Did you know that 95% of our daily decisions are done automatically, subconsciously?
This includes what we value, how we perceive the world and the meanings we give events.
Just consider this.
Most people are completely identified with their thoughts.
They believe that the voice in their head is who they are.
The voice provides constant commentary on everything one experiences, what it means, and if it is good, bad, beautiful, or ugly. If it will lead to pleasure or pain.
These thought filters don't just interpret reality; they project it onto your experience.
If you believe in "good" and "evil," you will automatically filter everything through good and evil.
The "I" thought constantly asks, "What's in it for me?" and transforms every situation into potential gain or loss.
Your thoughts color what you perceive, trigger your emotions, and become a part of your lived experience.
Since these emotions arise from your direct experience, they seem to prove your thoughts were right all along.
You are now experiencing your own projection but believing you're experiencing the world as it actually is.
One’s beliefs are their truth and become their lived reality.
Any incoming information is filtered, interpreted, and transformed according to one’s thoughts, beliefs, and identity.
Since beliefs are part of your identity, even constructive criticism can feel like an attack on you.
This makes investigation impossible because questioning beliefs feels threatening to who you are.
You're trapped in a bubble where you only see things according to your core beliefs, and no new information can penetrate it.
Yet reality does not conform to anyone’s beliefs, and when beliefs rub up against reality, one experiences suffering.
The more identified you are with your thoughts, the more you will suffer.
Becoming Free
There is a way to get Free.
It’s not by replacing one set of thoughts or beliefs with another set.
It’s by breaking the identification with beliefs altogether.
It’s by breaking the spell your thoughts have over you.
3 Steps: Becoming the Witness
I.
Establish a comfortable seating position with your back straight.
Once comfortable, you can begin repeating the meditation
II.
Watch yourself for 20 minutes a day. Just watch your thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise.
Don’t judge them; this would just be more thoughts.
Don’t let them carry you away into fantasy.
Try to come back to the present moment and become the Witness.
Do this formally 1-2 times per day.
III.
Try to come back to the present moment, witnessing throughout the day, even if it’s for a moment or two.
You can start your day by being the Witness, then do it during lunch and other routines.
Be happy every time you return to being the Witness.
3 Quotes
I.
We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
Anaïs Nin
II.
"The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master."
Robin Sharma
III.
"You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind your thoughts."
Eckhart Tolle
1 Question
How many times can you come back to the present moment? Can you improve slightly each day?