Transcending The Mind’s Automatic Programming
Question:
Hi Ariel,
The biggest difficulty that I have had so far has been trying to reconcile a fully conscious lifestyle with the brain’s automatic conditioned responses. It seems like our brains have evolved to compel us to behave in an evolutionarily advantageous way. For example, if I hold my breath for as long as I can, eventually my desire for air will increase to the point that it overwhelms everything else.
How does the idea of enlightenment deal with these automatic responses? No matter how spiritually enlightened we are, we are still human. I think that the root of my difficulties is coming from the fact that I am hoping to see true reality, yet I also believe that our minds are hardwired to experience reality in certain ways that are beneficial to our survival.
Thanks,
B.
My Response:
Hey B,
Great question.
You’re absolutely right. No matter how enlightened “you” are, “you” are still just as human.
All awakening boils down to is realizing your true nature. Sure, Jesus still ate food. The Buddha’s heart still beat. Ramana Maharshi still talked with people. Nisargadatta Maharaj still breathed naturally. Adyashanti still has the capacity to think. David Hawkins still has the ability to hold an intention in mind and see it come into manifestation.
You see, it’s not about overriding your body’s natural evolutionary patterns, but recognizing that they are not you. It’s not about trying to force the mind to go quiet, but recognizing the mind is not you. It’s not about perceiving an alternate reality beyond the mind, but recognizing that the mind’s perception of what is is not actually reality. What is is just what is, not what you think it is.
It is possible to look, to simply look at something without mentally creating a whole story about what’s being witnessed. Witness what is without engaging the mind.
Upon awakening it is still possible to discern the difference between a snake and a bed, for example. One is safe for the body to lie down on. The other is not. 
It’s not like that capacity is lost.
What changes is the idea that “external” objects are in any way separate from that which I am. We are all recognized to be an expression of Divinity.
The mind is not capable of truly coming to this realization. It can only adopt this, or something else, as a belief system.
You’re right that the mind is designed to ensure our own physical survival, for the most part. However, the mind can only discern appearance. Is this food healthy or not? Does this situation look dangerous or not? It uses logic, reasoning, and past experiences as its reference, but very often what’s happening now is very different from what happened in the past. The mind is only designed to perceive what happened. It’s not designed to understand what will happen. This is an inherent limitation of the mind.
Allowing What Is
Let the brain and its automatic conditioned responses do its thing. While that happens, maintain a state of allowing.
A wonderful tool for helping you let go of trying to control and manipulate everything is the Sedona Method. It’ll really help put you in touch with your natural state of being. You are not the doer or the controller of all those actions. You are the one that is, not the one that does.
Interestingly, when one begins to withdraw a sense of identification and validity from the mind, it naturally begins to grow quieter. As this happens, a second, yet far more subtle capacity for recognizing truth called intuition becomes more prominent. The intuition is a far more reliable tool than the mind when it comes to discerning truth from non-truth.
The closest we could say that “you” are is that you are the awareness that is witnessing the brain spin its wheels and do its thing.
There are schools of thought which suggest that spirituality is about experiencing an altered state of consciousness so they’ll teach you how to perform various breathing techniques, meditation techniques to induce altered states of consciousness, and so on. You can absolutely have mystical experiences by following these techniques, experience expanded states of consciousness, experience other dimensions, and more, but that’s not what the essence of awakening is all about.
Awakening is simply abiding in one’s natural state, the purest and most natural state of being that is. Pure existence, without identification with thought. Thought may happen. The brain’s automatic patterns may happen, just like the sun rises and sets. However, they are not you and have no foundation in ultimate reality. This is the key.
If they are not you, what are you?
Discover who you truly are while allowing everything else to be as it is.
That’s it.
Thanks for your question.
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I wonder about the mind. It causes a lot of problems. I wish they’d teach us this stuff in school - how to handle the mind, life, and relationships.
Ariel - do you think it advantageous to completely step away from the mind? Is just being a witness enough to reprogram it? Because, some days i’ll have so many negative repetitive thoughts going over and over, i have to step in and say ENOUGH. Funny thing is, when i tell my brain what to do, it usually complies.
[Reply]
Ariel Bravy Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
It is helpful, Anthony, if you truly want to awaken, to let go of any identification with the mind.
You have probably discovered that trying to replace negative mental noise with positive mental noise is still just noise. Instead of enjoying life as it is in this moment, a delicious meal, a deep massage, the mind is thinking about how great it is, how wonderful life is, how appreciative it is, and so on. Just be quiet and enjoy the moment!
As you said, it is possible to tell the mind to be quiet for a moment and experience that. The thing is, however, and this is very subtle, you are not the one telling your brain what to do! It is thought directing thought, but thought is not you!
There’s this trick where the mind can tell itself to be quiet for a moment, and it will. Then it gives “you” credit for this action. By giving you credit, it gives you the impression that you are in control of the mind and if you engage in this game more and more, you can get to the point where you can overcome the mind. You can dominate and win. Any time you try to go to battle with the mind, you lose. It’s a game you can not win.
Why? Because there is no “you” to win the game! The “you” who thinks it’s in control of the mind is only a thought in the first place!
There’s a “you” who doesn’t exist competing against a mind who is also not you. There is no “you” involved in the game at all!
So if you’re not even playing the game, how on earth do you ever expect to win?
[Reply]
Anthony Reply:
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Yes. I agree with you (which is nobody agreeing with anybody) or the universal oneness agreeing within itself…
However…
The ultimate truth is for what you speak. But i see myself as both spiritual and human. In the human realm, there are ways to work with the mind that are advantageous. I would rather make my mind a better servant that be slave to it’s noise, and if i find a way to do this, then great.
This is the issue i have with a lot of my spiritual friends.. they use their spirituality as a excuse to be passive, and life, as it does, goes about it’s business, and they are left wondering why things didn’t work out for them.
We are both spiritual, and human. I think the key, as in the ‘what if god is one of us’ song, is to embrace our spirituality through our humanity, and vice versa
Anthonys last blog post..Song - “Sapphire”
[Reply]
You’re right. A lot of people fall into the trap of thinking that the fact that they’re not the controller means that they are essentially a bump on a log. This is NOT what it means.
To surf the wave of life does not mean that you bob helplessly in the sea. You do still have to catch the wave in the first place and align yourself with the wave. It’s not going to do all the work for you.
Giving up the idea of trying to control and manipulate life simply means that you aren’t resisting life as it is. You are fully engaged in life, literally one with it. You are the very flow of life itself. You just aren’t the controlling force of it. The “force” is working through you.
From an awakened perspective, the words of the great saints and avatars make a lot more sense. For example, St. Francis of Assisi asked God to make him an instrument of His peace. Jesus said that it wasn’t him doing the actions, but that it was the Father within him doing the work. Though the personal “me” isn’t doing the work, work IS still being done. In fact, it is far more powerful in this way, because the “individual” is tapping into a much higher power. Universal power instead of personal power.
There is this idea that if I’m not in charge, then I don’t have to take responsibility for my actions, I don’t have to make decisions, and so on. This is a wonderful escape for the ego because it means that anything it comes up with is now okay. However, there are still consequences to every action and what you sew, you ultimately reap.
This is similar to the idea that “life is perfect” so I don’t need to bother doing anything in life, including growing or expanding. This is a subtle misunderstanding of what it means for life to be perfect as it is. A lot of people get stuck here and it can be hard to help them move beyond this because they literally have no desire to change. After all, things are perfect the way they are!
I agree with you, Anthony, that people can surrender control and think that they now have no say in what happens. Then they wonder why life doesn’t work out for them. It’s just a misunderstanding of spiritual principles.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being in control or taking charge of your life and changing things when appropriate. When we get stuck in wanting to change or the wanting to control (because we feel like we can’t change or aren’t in control in the first place), what we don’t like persists and we then feel even more out of control. So really all I’m advocating is to let go of constantly wanting to control life and instead flowing with life, without resistance.
My suggestion is not to believe this reasoning one way or another. That’s not the point. I would recommend that you ask, “Who is the one who wants to control life?” and see if you can find the “me” who is in control. It’s something you must go within and do the work to discover for yourself. You can’t just take my word for it, and in this way, I’m glad you’re not.
[Reply]
Beautifully put. The wants and desires, eh?
Thank you for posting!
One Love
Psiplexs last blog post..All Ever Is
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