EGO-MIND

Edition 2 Issue #3

Now mid-January of this sparkling year 2015, we get into the “EGO-MIND” and how this self-centered alter personality is out to get us. How the EGO-MIND is killing us slowly by trying to run the show.  I had a friend, the late Milton Merle, used to tell us: “My head has got a contract out on my ass!” and I understand what he was telling us; is if I listen to this continual and incessant chirping, chattering, negative self-talk, it drives me to do damage to myself, to loved ones, to the people surround me, and ultimately is killing me. We continuously hear about, or speak of, the hamster on a treadmill, the incessant chattering in our heads, the Disney, and other cartoons depicting a devil on one shoulder and the angel or wise man (person) on the other.  What is this creepy and challenging alter ego I will call “EGO-MIND”?

MEDITATION

Several years ago I was reading an old Vedic text on meditation, I wanted to know more about this meditation stuff was supposed to help me shut off, or at least diminish, this chattering in my head.  So as I read a text translated from a language, which probably doesn’t even exist anymore, a language several thousand years old, a text far predating Christianity.  A text thousands of years before our new ideas of how meditation is the “in” thing….  As I read the text the teaching to beginners in meditation spoke of “monkey mind”, and I paused, haven’t ever seen monkeys in the wild, I have however experience chimpanzee enclaves like Jane Goodall works with... (More on this in another blog)  Not having witnessed monkeys live before, - I use the information I have from maybe the Discovery Channel, or National Geographic, or maybe it was Disney animation; as I picture monkeys jumping form tree limb to tree limp, haphazardly, with no rhyme nor rhythm.  Monkeys totally and unequivocally uncontrolled in their behaviour and uncontrollable in their conduct.  “This is my head!” I exclaim, and continue reading with fervour as I relate to this madness.  I actually thought I was alone in this insanity, I thought no one would understand me and here I am reading about this same way of uncontrolled chattering referred to as “monkey mind” so many thousand years ago by people totally unrelated, and a great distance form my family of origin.  All of a sudden I have something to work with, I have a base where I can relate to this “monkey mind’ stuff and know I am not alone. This is nothing new, I look at life from a whole new perspective, a new pair of glasses if you will, and particularly this reading on beginner meditation with renewed enthusiasm.  Now I know there is HOPE, I am filled with a new drive to purpose and refreshed in the thought I am not alone and there is HOPE for me, and all who seek it through MEDITATION.

I now embrace this meditation, how do I go about quietening this chatting and chattering of my head.  I read about the breath, how we use breath to control our head. Although some may say the breath is not important, as a beginner you will find it really important to get the rhythm going. To quiet the mind we focus first on breath, as this is a natural instinctive process, as we focus and count the breath we are taking focus away from the chattering and incessant chirpings from EGO-MIND.  So the purpose of the exercise being to slow down and stop the chattering in my head, not so easy as it sounds. This takes practice and we may tend to want to give up easily, but the rewards are immense.

Look at the list of successful people who meditate(d):

1.     Steve Jobs

2.     Sir Winston Churchill used to stare at flowers for hours on end, a form of deep meditation.

3.     Clint Eastwood

4.     Ronald Reagan

5.     Howard Stern

6.     Oprah Winfrey

7.     Russell Brand

8.     Jennifer Aniston

9.     Rupert Murdock

10.  Sir Paul McCartney

11.  Sky Ferreira

12.  Cheryl Crow

And hundreds more too many to list here…

REWARDS

Looking at how MEDITATION will actually reward me, I look more deeply into the benefits of quietening my mind.  The people in the list above who use, and/or used MEDITATION for not only their benefit, but for the greater good, as the short list above are people who affected us in our lifetimes, or had decisive impact on us historically.  I left out so many from this list like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, all the great Spiritual leaders of past and present times speak of taking time for MEDITATION, sometimes days, weeks and many months long journey into self, for self-discovery, looking inside instead of the outer world where we in the west and modern, fast paced world are so focused on.  Using MEDITATION to connect with the Spirit of the Universe, with Universal Mind, and connecting deeply to the Source of ALL there is.   The peace I will find through quiet MEDITATION brings me to a place of serenity and reducing this incessant chatting, a place of inner peace and self-awareness which leaves me open to Gifts from Spirit and Miracles, a place where I can lead a purpose driven, meaningful life; for the benefit of ALL with no harm to no one.

LETTING GO

So how do I “LET GO” (read Jan 7 blog on “Letting Go”(click here!))
How do I allow this meditation to slow down my head, my thinking, referred sometimes to “stinking-thinking”? How do I completely let go and slow down.

Just stay with us, here at www.beyondthe12th.com, there will be meditation leanings and other resources available to you. Using yoga principles to get fit and in a meditative state, try this link myyogaonline.com

Completely letting go and embracing change is what worked for me, I now can live a meaningful, purpose driven life, something I couldn’t do until I identified my purpose in life, and let go of the things which were holding me back, the false ideas I had about how life should unfold and the damaging self-talk harming my Spiritual advancement.  I could not have arrived a finding a path in life without MEDITATION, and the direct benefits of slowing down the thought process. Of clearing the mind of the cobwebs and negative self-talk constantly hindered advancement.

ALLOW THE TIME

I had to allow for the time it takes to completely let go. This doesn’t happen immediately, it doesn’t happen instantly like instant oatmeal, you have it ready when you want. This takes discipline, and if you are like me, an alcoholic of the seeming hopeless variety, we are an undisciplined lot, is how we are described in the book ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ referred to as the ‘Big Book’, as an undisciplined person, it took me trial after trial. It took guided meditations and group meditations and I really had to want this thing.  This elusive quietening of my head seemed to take so, so long, so much trial and I had to keep at it.

We will introduce beginner meditation to our site now and offer free MEDITATION to you, our loyal readers. Remember Rome was not built in a day, and neither can you expect this miraculous meditative state to appear without continual trial and effort. I used the word miraculous because the state achieved from MEDITATION, which quietens the mind, is nothing short of miraculous and a source to Enlightenment and Spiritual wellness.

Look for next week’s edition on “AWARENESS”.  And be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive it directly you won’t miss a beat.