Mind is a dangerous master and an obedient servant

When we hear people say that ‘we can change our life if we change our thinking’, we feel nice. We feel warmth spreading around us giving some sort of solace. The moment we try to indulge deep into the idea, we feel lost. People around us pull back our efforts to think further on these lines. We leave the warmth half way through and proceed with our routine life. Any good remains half baked. Anything positive tends to get disrupted. This is the power of mind, rather, the power of ‘other minds’. Life continues to proceed, forcing the influences of other minds on us. Is it life that forces compromises and sacrifices on us or is it us who is the real reason for the same? 

Mind is a mad house

Many a time we fail to be mindful of our mind. Our mind has an inner mind that acts as its basis. The jabberwocky nature of our mind goes unnoticed till such point we consciously start observing the same. The cranky manner in which our mind makes us react, forces us to experience wild unmanageable roller coaster rides. We keep wondering what went wrong and if at all we did anything that must not have been done. Remember, this is another state of the same mind of ours that caused so much of chaos. Throughout all these things, the ‘mind of our mind’ witnesses our confused state as a silent spectator.

Mind is a ‘dangerous master’

We focus on the external forces around us with such keenness every moment that we lack time to observe ourselves internally. Mind works non-stop and is so much of a workaholic that it never ceases to generate thoughts even for a nano second. It keeps loading us with one thought over the other forcing us to think and act based on the same. This statement means – mind keeps winning over ‘us’ as our ‘Master’ throughout our life. Relate this to the woman of the household issuing one instruction over the other to the maid. The maid keeps completing one chore after the other as per her master’s instructions. Our Mind acts as our 'Master' deciding our 'thoughts and actions' throughout our life. Now you understand the reason why we said that our Mind is a ‘dangerous’ master.   

Mind is an ‘obedient servant’

It is our mind that generates thoughts in us and realizing this is the first step towards becoming the ‘master’ of our mind. When you focus on the thoughts generated by the mind, you 'experience the feelings and moods' caused by the same. This is what happens during normal situations when you are under the control of your mind.

Observe your mind whenever you feel tensed or stressed out. Focus on the thought patterns rather than the thoughts themselves. When you 'focus on the thought pattern', it will make you understand the working of the mind. This is when your mind is under your control and you are not under the control of your mind. This is the first step towards bringing your mind under your control.

 

Bring your mind under your control

Practice uttering the emotion you experience instead of experiencing the same. For instance, when you feel angry about something, instead of brewing the same in the mind utter the word ‘ANGRY’. This will dissociate your mind from 'converting the thoughts in to your actions' for a brief period of time. You are out of control of your mind.

The feelings we experience are nothing but our mind’s way of expression. Acknowledge its feelings. Talk to your mind as frequently as possible. By refusing to experience the ‘thoughts’ generated by your mind and saying the word that denotes its emotion, you are reassuring your mind that you have understood its feelings. Try this consciously and you will soon realize that you are at peace with your mind.

This is the stage when 'you will be the master of your mind'. Your mind will obey every command of yours. The explicit obedience of your mind will make you realize how loyal a servant it is to you.

Take control of your life

Remember, when you learn to identify the feelings instead of experiencing the same, you are pulling yourself mentally away from the situation. You will understand that mind is nothing but a ‘thought machine’ which produces thoughts over thoughts. It is up to you to decide which thoughts you will be focusing on and which ones you will ignore. You will gradually realize that your life is not shaped because of your circumstances but by the control you have over your mind.This learning will help you to allow your mind to be your master and control the same as your servant according to your wish. Take control of your inner world and conquer life completely.

Embrace your imperfect self... Perfect your self

As humans, we tend to point out the blemish in others. This is one of the easiest things in life that comes very naturally to us. It is our perception about blemish that makes us grade people’s character. We treat people according to what we think their blemish levels are. 

We are busy in finding out the blemish in others without realizing that this quality grooms as a major blemish in our own character.

Blemish, in reality, is nothing but imperfection. We identify imperfection related to worldly things easily since they are measurable in nature. For instance, being poor is considered as a blemish depriving many rights for the deserving ones rather than being characterless.

We blame people at home for not keeping things in place. In reality, this blame game turns them into responsible adults as they grow up.  

A teacher punishes her students when they do not complete assigned work on time. This punishment teaches them the importance of time pulling them out of the habit called procrastination.

A parent who chides his child for his imperfection is not actually washing his hands off him. He is teaching the child to do things in the appropriate manner.

Dried faded petals of flowers increase our awe on seeing fresh colorful flowers. Imperfection teaches what perfection is in reality.

A tiring mode of journey makes us choose the real comfortable one the next time we travel. Losing a friend to treachery emphasizes the importance of honesty in relationships. 

Imperfection, in reality, makes us experience an astounding perspective when we start pushing ourselves towards perfection. 

We are a bundle of compromises and reservations. We keep toggling between logical brilliance and emotional trauma. Our wisdom gets controlled by our inherent fears. We point out the blemish in others just to feel secured ourselves.

Learn to embrace your imperfect self. Being imperfect is acceptable as long as we constantly thrive to achieve perfection. This is how mankind has evolved from the stone-age to what we are today. Let us transform ourselves from blemish to perfection. 

After all, we cannot choose to be invisible just because we are not beautiful. 

Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye

Truth Versus Imagination 

All that we see through our physical eyes are not really true. Many situations in life make us believe what we see through our eyes, disallowing us to think beyond the same. This makes us misunderstand the reality and take a tangent from the path we actually need to tread. Time factor keeps us busy in many activities most of which engross us in trivial aspects with all seriousness. The speed in which we travel through the journey of life distracts us from the reality making us survive in a space filled with imagination. We fail to see the hidden truth behind the many incidents constantly happening around us one after the other.

The perpetual war between the heart and the brain


Man who is termed as a social animal is made to run between the pillar and the post during most of the occasions. This happens mainly due to the inner conflict happening between his heart and the brain. While his brain convinces him through its logic, his heart makes him yield to emotions. Today’s nuclear family setups have changed the outlook of people towards emotions. The competition that prevails in every aspect of life demands speed in thinking to keep up with the pace of the world around. This makes people sideline emotions that get the priority of the heart while the brain continues to insist on the logic in everything. This inner conflict remains one of those constants in life denying us the understanding that sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. 

Reality in relation to the heart 

We hate to touch and lift the old man who falls on the road in front of us just because he is in rags and his skin is dry with lots of wrinkles. We befriend the classmate who looks attractive and hate to be around those who lack physical beauty. We admire the mannerisms of the affluent ones around us pulling ourselves away from the financially downtrodden. We tend to hide from a co-student who keeps approaching us frequently considering it as a disturbance. We choose the company of people who make us laugh ignoring those who are morose and lost. 

Our physical eyes capture things in the manner mentioned above, while our heart which is full of compassion sees the other side of matters. Our heart sees what our eyes missed to see.

It pushes us to lift the old man who needs help, without bothering about touching the dry wrinkled skin or his physical body draped in rags. It makes us feel sorry for the classmate who lacks beauty. It makes us tell her that physical beauty is something that will wane away with time but she has admirable mental attributes. It makes us empathize with the financially downtrodden and helps them find a way to become financially stronger than they are today. It makes us more approachable to those who want to share their sadness with us, lessening the burden on their heart. It teaches us to care for those who are morose and do everything possible to unload the weight on their shoulders. It makes us speak with them in a soothing manner which cost nothing to us but means the world to them.

Remember, the world around us works in a predetermined pattern. We are all small magical pieces scattered all around the ether related with each other in mysterious ways. We get together for various reasons and part away for what we consider as valid reasons. There are many people around us waiting to be noticed, yearning to be loved and longing to be hugged. Instead of getting carried away by the external looks of people and situations, let us open our heart to be more humane because sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.