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Ceasing To Be Caught in The Rough Waters of Your Mind

Updated: Feb 17

Life can often feel like you are caught on a tumultuous body of water. 


You can’t fight the Universe - that just causes more splashing and waves. 


The only way to win a losing battle is to surrender. But what does that even mean? It most certainly does not mean giving up. You can practise the law of non-resistance.


You are not your mind. You don’t need to add to the chaos and the turbulence.


Agatha Christie wrote that “It’s astonishing in this world how things don’t turn out at all the way you expect them to!” 


Probably every day of our lives, a plan goes awry. Often, we have counted heavily on a particular outcome. We generally assume we have all things under control and know exactly what’s best for us and everyone else as well. But such is not the case. There is a bigger picture than the one we see. The outcome of that picture is out of our hands. Our vision is limited and divinely so. We can only be guided one step at a time. However, and importantly, if we can trust our inner guidance regarding the events of today, we’ll begin to see how each day fills in a shade more of the bigger picture of our lives. In retrospect, we can see how all events have contributed, in important ways, to who we are becoming. Where today’s events are leading, we can’t know, for certain, but we can trust the divine plan. Anticipate with Faith what lies ahead today. All experiences carry you forward to fulfil your dreams. Be alert for the nudge.


You can learn to cease to be caught by and affected by the rough waters of the mind. This is how you find clarity, intuitive wisdom, peace, joy, and abundance. This is how you find your Self.



Ceasing to be caught in the rough waters of your mind


Eventually if you work enough on your Self you will find that what's happening is that you are resting in your mind like you would float on water. Imagine a bird who's fallen into the water and its wings are wet and it's trying to stay afloat. It's been there long enough - of course, it's just a bird brain that had forgotten about flying - all it knows it that it wants to survive. That bird lying in that water - if the water is still, calm and pleasant and the bird is sunbathing, the bird is floating, even enjoying the experience being in the water. If the water begins to become choppy, with wavelets and disturbances, the water gets over the head of the bird and into its mouth and it's hard and so the bird struggles to stay above the ripples.


And of course, if it becomes tumultuous and stormy, it becomes very difficult for that bird - it's been through that numerous times and it's almost drowned completely - it's even gone down a few times. So, the bird's entire life is the state of the water. That's what life is to that bird. It’s the state of the water. And so, if the bird had its way it would keep the water calm. It would have it be comfortable, and have it be peaceful, so it tries however it can to find ways to do this.


Of course, you and I know that the bird doesn’t have a chance in the world to determine what the water’s doing does it? But it thinks it can – why? Because it must think that. It needs the water to be still, and it can't exist thinking it has no control over this, so somehow it even gets into the spot where it found out once that it was chirping a little bit because the water was nice and the water stayed nice. Then when it wasn't paying attention and was looking a little bit to the right then the water got choppy. And so, it developed all these concepts and views and opinions and preferences in its head that if it looks to the right - don't do that because the water will get choppy. The bird thinks: I couldn't feel helpless. I couldn't feel like there was nothing I could do. I don’t want to drown anymore. I don't want to go under. Then the water gets amazing and calm and I'm going to make sure I never do that again.

I was completely freaked out and when I do things right, when I think right, and chirp right and look right and do everything right, the water gets calm and still and I need to do that and I now I'm one neurotic bird.


I can't always figure out what if I chirped exactly the way I chirped last time I must not have it right. There must be something, a past life or something, that has affected this - there's something that developed - this whole thing about karma about things it did before. It’s very complicated - it did something before so that even if it chirps right it doesn't matter now because it was offset by these past things and all that kind of stuff and then really this whole past life thing somebody came along another bird that was floating along told it about that - that's not what you did this time - it could be what you did last time so now how are you going to figure that out and it really is very difficult for this bird. This bird is having a very hard time: Especially it's hard enough that when the water gets tumultuous that the bird has to struggle to stay afloat - now he feels guilty - now the bird feels what did I do wrong? The bird finally figures I can't figure this out by myself - it’s unbelievable. I know I am not causing this, but I can't figure it out. Maybe there's another force that can control this for me. I've heard rumours that there was a higher force - a Higher Power - I'll pray to that, and they asked that force to make it so that what I'm doing works and makes the water right - every moment, even the prayers to the higher force are about controlling the water.


Every single thing that bird is doing is about the fact that ‘I'm stuck’ - you know he's stuck in the water because he doesn't know he can get out - he forgot that he ever flew - that's so long ago, he was too busy with other things; too busy to think about how to make the water calm and do things right and all that. There's not one part of his mind that has any idea that there's something other than being in this water. I am in this water - that is what my life is. I feel it. You can't tell me I'm not. Every time it moves, I float. This is me. You got it, this situation. I swear to you, that is exactly with no exaggeration how human beings rest in their minds.


The mind is not who you are, ever, just like that water is not who that bird is. Ever. No matter what that water is doing whether it's calm or tumultuous; it is no more that bird or any other. The bird is independent and separate from that water. It is floating on it, but it is not part of it - it has nothing to do with it.


Your consciousness, your awareness of BEing, is floating on the ripplets of the mind. In yoga they are called ‘vrittis’. Vritti refers to the thoughts that surface in the mind, often described as a whirlpool. It is floating on it but it is not part of it. It has nothing to do with it.


If you are a meditator - somebody who's gone deep enough, every single thought has a seed, a start, a peak, and a finish. Beliefs are just thoughts. And you’re right there just like you would see the wavelets on a lake - you see them - they have a start and a finish, and they go up and they go down. That is what your thoughts do - they are in a calm mind. The mind is calm; the water is calm, if there are no forces - none influencing the water, it is calm - if there are no leaves falling in, if there's no wind blowing over it, if there's no rain falling into it. The natural state of the water is calm. Unless there are forces that are causing it to be otherwise.


Fair enough, your mind is exactly the same - exactly the same - it is calm: What Buddhists mean by ‘void’ or the ‘empty mind’. It doesn't mean it's stupid. The water is not stupid because it's calm. It's not not water - all the potentials are there for it to create waves - it's just there are no forces causing that to happen - the natural state of your mind is complete peace. Absolute total calm. Not thinking nice things - it's way beyond positive thought - positive thought is just a nice wave. Negative thought is a tumultuous wave. Roger Miller said that “Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet.”


Your mind is empty, as the Buddhists and Zen talk of ‘empty mind’ - the 'empty bell'; 'the void'. So, the natural state of the mind is the calm water - it's just absolutely still. This is in stark contrast to what the Buddhists call ‘the monkey mind’, which is the repetitive, catastrophising, thought-filled mind.


Ramakrishna the great spiritual Master once said “The purified mind is no different than the Self.”


When the mind is calm it's empty - there's nothing there but the consciousness aware of itself. If you look into the absolute still water you will see your reflection - it doesn't happen when there's ripples - it’s all distorted. So, they use that example when you are in deep meditation - you don't know you are, not until you come back; then you know you're in deep meditation, but if you are in deep meditation there is no mind. It's not creating thoughts. They are not sitting thinking oh I'm in deep meditation - there's only the sense of BEing. Just BEing, and the mind is not disturbing or pulling you away from that. That's what's meant by the purified mind - it is no different than the Self. It is is not like the Self is watching a pure mind.


There's nothing pulling your consciousness away from your awareness of BEing. You're just aware of BEing even though you're resting through the mind - it's an empty mind. So, it’s beautiful.


The Zen stuff of ‘empty mind’, ‘empty bell’, and ‘void’ is no different than any of the other traditions. They just use different words - the key is you are you. You are the bird, the Self, the consciousness; awareness of BEing; and you are resting your mind. The problem is your mind is never resting and still - if you go maybe once in a blue moon into deep meditation you understand what the still mind is, otherwise I am telling you - your mind is always creating ripplets. It's unbelievable - not until you've experienced the absolute still mind can you experience the fact that the mind is not still, because you're so used to it not being still. You are just like that bird. The mind is always saying “Well I'm OK. There's nothing bothering me now." That's mind - those are ripplets. "God. I like the situation - I feel so good this is the happiest time of my life.” That’s mind. Mind is the wavelets that are coming out.


Your psyche is your inner state. What I mean by psyche is the mind and the emotions of that inner state. I would like you to see it as water. It's a lake - a lake - is it ever still? You have to work to make it still. You have to go meditate and do yoga. Even the techniques like mantra: Mantra is not a still mind. What is mantra? It is a mind whose waves are steady. It's always saying the same thing and because it's always saying the same thing, therefore they are of the same temperament and it's easier to float on. Understand that if your mind is sitting underneath saying "God I know that's all it's doing" - that's a lot nicer place to rest than “Oh my God why did I say that. I shouldn't have said that. Oh my God I'm so embarrassed.” So, your mind is always creating these ripplets. Do you see that? I'm going to say right now it does not have to be that way. It was not meant to be that way. It should not be that way. It is very, very difficult to live life when it is like that. Just like the bird has a very hard time when there's all this noise going on with the ripples - not to mention the tough times. We understand how tough the tough times are. You know you get sick; you know kind of stuff goes on, doesn't it? Has it ever gotten tumultuous in there for you? I mean really tumultuous in there? Can you understand that if can get so tumultuous that in 1929 senior executives were throwing themselves off the 20th floor of Wall Street buildings? But saying would you do it? Please don't but do you understand that that's where suicide comes from? It gets tough in there. Let's talk about that. It gets hurricane level tough. It gets tsunami level tough. It gets unbelievable and unbearable. It is just that bird floating on top of the exact same mind, but the mind has become so tumultuous that is being pulled under - it's drowning and it feels like "I'm drowning, I'm dying, it's killing me". All right so I'm telling you that you, every one of you, and everyone else, are capable of dealing with this by calming the mind.


You are capable of it becoming so steady that the sun dries the wings and you find out that you can fly and you never ever have that problem ever again. You don't even remember when you used to be in the water. That's liberation that's what's meant by ‘Jivanmukta’ - a 'liberated soul' - they have extricated themselves, transcended - you have pulled yourself out of this resting on the mind.


When you deal with the lake and with the water there are forces that cause it to make wavelets. Any physicist will tell you. Leave water alone - don't touch it with any other force. Settle right down, and that's the end of it and never make another move. Its natural state is equilibrium; its natural state is it takes energy, force to cause it to be other than that. So, Newton said: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”


Stick your hand in the water and the water will disperse exactly to the extent of the mass of your hand. That's what's going on. So how does that translate to the mind? Why is the mind that is supposed to be, and was meant to be, a beautiful empty quiet thing, until you go to use it? There's nothing wrong with floating on the water. If the bird is flying high we have a beautiful wetland down there - you see birds flying and may dive down to catch fish or they float. Herons dry their wings floating on the water so you can have fun with the water. You're welcome to use your mind you welcome to create ripplets (thoughts) in the mind in accordance to what you're trying to do, what you're trying to accomplish.


If I'm sitting there trying to figure out why electricity flows through a wire maybe I should create some thoughts. I am going to create some thoughts to think about that - there's nothing wrong with that - the mind is a beautiful playpen. But it's not a playpen when in and of itself it's creating all these ripples and all this noise and sometimes going way South and pulling you under and you no longer have any idea who you are. Who you are is this tumultuous disturbed mind who's trying to come back to peace; who's trying to not be disturbed. You're always trying not to be disturbed and we talk about that. I painted a picture very carefully about that bird. Every word I wrote was exactly what's happening. I didn't make any exaggeration, so I said your bird is floating on the water and notice that if the water's tumultuous it has trouble. Therefore, it's trying to have the water not to be tumultuous. That is what you're doing every single second of your life. “No I'm trying to get a better job. I'm trying to find a girlfriend or boyfriend. I'm trying to blah, blah, blah, trying to get people to accept me and like me.” You are trying to quieten your mind by getting a girlfriend or a boyfriend - you are trying to have your mind say nice things to you because other people say nice things to you - do you understand that?


If someone tells you that you look so much better than the last time they saw you, you think “Oh my God I love her, oh talk more, come on keep going, oh that is so beautiful. How did you come up with those words? They're perfect, wow, thank you.” But if your mind said that now you'd love it - the reason you are trying to get people say nice things about you and to you is because your mind gets quiet when they do it so it sits there and listens as people say "I've never loved anyone in my life as much as I love you. I can't even talk. Just looking at you melts my whole being.” That is not because of what they're saying, it’s because it quiets your mind. What if they were saying that and they were a stalker standing outside your bedroom window saying that? How are you doing? Is you mind still quiet? I rest my case.


I'm telling you you don't care one iota about this world. Not you've meditated enough, that you've gotten beyond the world. You don't care one iota about this world. Nobody cares one iota about this world. Nobody, the richest person in the world who's greedy and trying to get more money couldn't care less about money and couldn't care less about this world. It is that when they are the one who has the most money and they become Forbes’ number one billionaire and they see their picture on the cover of Forbes, their mind goes “aaaaah”. Could I guarantee you if the night before that they had a dream, one of those really vivid dreams, like a spiritual dream, and it basically said to them “If you ever have the misfortune of getting your picture on the cover of Forbes as the richest person in this world you will never have another moment of peace and joy in your life: They will pick on you and steal from you and beg - you will be the sorriest person who ever walked the face of the earth - you will wish you were number two.”


You like things because they quiet your mind. You don't like things when they disturb your mind. It is not the other way around. It's because the thing made the mind get still or quieter or comfortable that you became comfortable; that's why you like it.


Stand in front of a painting - a beautiful Monet or a Renoir - stand there and tell me “Oh my God it's so beautiful” that is because your mind became quiet. If you have been told that was a stolen Nazi painting your mind could get very disturbed about it - you're not going to say it's beautiful. That's why they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder – wrong. Beauty is in the mind of the beholder. Just change your mind one little thing then it is not to be so beautiful is it - sit with that for a second. Because you were like that bird from that point forward you have forgotten that you're not paying attention and what you're trying to do now, because the water is affecting your life so much, you're trying to figure out how to get the water to be quiet. You don’t understand that it is the water. You’re saying it's how I'm thinking, how my eyes are looking at whether I did something before - it's my karma.


You've tried to attribute it to things that are under your control. The water is not under the bird’s control, but the state of the water determines the state of the bird because he's resting on it. The bird can't handle what’s not under its control - you can't handle what’s not under your control.


You say “I'm not happy. I thought I would be happy. We've been married five years. It's just not doing it for me anymore. I'm not happy.” What have you done? The water is not nice inside. “It is not comfortable like it was when we first met in our honeymoon stage. The fact that you lost your job is disturbing me. The fact that we can't have children, for whatever reason. My God is it's just not working for me!” In other words, my mind doesn't like this. You don’t even have the right to say “I don't like this.” You're resting on a mind that doesn't like it - that's why you don't like it - you are the consciousness that is resting on a disturbed mind that is saying not nice things. “I don’t want him to come home. I'm not even comfortable with him and I don't want to talk to him. He doesn't even understand how I feel.” There, is that mind fun?


Right, you've been there - that's a very disturbed mind - you are resting on that mind. Because you don't know anything about fixing your mind. “Oh my God, how would I fix my mind? It's who I am!” You think that you need to fix the world so that when it comes in your mind likes it. You don’t have to have fix your mind. If your mind’s bothering you fix it! If your mind is saying “I don't know if I love him anymore”, say that you do - it's much easier. The problem is that the mind is disturbed or that the mind is calm when you go and you're having this trouble with your husband and you go take golf or tennis lessons and the pro is really kind of interesting and all of a sudden your mind becomes quiet when he shows you the forearm, and he hugs you a little bit.” So, you're saying that you've got a problem with this disturbed mind. You have a problem with the quiet mind: All of a sudden you are leaving your family right because the tennis pro.


You are resting on that mind and you have lost your sense of Self. However, the mind is how you are, just like that bird. There's not even any concept that there's any way out other than the water becoming quiet. Therefore you try to manipulate the world around you so that when it comes in the mind will become comfortable and calm and manipulate the world around you so that when it comes in the mind will not become disturbed. Do you see that? Do you understand that? That's all everybody's doing. You are a servant of the mind. Whatever your state of mind is will drive you to do things outside. You will try to change the outside, to manipulate the outside, to control the outside, so that when it comes in the mind will go “Oh I like that” instead of “No, no I don't like that, no.” Right or wrong? Has there ever been a time that your mind said “No I don't want to. I don't like that.” This is why the 12-step serenity prayer is "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (the water); the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."


I mean that's ridiculous it's just a mind - this is the body of water in there that can make ripples or not make ripples. It can get nice in there can’t it? And it can get really disturbing in there can’t it? Just like the water that has nothing to do with you. You are the one who's experiencing that.


If you sit there and tell me “Oh my God my heart is hurting me, it's hurting my mind, it’s driving me crazy since he left.” I'm going to ask you a very simple question. You won't like it. I am going to ask you how do you know? I'm asking you how do you know? How do you know your heart hurts? You have never asked yourself that question. “How do I stop it?" All you care about is stopping your heart from hurting. Who are you who is in there that notices that the heart hurts because you are not the hurting heart? You said my heart hurts. Who's? My is a possessive pronoun - your words are actually correct. That's what's hilarious. Your words are very, very spiritual the way you describe things. “Oh my hand hurts” I don’t understand - I thought you were your body? You said it's my hand. Who's? Who's hand? My purse. My piano. My hand. I'm not an identity with the piano. I'm not an identity with the purse. I'm not identity with a car. I'm not an identity with the hand. I am the one who's noticing the hand and calling it mine.


You know how tenuous ‘mine’ is watch this: You walk into a car dealership. You don't happen to own a car. You put down some money, you get into a car - it's mine. It's really funny. It’s mine. How did it become yours?  It's not you - it's a possession that you have. You in there were in there before you had the car. You, the same you who has the car are you not? I am telling you, though you will not like it: You are the viewer standing staring at the hand and it gets chopped off: You're still there staring at the 'not hand'. Yes or no? You have not changed one iota - you are the exact same conscious being inside saying this is my hand. What happened to my hand? Where's my hand? It’s the same person. That is you. That is the consciousness, the awareness of BEing. It is the exact same thing with your inner state. My heart hurts. Who’s heart? The one who's noticing that there's a thing in here that's going on. I am the experiencer of the hurting heart. Has it always hurt? No. How do you know? Because I was in there then and I am in here now. I've always been in here. How long have you been in there? Did your heart ever hurt when you were 12? Did you know? Was it the same you who knew? You are the bird, the consciousness, Self - floating on the ocean of mind.


When the mind is calm you're fine when the mind is tumultuous you are not. Since you know this - this is the core of what you know. Like cave people “Me like; me not like; me like calm; me not like turmoil.” Who taught you that? Your parents? You have to go to school to learn that?  No, that intuitively comes in then. I don't want to be drowned. I like it being comfortable in here. Of course you do. Don't give that up - you could never give that up - understand that - that's part of your nature. So, your BEing is in there. You are resting on this lake - you don't realise that because you're so lost in it. Your resting on this lake. And you're only OK when the lake is OK. You're never OK when the lake is tumultuous. Right now you don't understand. That is what yoga is trying to teach you.

 

You are not your mind - you are resting on your mind. Your mind is your ego. You are the observer. You are the witness.


Therefore, you're experiencing the state of your mind. You have no idea what to do about it, other than you have noticed that if something outside of you says something to you, sometimes your mind likes it, and it gets quiet, and if something outside you said something to you, sometimes your mind doesn't like it, and it becomes tumultuous. Have you noticed that? Sometimes if you notice if you're building a house someday you'll do that and they paint the wall with the colour you picked and it doesn't always look exactly what you thought it was going to: Notice the word ‘thought’ - that's mind by the way. That you thought it was going to and now every time you walk into the room the mind disturbs you. It's not funny it's like you walked into a room and the mind says “Oh my God I can't believe I picked that colour”, every single time “I can't even understand why I picked that colour, I should have picked the other one!” You're disturbed. And at other times you get it just right - your mind says it's just right. What determines if it’s just right - your mind?


Since you have experienced you're floating on the mind - when the mind is calm you're fine. And when the mind is tumultuous you're very not OK - and everything in between and so now you've noticed that states of the outside world affects your mind. Have you noticed that yet? OK, therefore you are out there attempting to manipulate the world, which is impossible, so that when it comes in your mind becomes quiet and you're out there attempting to manipulate the world so that when it comes in your mind is not going to go into turmoil. I'm telling you that is exactly the same as the bird deciding how to make the water quiet. So, basically you feel you have no choice. I have no choice. “I'm not happy”. What does that mean? Your mind is not OK. Therefore I need to find another relationship; therefore if I need to change my job; therefore I need to do this; therefore I need to do that. It literally runs you. It tries to figure out - that that's the most funny part. Are you ready? Your mind is doing all this - when you want to fix it you go to the exact same mind. You listen to me I’m scolding you. You go to the exact same mind that isn't OK and ask it what needs to happen outside so that I am OK. “Oh my God that's unbelievable”- if something is not OK it doesn't know how to be OK. It's not OK. Don't be jealous and then ask jealousy about how to not be jealous - jealousy does not know how not to be jealous. Why? Because jealousy is jealous.


You have to abstract from being caught in that state to where you get clarity. Now you can look and see about changing things: But that's not what you do. I told you the ultimate. “I have a totally disturbed mind. I am on withdrawal. I was hooked on you. I'm trying to go through withdrawal. My mind’s disturbed.” What do you think your mind is telling you to do? Just once more you'll be OK if you can get it you'll calm down then you can get off the stuff. What you want to say that if you do it just once more right, I get my strength back. If I get my strength back I'll be able to go through withdrawal. It literally makes sense to that mind and it says stuff like this. I know people that try to stop smoking - they can't - they tried many times so now I see them smoking. I ask “What are you doing?” “Well I have trouble not smoking, right so I thought about it. If I smoked two packs today instead of one I'll get so sick of it that that'll stop me from smoking.“ People actually do that. I'm serious, you have no idea what the mind’s going to say when it’s disturbed. So, it's bad enough that you rest on your mind. You don't know what to do - so what you do is you go to the disturbed mind while it’s disturbed and say what should I do to change the outside?


You know the expressions “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” That's exactly what I'm talking about. This is so real. I want you to own it. So, basically you are resting on this mind - the mind gets calm or disturbed by different things, which you understand. You just wanted it to be nice, just like the bird, and you do get like that bird and make up all kinds of things about how to make it happen. You're disturbed, you are not with your living conditions. So, you start thinking “Well let's see if I can get the raise. I can make an investment in a market and I heard those new bitcoins went up 800% in the last eight months. I going to put all my money into bitcoins. I will make a new start and I can figure it out. Then I'll be wealthier and have a nice car, and I will attract the right person.” So, the mind when it is in disturbance you go to that mind and it tries to figure out every thought your entire life: The only thing your mind has done is complain that it is not OK and tried to figure out what everybody else needs to be or do so you can be OK. At no time did the mind say “I'm not OK, I should shut up.” No it didn't say that. When you went to the mind and said “Oh mind, what do I do with this turmoil?” It didn't say “I don't know, I'm just a mind” - it didn't say that - it tried to figure it out. It just kept thinking - that's why it's thinking all the time. People ask me why does that voice in the head just not shut up? Because you told it to try to figure it out - that's all it's trying to do is figure it out all the time. It's trying to figure out what's wrong and what to do about it, but at no time does it say what's wrong is that I'm complaining. It says how do I fix what I'm complaining about? What is all that about? It's what the bird is going through. You’re relying on the mind: When the mind is disturbed you don't distinguish yourself from the mind. When you mind is disturbed, you're disturbed.


So, you're floating on the water. The only way you know to be OK, because that's the only way the mind knows, is when the outside world comes in the mind is quiet, OK, so I need to figure out how the outside world needs to be and I mean down to the slightest detail. Especially a relationship! “Exactly how is she supposed to be?” If she is not that way well we'll work on it. So now you're left in a situation where you need to figure out how the world needs to be - two things - how the world needs to be so that when it comes in you're OK, and you're doing that based on your disturbed state so good luck with that, and second and more important: “Now I think I've figured out, I got it I got it went to a coaching seminar and a life coach told me how I should be - and I got this - I see what I've been doing wrong; I see I need to put my emphasis on this and change this and do that then I'll be OK." All right, well great I'm glad you feel good about it now go make it happen: Because that is equivalent to that bird having figured how to make the water be quiet. That’s not going to happen. Ever!


The world that is in front of you right now had not happened yet a moment ago - where did it come from? Do you think it came because you wanted it? No there are forces causing the world to be what it is – physics, chemistry, biology, psychology - the world in front of you is the result of all the causes that cause it to be that way. How much of those causes is what you want? How much of an acausal factor is the fact that you decided “But I want that job” -  the fact that there is a job, the fact that there is a company, the fact that there's other people who want that job, the fact that your past work was like this or that, the Universe and that there's 800 million zillion variables - the fact that you want the job - that is not a causal factor. It's just something you made-up in your head that will make you feel better if you get the job.


There's not a single book that you opened up in your studying natural science, meteorology, chemistry, physics, psychology, anything that when you were trying to study why things are the way they are that you opened it up and said “You did it”. Nothing is happening because that's the way you want it or don't want it - it is happening because of the trillions and trillions of forces that cause things to be the way they are. That’s the nature of the Universe.


Every single thing of the moment in front of you is inherited from all the moments that ever were. That is equivalent to why the ocean is doing what it's doing while the bird is floating on it - that bird can think all it wants that it’s causing it to happen – it’s not – it is not causing it to happen - there are forces that are causing it to be that way.


It is you who wants to think you're in control because you can't handle that you're not - because at any moment it might get tumultuous. “No, I have control over this - it's how I'm holding my eyes - it's what I'm saying in my head - it's how I sung my song before - it's karma from a past life." Just have fun letting your mind develop a world that says I have control over what's coming in - you do not. Christ said “Let those who have eyes to see let them see, but those have ears to hear let them hear” - in other words the world is unfolding in front of you - it is coming in through your senses - you have got some work to do if you can't handle reality - if that's what you're doing with reality – you are not going anywhere - you're going to struggle and suffer and get neurotic just like that bird. You're going to feel - I have to figure out how to make it good now. I grew up doing everything I can - how do I manipulate it? You're just busy thinking all the time. Every time you meet somebody you'll be uncomfortable - you might not impress them, they might not like you, they might cause trouble. There is discomfort at all times inside of you, and not just saying you, generic you, humanity - there is discomfort all the time, no matter what is going on - every once in a while there's a peak moment but it doesn't last. It's uncomfortable - you're scared you're scared something will go wrong. You might say the wrong thing and you will walk away from a conversation with somebody – the conversation’s over, but it’s not over inside your head. You are scared. We said there were forces that were causing the water to be the way it is - there are forces that are causing your mind to be the way it is – you are not doing it - you didn’t decide to have a neurotic mind.


What has happened is past experiences you have had, some of them have come in and made you feel comfortable, that is perfectly natural - some of them have come in and made you feel comfortable. If you don't think that's natural, the example I always use is to have two butterflies flying around - gorgeous monarch butterflies - while three people standing next to you who are all nature lovers, come flying around over all your heads and land on your arm; both of them. They land on your arm - how you doing? A rattlesnake comes crawling up and comes close to you. Those things have nothing do with you - you did not choose those butterflies to land upon your arm and you didn’t choose that rattlesnake to rattle in but yet when they come in they're either comfortable or not comfortable to you - fair enough - so that's what the Buddhist mean by the ‘Nature of things’. Everything has its nature - nobody is denying that, so that when it comes in it will cause certain changes in the ripples of the mind. So what; they don't last - a leaf will drop in the water - it will cause ripples - and they'll go away. There is nothing to do about it. There's nothing you can do about those ripples when the leaf falls in the water. I want you going to meditate on that. Anything you try to do will make more ripples. I'll stick my hand and pull it out. I'll jump in the water so that I can catch the next leaf before it falls. There's not a single thing you can do aside from leaving the natural forces to let the ripple calm down, so butterflies may come and land there - beautiful right? That's good. Rattlesnakes may rattle - not so nice - it goes away. Still the natural state with no other forces affecting it - you're OK, and the vast majority of the time right now in the thing affecting the state of your mind is you. You're in there worrying about what will happen in the future and holding on to what happened in the past. I've watched my mind - 95% of the problems of my mind thinks about are things that I decided I didn't want or want – they are not rattlesnakes or butterflies. Or what if I go on holiday and it rains? I don’t want it to rain while I am in Hawaii - that's ridiculous? I won't like that - maybe I shouldn't go - what is that? Those are ripples you are causing. There's no rain right here - your mind is creating ripples. “Well what if I get married and he turns out to be doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde? How will I know - I've only known him 12 years we only lived together for 11. I guess I'm very neurotic about that so I've checked this out for 11 years and now he tells me if we don't get married he's going to leave, or do I want him to leave, or don't I want him to leave? If I really loved him, why didn't I marry him? God I don't know!”


Who's causing that? You! Your mind is causing its own ripples. So, the cause of these ripples in the mind are because you've had past experiences, some of them unpleasant, some of them are not: The bottom line is you held on to those experiences - you have not let them end like the ripples of the leaf in the water. Not a single thing that has ever happened to you, you have let it be over. You store it. I mean little things, things that didn't affect you strongly, you let go: The white lines on the road come and go - all kinds of clouds float by - but basically inside if something is extremely pleasant or extremely unpleasant I guarantee you it's still there - it left an impression on you and now what happens is when the world is unfolding you're judging it based on what it's going to be like and you are out there trying to manipulate it - how do you manipulate it? By thinking about it therefore you've ended up with “I don't want to live in there” you know all about it right? It's very common. And you are busy - what is your option? Your option is to realise you are lying on a mind that is like lying on water and when the mind becomes disturbed it is not nice to be in there. If the mind becomes calm it’s nice to be in there. How do I not lie on the mind? Why can't I just leave the mind to be what it is? When it sees a rattlesnake it gets disturbed. When it sees butterflies it gets calm. As it’s very nice it's beautiful it's like the seasons – it’s like the weather - the rain is nice - the wind is nice. Why can't I be comfortable with the fact that the mind reacts and responds to the nature of things - why would it not - here's a mirror - it reflects what’s in front of it - here's a mind - it is moving in accordance to what comes in, but the movement is very quick - it comes through so somebody comes in and yells at you “Why did you do that? I told you not to do that.” When you look at him, he didn’t tell you anything - he's stuck on the wrong person but that's the end of it. Next time he comes by you don't say he's going to yell - that’s beginners mind - it is clean - it went right through - it is storing anything personal you have to protect yourself. You don’t walk in the woods anymore why? Because you saw a rattlesnake once when 12 years ago you were in the Rocky Mountains. You understand that the highest thing you can do is to become comfortable with the different states of the mind so that you’re not freaking out when it's going through its different states to become comfortable with the different states of the heart. Yes, somebody you love dies - the heart is going to have some trouble. If it's not you better go to a doctor. Or you didn't love him. How do you get your heart not to hurt when someone you love dies? You don't. But you can be comfortable with the beauty of your heart saying I loved this person so much and when people talk about that I tell them I want you to feel that my heart is saying that's how much I loved you – it is an expression of love not a question of pain. It’s natural - you feel comfortable with it. If you are comfortable with it you are healthy - it will go through it will pass and it will not leave scars - you will talk about how beautiful that relationship was and how "Oh my God" how you realised how much you really loved this person.


So, what happens is you decide I am in here and I'm resting on the mind. I don't have to be - I can extricate myself - and I'm sure you can - then you just fly. That bird is better off flying and then it's welcome to go in the water if it wants to - but now it knows how to go in and come out -that's what it wants – it’s liberated, it’s free - blue skies - gorgeous everywhere, all the time. But if something happens that makes the mind disturbed you notice you let it run its course. You're strong, you're healthy, and so on. So, how do you extricate yourself? You will not be able to extricate yourself by fighting the mind. That’s not what we're going to do is come in here and fight with the mind - you can't make those ripples be quiet - what you can do is be comfortable with the ripples. There are primary ripples and then there's secondary ripples - like in war when they drop bombs, they say there's a secondary explosion. What does that mean? It means it was a munitions factory so not only did we get the first explosion but it was much bigger so there was a secondary explosion. There are primary ripples, meaning the world comes in, it causes certain ripples in your mind. Get comfortable that the nature of things reflected in your mind. Somebody was mean and they mistreated you right - you went through the experience - that came in it felt yucky it doesn't feel good with these mean people who mistreat you. Someone who lies to you and you find out they weren’t honest. You don't feel good - that's a primary ripple - it will pass by itself. What do you mean when you say I need help making a pass is you mean I'm resisting it - I need help learning how not to resist it. You don't need help having a pass - I'm in big trouble now with all the therapists and psychologists. If you accept it completely it will pass - you do not need help stopping the ripples caused by the leaf - they will stop by themselves - they will run their course - so will everything inside of you but if I do this secondary ripple, which is what? I'm trying to take the leaf out - I'm trying to keep the leaf from coming back to me - I'm trying to - I don't want this to happen, so I'm pushing it away. I'm suppressing it - now it doesn't go away. You caused more ripples by flapping your wings to try and stop the ripples. You cause more ripples by flapping your wings, thinking that that's going to flap down the ripples. You are going to make more. OK, when you're in there struggling and fighting with the past and what might happen in the future and why did somebody say this, you are causing ripples by yourself.


Yes, there are natural ripples. They are the reflection of the nature of what came in: They will come and they will go. You just be comfortable. You don't react by fighting them. You don't react by getting all weird inside and coming up with concepts of supposed to be not supposed to be and this is wrong: There's no such thing as righteous anger - there is such a thing as “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth”. There is such a thing as a person who is centred enough and calm enough that they can stand in the presence of very disturbing things and bring harmony to it - that they could do - the big difference is that right that's a passive activist – so, you realise you are causing at least 95% of all the Vrittis, ripples that are going on your mind - you did as a secondary reaction to what's going on and now you're reacting to the reacting. Reacting alright - it's so complicated in there you can't even see straight. What's the way out? Stop the mind from reacting – no, rest quietly and let the ripples pass through - it takes time - relax and release. That's the answer. You're in there: You know you're in there - you're reacting to everything aren't you? You're only reaction at some point is relax it's OK relax. Lean behind what's happening. The ripples are in front of you - you're lying on top of them - relax and release; someday you will float above them. All by yourself - you don't try to float above them – That’s just mind - you just relax and release - stop being so interested in everything your mind has to say because 95% of it is rubbish - you're going to see it's all about how do I fix this? You're just trying to stop the ripples, but by creating mind to stop mind you're creating more mind! That’s all there is to it – you’ve just learned to relax - it's what meditation is all about. That’s what all this stuff is about. The car in front of you is driving under the speed limit. OK what exactly do you think what is going on in your mind is going to do to fix that situation? There's a sign that says 55mph - do you want to do 45mph? The right way, what's that doing, causing you ripples, yes? Fine, the guy is driving below the speed limit a certain amount, you notice that you will be a little later than if he wasn't there - you notice that rubbish you're doing in your mind - just making you neurotic, this is causing more and more ripples then you go tell people. I am going to move. How can I relax when they are driving 10 mph below the speed limit?


I can give you the technique for that alright - it's like I understand if you're not doing something after learning how to do it you need a technique. Like if you are learning to play the piano but if you're doing it you don't need a technique to not do it. I'm playing with the scales of playing the piano and the teachers don't know he hit the wrong note here - yes - I decided it would sound better but you're supposed to be learning skills: I can't give you a technique for you to not do it the way you're doing it - just decide that’s stupid, you know, play the thing right. OK, it's the same thing here, there is no technique at that point I just told you - the person driving your mind, starting to give you this junk you're conscious of the talk I just gave you – you are sitting there saying there's no benefit to me creating all these ripples inside my mind to do this I am going to just relax into the situation and not create secondary ripples. I am telling you there's a doer in there that's freaking out so it has to do something about everything near me. Relax: You relax, so don't come back to me saying why won't I relax? As I say in the ripples won't go away no you're supposed to be honouring and respecting the ripples. So what, you're not making primary and secondary ripples: Well you've seen a lot here right so you relax and what will happen is they will run their course and the driver will turn away and you relax and you'll be grateful that you didn't cause all this trouble. You get stuck in a train, count the cars - don't complain about everything that could go wrong but just not behind the train. In Matthew 19:14, Christ said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Be a child. Have fun! Some telling you to do that with all this stuff - like low hanging fruit - learn how to not create yourself problems and then you learn to relax with bigger things and bigger things and eventually when you can relax what that means is I'm not fixated on the ripples - there are ripples - I've see that come and go it's OK you know I got somebody got sick for a day missed work then they go to work someone else got sick for a day, missed work and is all nervous or what happens again “I'll lose my job and then they get sick of that”. Which are you? The person that can handle things or the person that can't handle things? Stop it. Don’t think that there is an answer to that neurosis because there isn't - the only answer is to relax and not create the secondary ripples and if you can do that you'll start noticing primary ripples are not hard.


Yes the world does lots of different things - it comes in and goes every day. You will start to fall in love with that. I am, going to stop it here. What do I do about floating above? That is like you're in a hot air balloon – a helium hot air balloon - but it's tethered to the ground isn't it. How do I go up? Should I put more hot air in it? Should I raise the fire level so there's more helium or whatever is going on? No, cut the tethers. But how will I go up? That's the hilarious question - if you cut the tethers you are going up - there's nothing for you to do at that point. Don't be thinking anything like that - this is spiritual. Stop screwing with those ripples! Relax, let them pass. But they're not passing! They will if you leave them. How long will it take? None of your business. But what if the tether’s hard to cut? How do I go up without cutting it? You don't. But if it takes longer than I thought it would? You just do what you need to do to cut the tethers - you do what you do to relax in the face of the ripples. I'm begging you. I've told you a deep truth here - relax in the face of the ripples they will pass. If you don't relax you will suppress them and they will not pass. They will keep bothering you for the rest of your life, because they're trying to pass, and keep coming back up - so you relax and then you're going to see you’re happier. Why am I happy - why would they make me happier? You'll see - because your natural state is happy - your natural state is joy and your natural state is love - but why would it feel like love? I don't have anybody - you'll see - because love is nothing to do with anybody else – it has to do with your inner state of beauty and openness. You can start going up and up and because it's now nice you don't care about the ripples at all. That's growing - you relax and release - start going up - then you really start to go up - at some point the spiral really strikes you – you start feeling joy; real joy like ecstasy. Like the highest state you've ever felt when your mind was quiet is going on all the time times 1000 - you know you're holding your kid for the first time; you're at your wedding day; right take that moment and it never goes away it only keeps growing no matter what's happening. That’s yoga. Now you are somewhere. Now you are a higher BEing. You just keep getting pulled up into and eventually, that’s what the masters teach you – you are pulled up so far away from your personal self that you realise you can soar - you have nothing to do with that water and that you merge with the infinite.


Namaste.


Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.


Olly



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I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 


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