Mind Calm (7 page)

Meditation can also cause the old mind-made constructs of separation and dualism to fall away, revealing an experience of oneness. You see that to harm another
person is really to harm yourself. The more intimate you become with your Self (the love-filled presence of your being), the more intimate and deeper loving relationships you experience with others.

There is no such thing as a present-moment thought. Being caught up in your mind entangles you in the Time Trap. You end up thinking about the past and future and miss the magnificent moment you're in now. But when the attraction to engaging with thoughts and thinking diminishes, you naturally become more aware of now. The more you become consciously aware, the more you become aligned with the aspect of your real Self that is already always present. Better still, you discover that when you are consciously aware of now, you naturally hang out in the inner peace that's always present within you.

Thinking takes you into the past and future.

Meditation brings you back to the here and now.

Over time, perhaps ironically, you will see that being present is much more enlivening and appealing than being lost in mind-made stories. You see that when you're overthinking, you are missing the remarkable reality of now, and caught up in resistance, judgement, attachment, the past and future. More importantly, when you stop trying to fix all the woes of life, you are able to enjoy life and the fixes follow naturally.

One of the purposes of meditation is to be able to stop thinking and return to present-moment awareness. When you begin a regular meditation practice, you may find that you continue to get caught up in the thinking mind, but as you gain experience, you'll get bored of the stories and your desire to defend its dramas naturally diminishes.

Although you may think that the exploits of the mind have been giving meaning to your life, you see it becomes even more meaningful and magical when you have woken up from incessant thinking. Attuned to the present, you are able to engage life with calm and clear attentive awareness. Obviously, there will be times when you fall into habitual thinking but, when you notice that you've been lost in your mind, it then becomes the obvious choice to be here now and conscious, not wasting time mulling over problems and scenarios created by your mind.

Mind Calm makes you more productive, able to perform at your absolute best. When you are too busy thinking, you end up distracted from the task in hand, getting stressed about the long list of things needing to be done, and lacking the ability to make creative decisions and take concise actions. Being present with a clear mind allows you to give all of your attention to whatever you are working on and, when you are done, then leave it in the past to progress with the next task and the next. Irrespective of the workload there is very little stress when working this way, as life only becomes stressful when you leave the now and start thinking about all the things that need to be done.

The reality is, you can only ever do very little in the immediate moment you're in. For example, right now you can only read the word in front of you. However, if you start thinking about how you are going to find the time to finish the book, it is not only distracting but also makes your journey towards your goals more stress-filled. By giving what you're doing now your fullest undivided attention, you will get more done and at a far superior standard. Not only that, but you will be delighted to discover that even when faced with high demands, you can remain calm and focused throughout.

Finally, and perhaps most wonderfully, meditation leads to a more liberated way of living. Effortlessly, you find that you don't need to control your thoughts, emotions, body and life in order to attain the peace, love, joy and fulfilment you want. In fact, you recognize that the best way to enjoy all these great states of being is to let go of control and go with the flow. You can still get lots done and make any changes you may want, but you become less resistant to life and engage less with the mind-based judgemental thinking that may have previously talked you out of feeling good along the way.

Attachment falls away as you no longer need your life to be any certain way for you to be happy. Your mind has less fuel for the thinking fire and instead you are filled with the awe and wonder of the present moment as it reveals an inner sense of freedom that is immensely fulfilling.

1. From stress to serenity
   
2. Sleep without counting sheep
   
3. Calm + contentment
   
4. Helping hand to heal
   
5. Unconditional confidence
   
6. Deeply loving relationships
   
7. Live in the magnificent moment
   
8. Eradicate excessive thinking
   
9. Perform at your best
   
10. Liberation from limitations
    

Chapter 3

WHAT YOU WANT IS INSIDE YOU

What do you want more than anything else? Having read through some of the big benefits possible from meditation, which of them stand out as your must-haves? I cannot recommend highly enough the life-changing importance of gaining clarity on your heart's highest hope. Without knowing the answer to the aforementioned question, you can end up wasting vast amounts of time, energy and effort looking for what you want in places where it can't be found.

Instead, by shining a light on your most important gains from meditation, you will dramatically increase both your commitment and motivation to meditate. You will also be able to adopt the most effective strategy to move towards your heart's highest hope, rather than busily work away hoping for the best. When combined, the right commitment, motivation and strategy add up to the formula you need for making success unavoidable.

GET CLEAR NOW.
If you had a magic wand and could have
any one wish, what would you ask for?

Having asked this question to thousands of people around the world, I've been fascinated to observe the same answers coming up time and time again:

• Peace
  
• Happiness
  
• Contentment
  
• Truth
  
• Joy
  
• Confidence
  
• Love
  
• Freedom
  

Occasionally people will initially say they want more money or better health. What's interesting about these answers is how, when asked why they want these things, it is usually fuelled by the belief that things like money or health will make them happier, peaceful or more loved. So by that rationale, it means they, too, ultimately want peace, love or happiness or some other positive state of being.

When wanting money or health, the person is usually focusing more on
how
they can get what they ultimately want, rather than
what
they actually want. Get the
difference? This shift between focusing on
what
instead of
how
can be the difference between hoping to feel good one day and enjoying what you want now.

So
w
do you want, more than anything else?

Gaining clarity on understanding that what you want is an inner experience, rather than external things like money, the perfect partner or a fancy car, is also a liberating realization, because then most people finally understand why they haven't been experiencing it up until now.

In the pursuit of peace, happiness, love and other appealing states, it is easy in today's media-driven world to fall into the trap of believing these inner experiences are the result of changing, improving and perfecting our physical body or circumstances. However, looking outside your Self for positive inner experiences postpones peace, breeds discontentment and limits love.

It is how you believe things will make
you feel on the inside that makes you
want to pursue getting them.

How often, for example, have you thought?

• I will be able to relax when I get everything done.
  
• I will experience love when I meet my soul mate.
  
• I will feel successful when I get the promotion.
  

Thinking you need to have a big house, fancy car, prestigious career, bulging bank account, social significance and the right relationships are the main causes of unhappiness and discontentment on the planet. Yes, these things are nice to have and can at times make life a bit easier, but to enjoy mind calm sooner rather than later it might be time to explore the possibility that these external things don't need to have any relationship with how good you feel on the inside.

Peace, love, happiness and contentment
are the natural by-product of having a
harmonious relationship with life.

I mentioned earlier that I used to believe that getting the car, the bigger house, the special relationship or whatever, was the source of my happiness and a prerequisite to peace. However, in reality I was living an illusion. The truth is that we feel good when we attain goals because it temporarily satisfies the mind with the way things are in the present. The feel-good feelings are the result of taking time out from negatively judging, and resisting the present moment due to getting what we wanted.

Looking to gain serenity from life's circumstances leads to only fleeting moments of peace, love or happiness because careers, relationships, finances and all other aspects of life are in a constant state of flux and change. Yes, you might finally get the car you've always wanted and feel good, but what happens when the new make or model is released? If you are relying on the new car as
your source of happiness, then suddenly the car you've got can become less desirable and discontentment can creep in. Or you might secure the big promotion, but then you need to deal with the new responsibilities and longer working hours or spend more time away from your family, for example.

In short, it is a risky and often ineffective strategy to pin your hopes for happiness on external things that come and go. So is it all bad news? Should you give up on your goals? Not at all!

The great news is that your consciousness is already filled with peace and love, is constantly content and beyond words brilliant. It's never sick, doesn't have a bad day, become faulty, get upset, worry or fear for its survival. It's beyond all of that. It's beyond the mind, beyond emotions, beyond the body, beyond your life circumstances. Aware of it all happening, it is a calm companion that you can totally rely on to always be with you, hold you and be a constant reminder that all is well. Yes, all is very well. Nothing is wrong with you; your conscious awareness is perfect, whole and complete.

By rediscovering the aspect of you that is consciously aware, you experience the essence of your being. It has been said that you are a human being, not a human doing. It is so easy to forget this undeniable truth; to be distracted by doing loads of stuff to try to make your mind happy, enjoy some peace and have a good life. So much energy, time and attention expended in the never-ending pursuit of happy ever after. The place you really want to get to
is here and now. The person you really want to be is who you are right now. They say home is where the heart is, and when you're consciously aware you naturally become present and fully turn up and play big in whatever you do.

Sound good? In the spirit of no longer waiting until things are better, fixed, changed or improved, in the next chapter you'll discover that what you want is inside you, when I share one of my favourite techniques for getting mind calm now.

Chapter 4

QUICK START: GET MIND CALM NOW

Mind Calm is quicker and easier than you may think! Thinking occurs when you engage in the flow of thoughts happening in your mind. When you are thinking, you have essentially fallen asleep. You are no longer awake to the present moment reality and are distracted by an imagined mind-made version of yourself and life. The habits of the thinking mind mean that you will very likely find yourself preoccupied by one or more of
the hidden causes of a chaotic mind outlined in Chapter 1
. Whereby you will be caught up in judgement, resistance and/or attachment, and spending time in the past or future.