A Practial Lesson in Non-Attachment

So what exactly are we trying to accomplish here by mastering the mind? I think a very practical real world example of what I outlined in my previous post is in order.

I was almost hit by a truck walking home today. It was rainy and as I made it halfway across the street a SUV pulled out of a driveway and into the road. I expected this but either this person didn't see me or didn't care because as he was about to drive past me he decided to make a sharp left turn instead of going straight.

As I was in the middle of the intersection, he quickly swerved left to turn and cut me off. All of the sudden the side of his truck was six inches from my chest. To stop my momentum from running into the vehicle I put my hand on his side window and pushed off from it.

That was a close call.

That's an uncontrollable near death experience. So I can feel my body start to react, the adrenaline starts pumping, my breath becomes short, the survival fight or flight instinct begins to kick in.

And then the mind starts engaging its defensive responses. I experience the thought, "What an idiot!" He slows down his truck so I think "Maybe I should go over there and tell him off." And then another thought "What if he comes over and attacks me?" Maybe I should just keep moving and hope he just lets me go.

I experience both the fight and flight response very quickly.

But I'm aware and I keep my mind at rest and clear. Instead of engaging the mind with these responses, I consciously keep the mind at rest. I tune into my body. I allow the sensations to be there. I tune into the natural way animals release tension. I allow it to be there and let my body act as a clearing house processing and moving out the experience naturally, in real time.

Amazingly soon, my body has exited the experience. My mind remains clear and the defensive thoughts in my mind have subsided because my body is no longer feeling physically threatened.

I'm carrying very little of the dangerous experience that just occurred within me. Mostly only the new wisdom that I need to watch for quick left turners the next time I cross the street.

And I'm still in the moment. "It sure is raining." I think.

This is a real world example of not attaching to a negative experience. And as you can also see this is also very different from 'detachment' where the mind removes itself from the experience as a way of better dealing with it.

I remain free. Having not allowed my mind to attach to the experience, I don't carry it with me as I continue walking. And you can bet I would have been ruminating about this afterwards if I hadn't done that.

Love,
Heron Free

Mastery of Mind

To become free from the mind we must deconstruct it, develop our own intimate knowledge of how our mind responds to the world. What's really going on in that 'ticker' of ours?

Once we understand something it becomes much more manageable and we are less afraid it. We can still be scared (definitely) but it becomes a more workable fear. And with a workable fear we are given the opportunity to experience something new.

I've broken down the way we respond to the world into 6 categories:

1. Reacting: (Most primitive, animalistic survival reactions designed to prevent you from bodily harm and foster survival of the species)

2. Defending: (Protecting the human mind itself, your self -image, who you are, your belief systems and sub personalities)

3. Thinking: The ability of the mind to calmly process personal experiences, to construct (and deconstruct) personal beliefs.

4. Observing: The ability to separate yourself from an experience, not react, (increases insight and personal knowledge).

5. Expressing: The ability to release and share the true self, through talking, creating, dancing, loving, kissing, and jumping up and down (I'm a fan of the last two).

6. Experiencing: The ability to rest in the present moment and just feel what is going on around and within you. Reconnecting with oneness is possible here, when we don't feel separate from the whole.

In the beginning because of lack of practice, telling the difference between all of our different responses may seem next to impossible. We might think for example, "This is what I do" or "This is how I respond." Fortunately as we work on our own stuff we begin so see the differences. And then the possibility of true freedom appears.

So now we have some nice labels. This is a good start for beginning to sort out what to do with all the clutter we have accumulated in our heads over the years or our past lives (if you believe in that sort of thing).

The first step is to just become aware of them in your daily lives. You'll find the first 3 responses are the most prevalent. Which is good to notice. Don't get too discouraged about that. Almost everyone else is in the same boat.

The first step is to see this boat :)

Love,
Heron Free