Leave Your Mind Alone
I took some time to come up with such a provocative title, so it had to be this one. The mind, in my experience, is a tool with immense potential, but there are many ways in which it goes wrong. For one, we forget that the mind is connected to the psyche, and any presuppositions we assume to be true will hit us on an emotional level, not just a mental one. We also forget that the mind is not us — once we separate our thoughts from ourselves, we realize how ridiculous some of our patterns are, and that could pave the way for a paradigm shift. I admit, this is one of the hardest things to do in life. We are talking about something that becomes internalized, something that is part of us, even if we don’t necessarily understand or desire to have it. We must ultimately respect our thoughts.
By leaving the mind to be its own thing, a higher detachment becomes possible — we can now entertain notions, and don’t have to take them all seriously. We can now laugh at what we say and do, and don’t have to believe that something is limiting us. Thus the mind is more active, more motivated, when it is allowed to think for itself. Any of those dogmatic assumptions people have, even the seemingly positive ones, will drain the mind of its full potential. I speak of assumptions about success, assumptions about other people, assumptions about good and bad character, assumptions about love, and so on, because it is so easy to have assumptions about such things. A mind, in the pure sense, is like Sherlock Holmes — it is an unbiased investigator that uses evidence and good reasoning. Once you fill the mind with emotional baggage and bad presuppositions, it feels overburdened. I think we are in control of this process.
I’m writing on this subject because symptoms like overthinking, anxious thinking, depressed thinking, all stem from the same unfortunate root — a person in such a situation is slowly losing control of their mind, and needs to find a way to regain it again. Ironically, clinging onto one’s thoughts only seems to reinforce the unhappiness, rather than offer us breathing room. Therefore, it makes sense to say that no clinging is necessary at all. I admit, it is extremely difficult to look past our own flaws, especially when we’re perfectionists or very hurt by bad outcomes, but clinging only seeks to push the pain closer to us, with no attempt at allowing in positive thoughts. The mind is our ally, so why do we fill it with such emptiness sometimes? Surely, mind is like a mirror, reflecting what it is given. We with high standards, we are not fair mirrors.
I should also stress that many people are terrible at giving advice to the unhappy. They believe that they can literally tell a person to think positively, and that that alone is enough to result in a change. Indeed, people are very dismissive of one another’s problems, and this is the reason why our minds are oftentimes so scattered — if one truly learns to listen, they come from a position of ‘no-mind’, but that is a level of mastery I rarely see in anyone. Every single person I know, even those whom I can call smart and wise, are filled to the brim with core beliefs and assumptions, so it is likely that humans need them to some extent. I feel that a truly attained mind does not need to cling onto anything, but rather reflects the path of Nature. We don’t have to believe what others believe, but it seems right to follow the path of virtue, knowledge, and wisdom.
Let me end by saying that the mind was given to us for good reason, and is the fastest solver of problems. The mind mediates the passions and gives direction to our will, so it is a fundamental part of our being. However, I find that a mind has to be properly oriented, for it is unhealthy to follow an illogical path of thinking. I believe there are many good people in the world, and they seem to always orient their mind towards the good, even in times of darkness. Blessed be the people who can convey the teachings of mind onto those in great distress, for those should be our future therapists and professors. Let us bid farewell to the manipulators in our lives, who strive to take our mind and use it against us. Ultimately, we choose what to think about, and must be better to ourselves.
Thank you.
