is not going to calm down and step aside without a fight. The mind’s major weapon to keep you where you are is fear.
As you begin to quiet the mind, you feel a sense of peace, even if only for a moment. After that, however, you may have a feeling that you are losing your identity. Here’s why. The only way most people can describe themselves is by stating thoughts their minds have been fed, such as their name, the country of their birth, their religion, their gender, etc.
Without your conditioned thoughts and beliefs, who are you? The mind gets very nervous when you cut off its frame of references. There are moments where you have nothing familiar to hang onto to describe yourself.
At that point, the mind steps in to scare you. It cautions you to stop this experimentation with a quiet mind — and that if you continue your exploration, you will enter some type of unknown void or be a “nothing.”
That’s why quieting the mind is not for the squeamish. It’s for those who have suffered enough with the roller coaster of thoughts and emotions and want to get off the ride. It’s for those who are fully ready to embrace the unknown and the fear it brings.
I think you’ll find that you can’t have it both ways. You can’t have a quiet mind and yet live virtually the same way you are living now. As your mind quiets down, you won’t think the same as you did before. You won’t act the same.
What the active mind has created, the quiet mind may destroy.
Some of you may be thinking, “I just want to be less stressed, to be more positive, to get rid of the negative thoughts and emotions. I don’t need to lose my identity or go through major changes. I just want to be calm.”
What I have found, however, is that the only way to get that deep feeling of calm and peace is to empty the mind and stop it from offering its incessant flow of thoughts and emotions. You then become a vessel for new insights to reveal themselves at the heart level.
As long as you remain attached to the swirl of thoughts and beliefs, you will attain only limited peace. The magic comes when you are willing to calm the mind to the point where you lose your “old” identity and are open to whatever comes.
I’m not saying that to quiet the mind, you must quit your job, change relationships or move to another state or country. You don’t have to make any drastic changes right away. What I’m talking about involves INNER work.
For the process to work effectively, however, you will have to be open to new insights and new beliefs about yourself, the world, and the way you are living your life. As the mind slows down, your heart begins to speak to you. What you hear may surprise you!
You may start to question some of your core religious or spiritual beliefs. You may start to question the way you interact with others or how you spend your time. You may develop very different priorities. Your family and friends may not approve of the “new” you.
As all this happens, fear will raise its ugly head. It is the effort of the mind trying to warn you to back off and go back to your “old” way of thinking and living.
Over the years, I read many spiritual books and articles that said those who are able to quiet the mind are those who “want it more than anything else.” While this might seem to be an exaggeration, I personally find it to be right on target. It is only when I myself got to that point that I made significant progress in quieting my mind.
In the next message of this series, I will offer more techniques for quieting the mind. I felt it was essential to discuss the issue of commitment before moving ahead.
– Jeff Keller
© 2008