The Mental Laws
A outline by Barbara Berger that shares with us mental law – or in other words how our mind works.
Why is this information important?
This information is so important because without this understanding, we can easily become victims of our mind, instead of the masters of our mind. But the good news is that when we become aware of the simple, impersonal mechanisms that are governing our minds, we can then begin to use these impersonal forces constructively in our lives. In other words, I came to see that when we become aware of the laws governing our minds we can learn how to harness this power for our own benefit. We understand the laws of physical phenomena like the law of gravity, and the laws of electricity. When we understand the mental laws we can begin to use the mental laws constructively for our benefit. I also discovered that once you understand the mental laws and the way the mind works, you understand why you experience life the way you do. And when this happens, you will also understand what you can realistically change in your life and what you cannot change. Plus, you will also better understand the difference between what’s real and what is an illusion. This discovery will lead you to a deeper understanding of who/what you really are. In short, understanding the mental laws, can totally transform your life!
What is a Mental Law?
What is a law? A law is an unchanging principle that describes the way
phenomena operate. There are laws which describe the way physical
phenomena operate and there are laws which describe the way mental
phenomena operate. Whether a law is describing physical or mental
phenomena, a law is always a description of an impersonal sequence of events which is not dependent on the person or people involved in that sequence of events. In addition, laws can be observed and confirmed by anyone. The law of gravity is a good example of a physical law. As you know, the law of gravity is impersonal and it is always operating. Because of this law, if you jump off a building, you will immediately fall to the ground. There are no exceptions to this law. It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you have in the bank or how famous you are because the law is impersonal and operates regardless of the situation, time of year, or the people involved. There are no exceptions to the law. Another important thing about a law is that it is in operation whether you are aware of it or not. In other words, if you jump off a building, you are going to fall and hit the ground whether you know about the law of gravity or not. The law doesn't care if you know about the law or not. The law just operates; it is a blind force of nature. The same goes for mental laws. Mental laws are impersonal and simply describe the way our minds work. Anyway can observe and confirm this information. So when reading about the mental laws, it is a good idea to remember that laws are invisible principles that describe how phenomena behave and that laws operate automatically. You cannot make them happen or not happen. Laws are impersonal. And, it doesn’t matter who you are. Laws operate equally for all. And finally – laws are scientific. They can be observed and confirmed by anyone. So with this in mind, let’s look at the mental law number one.
LAW 1: THE LAW OF THOUGHTS ARISING
Thoughts arise and disappear. Thoughts arise and disappear. This is the first law because it describes an impersonal universal phenomenon, which is true for everyone. No one knows why or where thoughts come from or what a thought is, but everyone has thoughts. This is the nature of life on this plane. You can observe and confirm this for yourself. You can test this and see if this is true or not—for you. Here’s what you do. Sit down on a chair and face a white wall. If possible a wall that is completely blank—with no pictures or anything—just a plain white wall. Now sit down and look at the wall and decide not to think. Decide to make your mind blank. Try to do this for two minutes. Just sit there and look at the wall and do not think. Can you do it? Probably not. Why not? Well because thoughts arise. That is what happens. Thoughts just arise. And you can’t make this not happen. You can’t make your mind go blank for very long because thoughts suddenly appear—and seemingly completely of their own accord. Obviously, it wasn’t you who made the thoughts come. Especially since you decided when you sat down on the chair that you were just going to sit there and look at the white wall and not think. But you couldn’t, could you. Why? Because it’s just not possible—in my opinion, it’s not possible for anyone. And this is not because you were doing anything wrong. No, not at all. It’s because the nature of life on this plane is that thoughts just appear all by themselves. This is the nature of mind. It has nothing to do with us. We are not making thoughts happen. Thoughts come and go on their own. That is why this is a law. It happens to everyone. It’s an impersonal phenomenon. And it’s something you can observe and confirm for yourself. And it’s happening all the time—to everyone—in every waking hour of our lives. If you watch very carefully, you can even see it happening. If you sit quietly for a while, you can actually see how a thought just arises—and you can look at it for a moment. And then what happens? Well then the thought disappears again. All by itself. You didn’t do anything in particular and still the thought just goes back to wherever it came from—wherever that was. And then what happens? Well if you’re still sitting quietly and looking at the blank wall—you will notice that another thought arises. Again, all by itself. And all you were doing was just sitting there in the chair, looking at the wall and trying not to think! So now you know. Thoughts do arise and disappear. This is the truth; you have observed it for yourself. You have tested this for yourself and you can see that this is actually happening for you. You can see that thoughts do arise in your mind and that they do disappear again. And the interesting thing is that this is going on all the time – even when you’re not sitting and staring at a blank wall. And you’re not willing this to happen. In fact, you have nothing to do with it at all. The fact that thoughts arise and disappear again is a completely impersonal phenomenon. It just happens. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it either.
What About Meditation?
But what about meditation, you ask? Lots of people meditate and many meditate because they want to calm the mind and stop thinking. But does this happen? Is it possible? Well in my experience, you can’t prevent thoughts from arising. Even people who have meditated for years still, cannot not think. It is true though that when you sit and meditate, you do calm down and the thought stream does slow down. But what you also notice is that when you sit and meditate and observe, thoughts still arise and disappear. Maybe at a slower rate, but the thoughts still arise and disappear again. This is something you become very aware of when you meditate. And you can sit and sit and watch them come and go. And of course as you get more experienced at meditating, things do slow down and yes, you may have less thoughts arising and you may also identify less with them and not get so attached to them anymore, but thoughts still arise. You may not find yourself going off into stories and getting lost there for a while. But still thoughts do come and go. You may also experience so-called “gaps” or spaces in between the thoughts because they come more slowly, but thoughts are still happening. The reality is thoughts continue to arise and disappear again because this is the nature of mind. So if anyone tells you that meditation is about not-thinking, don’t believe them. Try meditating regularly yourself and see what happens.
Next Month:
Law 2: THE LAW OF WITNESSING
There is a difference between you and your thoughts!
If you can’t wait until next month you can download the Mental Laws for free HERE!
0 comments:
Post a Comment