Mind Calm (22 page)

Getting peace with time is easier when you understand that it's not what's happened that makes you feel bad now, but negatively judging what's happened and then resisting those judgemental thoughts. The same is true for
your future concerns. Nothing in your future has the power to cause stress or steal your serenity. Pre-lived future possibilities are only ever thoughts in your mind, which in and of themselves have no power over your present-moment peace. In order to get peace with the past and future you must appreciate that you are not getting peace with what's happened in your past or might happen in the future. You are getting peace with your thoughts and emotions in your mind about the past and future. To escape the Time Trap, use the Peace with Mind Protocol.

State the problem that you want to heal your relationship with today.

Be here now by tuning in and noticing that this moment is happening.

Temporarily engage the story in your mind about the problem.

Notice the ‘special thought' you are resisting and where you feel it in your body.

Let the ‘special thought' and feeling be present within you with no resistance.

Play with ‘seeing it, not being it' during a Calm Sitting.

For example, you might have experienced a traumatic event in your past that, when you think about it today, still causes distress. Using the protocol you want to find the thought (or image) relating to the event that remains emotionally intense. When you do, notice where you feel the thought (or image) in your body. Once you've got both elements, turn your attention to rising above the resistance to let them be present within your body and mind. Remember, the event is in the past and today, as you do this exercise, you are solely getting peace with the thoughts and emotions in your mind about the traumatic event. By ‘seeing the mind, not being the mind' you will find the context of calm surrounds the old memory that you're working on.

Having used this protocol with memories or future imaginations, you will be able to think about the past and future without it feeling negative or problematic. I appreciate and honour the fact that really challenging things may have happened or could happen in the future. However, if you want mind calm now, then you need to be willing to learn from the past, accessing your inner wisdom that's always present to give yourself the best chance of enjoying the future you want.

9

ONENESS

MORNING MIND CALM SITTING

OM ONENESS (Far and Wide) Calm Thought only

(Recommended duration: 10–15 minutes or longer if you have the time.)

DAYTIME MIND CALM GAME

Resonance Revolution: Rest in the still presence of life

DAYTIME PEACE WITH MIND PROTOCOL

Get peace with aspects of YOURSELF that you don't love

EVENING MIND CALM SITTING

Use all 10 Calm Thoughts

(Recommended duration: 10–15 minutes or longer if you have the time.)

Calm Thought meaning:
Separation is a mind-made illusion that comes from thinking that you are the voice in your head. There has never been a time or will be a time when you are not connected with everything in the universe. To judge or hate another is to judge or hate yourself. The ultimate love affair in life is oneness with the still silent spacious conscious Self.

Calm Thought purpose:
The mind creates a sense of a separate self. If there is a ‘me' then there is a ‘you' and if there is a ‘me' and a ‘you' then there is the appearance of ‘two'. Mind Calm leads to less identification with the mental constructs of ‘me' in your mind. As you let go of who you think you are, the one consciousness that connects and lives with all of ‘us' is revealed. Experiencing oneness leads to gentleness, compassion, peace and love. You never fear being alone and never need to prove yourself as better, wiser or more special. You see the world with clarity through compassionate eyes - full of love and wisdom.

Calm Thought Focus:
By using OM Oneness with your attention ‘Far and Wide', you become awe-stuck and fascinated with the bigness and beauty of infinite consciousness. The desire to engage in the ‘mini me' in your mind diminishes, allowing for a healthier relationship with your mind and everything in your life.

Now it is time for a more advanced and subtle technique. Still silence resides within everything in physical existence. Every tree and animal, and even everyday objects such as the glass you drink from and the place where you live, have a resonance of stillness to them. To become present and attentive enough to notice the silent resonance of life is to begin to see with fresh eyes the underlying nature of reality. And as you do so, it is impossible not to discover the underlying nature of your real Self.

• Take time and attention to look at inanimate objects with the intention of tuning in and noticing the still silence residing within them.
  
• Decide what object you wish consciously to explore and look at it. As you do, intend to notice its inherent stillness. It is still and sitting within stillness. Even if it is moving, there is still an exquisite stillness to it, if you are open to seeing.
  
• Look without labelling and just be with the object fully. Feel its presence and, as you do, notice your own.
  

This technique can bring your world to life and help you to fall back in love with the beauty all around.

Use the Peace with Mind Protocol to heal your relationship with thoughts about yourself, including:

• I'm unloveable
  
• I'm unwanted
  
• I'm a bad person
  
• I'm not good enough
  
• I'm a fraud
  
• I'm ugly
  
• I'm isolated
  
• I'm selfish
  

Holding on to self-violent thoughts prevents you from allowing the stunning states of being, infused within the Calm Thoughts, to come to the forefront of your conscious living experience. They also limit your ability to love others and stop you from fulfilling your purpose in this lifetime. Using the above list as inspiration, consider what you currently perceive to be a problem relating to yourself. Then use the Peace with Mind Protocol to get peace with the thoughts and emotions that you are having about a specific issue relating to yourself.

State the problem that you want to heal your relationship with today.

Be here now by tuning in and noticing that this moment is happening.

Temporarily engage the story in your mind about the problem.

Notice the ‘special thought' you are resisting and where you feel it in your body.

Let the ‘special thought' and feeling be present within you with no resistance.

Play with ‘seeing it, not being it' during a Calm Sitting.

For example, you might believe that you are unwanted and, thinking this true, end up with a negative emotion in your stomach. By using the protocol and letting the thoughts and emotions that you would usually want to resist be present within your body and mind, you can release the intense energy of the belief.

Having used this protocol, you should be able to think about the negative belief without it feeling true and move on with your life free from the mind-made limitation.

10

PRESENCE

MORNING MIND CALM SITTING

OM PRESENCE (In Entire Body) Calm Thought only

(Recommended duration: 10–15 minutes or longer if you have the time.)

DAYTIME MIND CALM GAME

Air Aware - look at life from the infinite-eye

DAYTIME PEACE WITH MIND PROTOCOL

Get peace with other aspects of LIFE in general

EVENING MIND CALM SITTING

Use all 10 Calm Thoughts

(Recommended duration: 10–15 minutes or longer if you have the time.)

Calm Thought Meaning:
Be still and know who you are. More especially, what you are. You are not your thoughts, emotions, body or life circumstances. You are the conscious awareness that is aware of all these things happening within it. Beyond mind-based ideas about who you are, is the ‘peace and love-filled' presence of you.

Calm Thought Purpose:
OM Presence helps to bring your attention to the exquisite presence of still, silent, peace-filled big love - which is how it is to experience conscious awareness directly. Become really interested in exploring and enjoying the divine and delicious presence within you, so that your desire to give your mind all of your attention naturally diminishes. Attention wants to go somewhere. Without discovering this presence of consciousness, your attention will end up going on your mind and external life circumstances. You will end up lost in thinking and both peace of mind and peace with mind will elude you. By living attentive to the inner presence of your being, you live in peace, free from mind-made problems.

Calm Thought Focus:
Using OM Presence with your attention ‘In the Entire Body' brings your attention back into your body after using the OM Universe Calm Thought, which, for some people, may have expanded their attention to the far ends of the universe. This is a great calm thought to end any Calm Sitting, and can help you to engage your day with a greater awareness and appreciation of the perfect peace-filled presence of your being.

Air Aware is a brilliant game for cultivating mind calm. It may seem like an obvious question to ask, but how many eyes would you say you are looking out of? It goes without saying that you see two eyes when you look in a mirror and other people see two eyes when they look at you. But more intriguingly, how many do you see out of from your own point of view? The response I usually get from the many budding consciousness explorers I've asked is, ‘I am looking out from one eye.' Take a moment to notice this for yourself. Although you have two eyes, you are looking out from one eye. In other words, you are looking out from a frameless window of awareness. Some spiritual teachers refer to this as the eye of God but I call it the ‘Infinite I'.

• To be air aware is to pretend that you have nothing above your shoulders except for one big eye.
  
• Play with what it's like to look out at the world from one eye, floating in still silent space. Doing so helps to quieten the mind and reconnect you with your real self, which is unbounded conscious awareness.
  

Use the Peace with Mind Protocol to heal your relationship with any other aspects of your life that remain problematic, including:

• Physical condition(s)
  
• Fear of success
  
• Negative emotions
  
• Relationship conflicts
  
• Career challenges
  
• Time constraints
  
• Spirituality
  
• Modern-day living
  

Using the above list as your inspiration, consider any other aspects of your life that are currently causing conflict within your mind, you tend to judge harshly and want to reject. Now use the Peace with Mind Protocol to get peace with the thoughts and emotions that you are having about a specific issue relating to your life in general.