A publicity campaign for my new book, Controlling Mental Chaos, started in August. These articles, published in the following magazines, are excerpts or expanded ideas found in the book. I hope you enjoy them. I also invite you to attend any of the local author events planned.
Controlling Mental Chaos:Harnessing the Power of the Creative Mind
Author Talk with Jaime A. Pineda
You are all invited to join me as I discuss the relationship between mind and brain. In my latest book, I show that anxiety and incessant thinking reflect uncontrolled creativity, and how, using time-tested techniques and our own mental “superpowers”, we can begin to recover our innate creative nature.
I will be giving more details, signing books, and answering questions at the following locations:
Mira Mesa Library 8405 New Salem St Sept 30 11 am
Barnes & Noble 810 W. Valley Pkwy Escondido Oct 14 2 pm
Coronado Library 640 Orange Ave Oct 17 7 pm
La Jolla Library 7555 Draper Ave Oct 28 3 pm
Warwick’s bookstore 7812 Girard Ave Nov 12 2:30 pm
Carmel Valley Library 3919 Townsgate Dr Nov 18 1 pm
According to polls, most Americans believe there is a mental health crisis afflicting society. They cite many factors for this calamity. Traditionally, the major sources of stress for a majority of adults have been personal finances, current and political events, and work stressors. Combine this with a rising sense of isolation, fear, and paranoia, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid/drug outbreak, the war in Ukraine, political upheavals, etc. These unrelenting social concerns exacerbate stressors such as feelings of disconnection to traditional psychosocial and spiritual sources of support. Politicians and malevolent troublemakers stir this stew of discomfort by manipulating valid emotions to weaponise fear in the name of political expediency. When fear becomes crushing, it adds a sense of no place to turn to for honest and wise counsel, as opposed to politicized rhetoric, something once provided by parents, clergy, and counselors. Homelessness and mental illnesses in children, teenagers, and adults are the inevitable results.
Imagine including in this powder-keg of emotions many guns, increased far right activity and racism, gender biases, brief attention spans, impulsiveness, and lack of emotional control. It isn’t difficult to predict the rapid rise in violence. This explosive stew of individual and social ills leads to despair, being on guard, hypersensitivity — issues typically associated with PTSD-associated disorders. We are, in fact, being traumatized by what seems like an out-of-control life. And unfortunately, only about 20% of us seek and receive mental health services. This reluctance to seek solutions for what is obviously overwhelming chaos is blamed on uncomfortable feelings talking to loved ones about issues and concerns about privacy, plus the stigma that still attaches to mental problems.
If there is an answer, it’s going to take a wholistic approach—and a concerted and common desire to solve the problem. People at the individual, community and societal level have to decide they have had enough, reached bottom, and sincerely desire to address the problem seriously. Social solutions require community and communication, assets currently in short supply. Thus, I want to focus more on what can happen at an individual level and what each of us can do to help.
It might be helpful to get a handle on the root of the crisis to consider what psychologists have known for a long time. In order to feel truly human and live fulfilled lives, we have to meet certain undeniable needs. A good starting point is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of those needs. Maslow argued for at least three major categories: physiological, socio-psychological, and spiritual. Physiological needs (food, shelter, etc.) make up the basement level of our being and must be met first to provide a stepping stone into higher levels of being. Spiritual needs (what he termed self-actualization) might be considered the apex of human nature. Between the two are the socio-psychological (social connections) needs.
From this humanistic perspective, we can imagine the number of factors mentioned previously, which underlie the mental health crisis we are experiencing, working to disconnect us from sources that nourish and promote well-being. Homelessness, malnourishment, alienation, loneliness, and lack of moral structure are conditions that exacerbate the decline in mental health because they produce severe disconnection and do not promote and provide our human needs. From an economic and socio-political perspective these problems appear solvable yet have proven to be intractable.
There is a different way of seeing this calamity and to ask, is there more to life than this? For those lost in the chaos, what I am about to say makes absolutely no sense. Because to appreciate this perspective, one must move outside of the storm. Imagine a raging thunderstorm, tornado, or hurricane. If you are inside, nothing else matters—it is all-encompassing, pervasive, unending. Yet, outside of the region or by taking a plane and flying above the clouds, you can see something different. Likewise, it is paradoxical yet possible to know that underneath the apparent madness of life there is a subtle presence, grace and stillness that can be quite beautiful. We all yearn to touch that. Its grace is available to anyone who dares and cares. And it begins by taming our uncontrolled mind.
This poem comes from the Hua Hu Ching of Lao Tzu, who 2500 years ago knew this truth/solution to our modern problems. He provides the answer (discover the harmony in your own being) in a clear and direct way, or at the very least, points you in the right direction.
Why scurry about looking for the truth?
It vibrates in every thing and every not-thing, right off the tip of your nose.
Can you be still and see it in the mountain? The pine tree? Yourself?
Don't imagine that you'll discover it by accumulating more knowledge.
Knowledge creates doubt, and doubt makes you ravenous for more knowledge.
You can't get full eating this way.
The wise person dines on something more subtle:
He eats the understanding that the named was born from the unnamed,
That all being flows from non-being,
That the describable world emanates from an indescribable source.
He finds this subtle truth inside his own self and becomes completely content.
So who can be still and watch the chess game of the world?
The foolish are always making impulsive moves,
but the wise know that victory and defeat are decided by something more subtle.
They see that something perfect exists before any move is made.
This subtle perfection deteriorates when artificial actions are taken,
So be content not to disturb the peace. Remain quiet.
Discover the harmony in your own being. Embrace it.
If you can do this, you will gain everything,
And the world will become healthy again.
If you can't, you will be lost in the shadows forever.
We all have ideas about what meditation is. It means many things to different people—a tool, a religious path, a lifestyle. At its root, there is a sense of gathering, of bringing together and focusing the resources of attention on the present moment. Meditation practice brings this awareness to a narrow or broad focus, along with a certain gentleness and care, to reduce our reactivity to life events. As we become proficient in the skill, the spotlight of attention falls on either simple or complex targets. A major focus is our own mind and its helter-skelter motifs, replete with uncertainty, randomness, and emotional pain. At some point, we attend to that which holds all objects of attention—awareness itself.
We practice these skills to relax, for health reasons, or to explore spiritual matters. How we meditate varies, either sitting, lying down, walking, chanting, dancing, or carrying on with our life. Each mode and approach offer valuable experiences and important insights. Mindfulness, qi jong, yoga, mantras, TM, prayer, progressive relaxation, Dzogchen, Zen, Sufi dancing are all part of what one imagines when the word is mentioned. Because there are so many styles and variations, the practice of meditation, and what might be its outcome, seems complex, confusing, and unnecessarily complicated.
As a psychological and health improvement practice, the consistent routine of meditation reduces stress, anxiety, memory loss, negative emotions, and pain, while improving heart rate, concentration, sleep, emotional health, patience, tolerance, imagination and creativity. These positive outcomes fuel the growing interest. As it assumes a spiritual orientation and lifestyle, meditation becomes especially intricate. An aspiration in this approach is to reconcile with an initial unity we experienced as children. Limitless paths exist to such unity, involving concepts of God, Buddha-nature, the Source, enlightenment, kensho, satori, wakefulness, realization, etc. and innumerable methods and techniques to help us get there. Just like the act of driving remains the same regardless of the vehicle you use, despite the hundreds of variations, styles, and gadgets associated with driving, meditation from a spiritual perspective remains straightforward. At its most basic, it concerns mental and spiritual health, and the rediscovery of the real you.
I would argue there are only three absolutely necessary actions needed to practice meditation, everything else is optional.
Be present-moment centered and focused on: “Who is present?”
Stop identifying with mind and body
Trust and surrender to the non-conceptual awareness that arises.
Regardless of your particular method and technique, consistently practicing meditation as an act of love towards yourself and others, whether as a secular or spiritual intention, will help you develop and fine-tune the following unique traits:
Stillness: More than the absence of movement, stillness is an attitude that “life is perfect as it is” or more prosaically that “life is what it is.” It is the reality which is in front of us — a single outcome out of a set of infinite possibilities given the history and circumstances of each moment — and which we accept and have no need to change.
No-mind: This comes from a Buddhist martial arts term, Mushin, that translates literally as no-mind.It refers to a mind that is not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and open to everything. An unencumbered mind that lacks self-centeredness and flows unimpeded from moment to moment. Also associated with the term “beginner’s mind” and “compassionate mind.”
Flow: Overlaps with the idea of “no-mind.” It is the sense of being completely immersed and absorbed in an activity or task, in which we lose a sense of space and time. The psychologist Mihály Csikszentmihályi described it as when “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”
Clarity: A comprehensive way of viewing life, with a clearness of perception, thinking, and intentionality. This is seeing ourselves, the context of our life, our goals and intentions holistically. It is opening our mind to the Infinite and recognizing that like a wave on the ocean we express that ultimate Reality.
Situational Awareness: Right Mindfulness (from Buddha’s Eightfold Path). It means being aware of our thoughts, actions, and intentions in that moment with a gentle and caring attitude. Or as David Brooks has described it: a feel for the unique contours of the situation. An intuitive awareness of when to follow and when to break the rules. A feel for the flow of events, a special sensitivity, not necessarily conscious, for how fast to move and what decisions to take that will prevent a bad outcome. A sensitivity that flows from experience, historical knowledge, humility in the face of uncertainty, and having led a reflective and interesting life.
Joy: More than an emotion of delight, joy is a state of being and cherishing of the moment, feeling fulfilled, lacking nothing, and being content. A feeling that pervades your entire body, mind, and spirit.
Empathy, love, and compassion: This is our sense of responsibility for others. We feel what they feel and are moved to help relieve their suffering. These are the motivators and bonds that form a true intimacy with others.
Trust and lack of fear: As fears subside, the reality of something greater than ourselves increases and trust in its benevolence grows. It is a non-conceptual awareness that carries a sense of vitality, intelligence, and love.
Openness, curiosity and creativity: As fears subside, the innate nature of our original mind comes to the foreground: An inner and outer boundless field of awareness that is open, active, adaptable, dynamic, inquisitive, and creative.
Wisdom: The wisdom of our open and creative mind is available to respond intuitively, spontaneously, and appropriately in any circumstance that we encounter, without the need to conceptualize and rationalize. It transcends intellectual/conceptual knowing.
The Russia-Ukraine war playing out on television these last two weeks has produced a helpless feeling of not being able to help. Yet, it has motivated me to explore alternative ways to be of use. This essay represents a small way of using what I know to consider future answers to such conflicts.
The 21st century is well on its way to becoming the era of translational biological information. This means we are applying the vast amount of knowledge gathered over the last century to change the world for the better. Our modern economy, law, politics, and the military reflect this process. These are several of the many institutions in society that owe a great deal to the growing understanding of the mind. Advertising, marketing, focus groups, negotiations, ethics, law, and intelligence work—all rely on awareness of how we think and decide. From genetics to personalized medicine, the study of the human mind sits at the edge of a truly transformational time. We know well the link between malnutrition and depression, while we learn more every day about the role depression plays in mild cognitive impairment. Other findings, such as the effects that microbiome bacteria in our stomachs have on cognition, are nothing short of extraordinary.
For the past century and a half, we have learned that changes in our brain result in modifications to the mind and to our personality. Tools to study and learn these brain-mind relationships, such as deep brain stimulation, have moved us from indirect to more direct mapping. We have discovered ways to know how people decide and think, and how it is we communicate with each other. A more recent development in neuroplasticity is that modifications to our personality can cause changes to our brains. Mindfulness meditation to manage stress rewires unhealthy circuits in the brain, such as the HPA axis response.
What such insights have produced is not only a better grasp of how information processing affects perception and cognition but how, through extensive training, we can extend our personal and sociocultural boundaries. Neurotechnology, one of the new sciences in this contemporary world, has developed methods for treating and repairing soldiers injured in battle. It has figured out how we move cursors across a screen through the power of thought and how to control an advanced prosthetic arm in the same way. Neurotechnology restores the sensation of touch to an individual with severe neuro-degenerative injury.
The consequences of this new science, however, are not always positive. In the name of national security and warfare preparation, neuropsychological training also eases individuals into controversial tasks, such as killing. Thoughts control the flying of drones. Pharmaceuticals help soldiers forget traumatic experiences or produce feelings of trust to encourage confession in an interrogation. Thus, the weaponization of biological information raises ethical concerns.
The dual use of scientific information for good and bad ought not to prevent us from extracting lessons on how to avert conflict. Given all the current clashes, it is an opportune time to ask whether there is anything in the biological treasure trove of knowledge that can help us deal with conflict or even how to avoid it.
Optimal prediction in decision-making is one innovative way to prevent conflict. Imagine being able to anticipate the plans of others, especially adversaries, and forestall, or prevent those efforts? Could we have stopped the Ukrainian war had we known that Russia would invade the country? Is it possible to stop any conflict if we know the problem before it happens? The rational answer would seem to be yes. Interestingly, the human brain evolved for “optimal” prediction in decision-making, turning Homo sapiens into one of the most successful species to survive a violent and uncertain world. It sounds reasonable, therefore, to ask whether there are lessons in this evolution that we can extract for more general use?
Recent developments in cognitive neuroscience, based on neurologically inspired theories of uncertainty, have led to proposals suggesting human brains are sophisticated prediction engines. This means the brain generates mental models of the surrounding environment to predict the most plausible explanation for what’s happening in each moment and updates the models in real time. According to Andy Clark, a cognitive scientist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, “You experience, in some sense, the world that you expect to experience.”
We assume the major function of “looking into the future” through prediction, preparation, anticipation, prospection or expectations in various cognitive domains is to organize our experience of the world as efficiently as possible. The brain-mind is optimally, not perfectly, designed to cope with both natural uncertainty (the fog surrounding complex, indeterminate human actions) and man-made uncertainty (the man-made fog fabricated by denials and deceptions). We do this by conserving energy while reducing uncertainty. This ability evolved to support human intelligence through continuously matching incoming sensory information with top-down predictions of the input. Analysis of the temporo-spatial regularities and causal relationships in the environment produce top-down predictions or expectations—something known as Bayesian inference.
The brain uses this knowledge of regularities and patterns to make a model or the “best guess” about what objects and events are most likely to be responsible for the signals it receives from the environment. This “best guess” goes through an iterative process of minimizing the mismatch (i.e., correcting the error) between expectancy and reality until it reaches an optimal solution. Mental models are forms of perception, recognition, inferences about the state of the world, attention, and learning, which are beneficial for more pertinent reactions in the immediate situation.
In this perspective, mental states are predictive states, which arise from a brain embodied in a living body, permeated with affect and embedded in an empowering socio-cultural niche. The result is the best possible and most accommodating interaction with the world via perceptions, actions, attention, emotions, homestatic regulation, cognition, learning, and language.
A predictive machine requires a high inter-dependence of processes, such as perception, action, and cognition, which are intrinsically related and share common codes. Besides the feedforward, or bottom-up, flow of information, there is significant top-down feedback and recurrent processing. Given the levels of ambiguity and noise always present in the environment and our neural system, prior biases or mental sets become critical for facilitating and optimizing current event analysis. This occurs whether it concerns recognizing objects, executing movements, or scaling emotional reactions. This dynamic information flow depends on previous experience and builds on memories of various kinds, but it does not include mnemonic encoding. Indeed, the more ambiguous the input, the greater the reliance on prior knowledge.
The predictive model of the brain has been successful in explaining a variety of mental phenomena, such as inattention and distraction, beliefs and desires, as well as neural data. Sometimes, though, the brain gets things wrong because of incomplete or inaccurate information, and this discrepancy can cause everything from mild cognitive dissonance to learning disorders to anxiety and depression. But our survival is proof positive that whatever strategies we learned are highly effective in navigating a world of uncertainty.
Here are eight lessons regarding the predictive brain that may be helpful in dealing with conflict:
Recognize your use of mental models. To deal with uncertainty in the world requires creating mental models in which we map our understanding and expectations about cause-and-effect relationships and then process and interpret information through these models or filters. Mental models become critical for facilitating and optimizing our responses to current events.
Understand your mental models. Recognize that complex mental processes determine which information you attend and, therefore, mediate, organize, and attribute meaning to your experience. Your background, memories, education, cultural values, role requirements, and organizational norms strongly influenced this dynamic process.
Withhold judgment of alternative interpretations until you have considered many of them. Expertise, and the confidence that attaches to it, is no protection from the common pitfalls endemic to the human thought process, particularly when it involves ambiguous information, multiple players, and fluid circumstances.
Challenge, refine, and challenge again all your mental models. Discourage conformity. Incoming data should reassess the premises of your models. Remain humble and nimble. Be self-conscious about your reasoning powers. Examine how you make judgments and reach conclusions. Encourage “outside of the box” thinking.
Value the unexpected. It reveals inaccuracies in your mental models. You cannot eliminate prediction pitfalls because they are an inherent part of the process. What you do is to train yourself on how to look for and recognize these obstacles, view them as opportunities, and develop procedures designed to offset them.
Emphasize factors that disprove hypotheses. Increased awareness of cognitive biases, such as the tendency to see information confirming an already-held judgment more vividly than one sees “disconfirming” data, does little by itself to help deal effectively with uncertainty. Look for ways to disprove what you believe.
Develop empathy and compassion. Put yourself in the shoes of others to see the options faced by others as they see those options. Understand the values and assumptions that others have and even their misperceptions and misunderstandings. Then, act.
Change external circumstances instead of trying to eliminate everyone’s biases. Mental models are resistant to change primarily because they reflect the temporo-spatial regularities and causal relationships found in your environment. Restructure the setting and it will affect your perceptions.
At times these past few years
The Light has seemed to fade,
And space for sadness made.
Enticing madness to appear.
We yearn for normal times.
Our cries reflect the torment
Unheeded for the moment
In our restless, rhythmic rhymes.
Yet hope remains a steady fire
Melting through the yoke,
The burdens that we spoke,
And strength behind desires.
Setting wounded mind aside,
We encounter That which never left,
Reminder of a noble guest,
Who calmly takes the world in stride.
There is now a deeper sense
For we know it’s not a ploy.
Our heart sings for joy,
As we focus on the Present.
Fear fades while joy and goodness grow.
And intimate connections made,
Providing us the shade
Of peace that deep inside we know.
I wish for you this unique present
On this happy Christmas morn:
A joyous heart that’s born
Of life’s eternal Present.
Jews and Christians are under ethical, religious, and spiritual obligations to follow Biblical precepts. The Ten Commandments, known also as “the ten words” or as the Decalogue in Christianity, are principles to guide our behavior. The commandments, detailed in Exodus 20:1-17 from the King James Version, describe a relationship with God, e.g., “Thou shalt have no other gods before me; do not make unto thee any graven image; do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The remaining commandments describe specific actions that characterize exemplary behavior, e.g., “Thou shalt remember the sabbath; keep it holy; honor thy father and mother; do not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness against thy neighbor, or covet thy neighbor’s house, wife, slaves, etc.”
In Christian theology, Jesus freed his followers from the obligation to follow the hundreds of commandments in Jewish religious law. He did not, however, remove the duty to keep the Ten Commandments. In Matthew 22:35–40, Mark 12:28–34, and Luke 10:27, Jesus acknowledges their validity. He then asks his disciples to go further, demanding a righteousness exceeding that in the Old Testament. When asked, “which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus considered these as similar precepts, for if we love God with all our heart, soul and mind, loving our neighbor is the natural consequence. For the Christian faithful, it is the core of their lifestyle and values. But why is it so difficult to live this reality? One cynical reason is that no sanction is associated with their lack of execution. Thus, individuals can call themselves Christian, not follow the commandments, and have no fear of their misbehavior. Even if they believe that punishment can only occur following earthly life, it is easy to ignore. The association is so far removed that it will not weigh very much on their conscience. My intuition is that these are not the “virtuous” people God is hoping to shape.
So, can people call themselves Christian if they cannot live up to these commandments? Yes, but it matters whether they try as opposed to having an uninterested and lackadaisical mindset about it. God gave many hints He wants his followers to make the effort. The most perfect expression of this expectation is Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” If we assume that those who see themselves as Christian do struggle, then what prevents them from complying? Let’s for now ignore the first part and focus on the latter part of the commandment.
First, God would not command “love your neighbor as yourself” if it were beyond the capacity of humans. Second, God is the source of Life. When the faithful love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, they grow to recognize that everyone is part of His creation. My intuition is that most of the faithful know and exercise this understanding intentionally as well as unconsciously. They show it in the tithes they give, the charity work they do for their churches, and the individual volunteering seen across the world. But when they do not identify with others, it means there will be moments their actions dissociate from this ideal. What gets in the way? I argue it is the nature of human individuality in relation to unity.
This argument resembles that proposed by Martin Buber, an Austrian-born philosopher, who considered the distinction between I–Thou and I–It relation. In his analysis, Buber attempted to understand how human individuality fits into the universality of God. His reasoning followed that “I either understand myself as God or God as myself.” Neither of those, however, appeared to be correct or satisfactory. And thus, the need for a third alternative. Jesus, who became Christ, is a perfect and symbolic representation of this third relationship. Or what Buber characterized as “I am in God and God is in me” relationship. I keep my individuality as I recognize I am also part of the whole. Jesus as a human being is the embodiment of such an interactivity. Christ is the actuality that such consciousness is a possibility available to everyone.
As long as we see the world from an individual perspective, self-centered actions will prevail. When we perceive ourselves as embedded in the “I am in God and God is in me” relationship, then others become as important. And actions follow that perspective. This relationship thrives when fostered, learned, prayed for, and exercised. When that awareness becomes a natural response, then living up to the greatest commandment develops into a real and effortless life.
What can be done to make this awareness a natural response? Make the following exercises a part of an everyday routine. This will promote learning to “love your neighbor as yourself” and set up an “I am in God and God is in me” relationship:
The way my logical mind reacts to the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic reminds me of the trust I place on the Global Positioning System (GPS) on my smart phone. GPS is an amazing navigational program that uses at least 24 satellites, a receiver and algorithms to give location, velocity and time synchronization for air, sea and land travel. That means its navigational database and capabilities are a heck of a lot larger and better than mine. The relationship works well when I trust it to get me around, particularly to unfamiliar places. However, when a glitch occurs and I choose an unexpected wrong turn, I lose trust in the application. More often than not, my ego interferes and judges that it is smarter and takes over. This leads to complications, getting turned around and lost. In the middle of this confusion, my anxious mind shows up and I start complaining and ranting. My persistence on following ego and not GPS leads to even more serious behaviors, such as arguing with my wife trying to justify my erratic choices. What gets me in trouble, then, is my rational mind, which thinks it is smarter than it really is. This isn’t any different when facing the uncertainty of a pandemic or any other life challenge.
The question is whom do I trust? My answer is to trust your instincts and intuitions. Our obsession with rational, deliberative thinking makes us unable or unwilling to let go and let our instincts and intuition be. Fear of lack of control associated with letting go reduces our trust. The tiny level of control that conscious, rational awareness provides is sufficient for us to cling to it. But I am talking about instincts and intuitions built on preparedness, on life experiences, on growing wisdom. Such trust provides a doorway to negotiate life’s obstacles in the face of enormous demands and uncertainties beyond the capacity of our rational mind. How do I begin? Times of uncertainty are actually good training ground to cultivate our intuitive and instinctual capacities. Here is one way:
EXERCISE: How to Cultivate an Intuitive Mind
Allow Associative Thinking
Associative processing occurs when you allow your mind to “wander” and “free associate.” It can automatically link up seemingly unrelated ideas, thoughts, observations, sensory input, memory of existing knowledge with your intuitive subconscious or intuitive interface. Associative processing tends not to provide a direction or a goal. Curiosity drives it and is the basis for the good monkey mind.
Detach yourself from your thoughts and observe them from a distance
Observe without constraint and rationale
Permit and allow your mind to roam without purpose
Discard nothing that comes up
Note interesting ideas, write them
Keep roaming without direction and avoid judging those ideas that crop up
For most of us, a happy, productive life means having an active, adaptable, energetic, curious, and creative mindset. In the book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert writes that creative living is “living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.” She acknowledges a certain reality about the ever-present fear and assumes that circumstances, such as dealing with a pandemic, can push us in that direction. Despite our exceptional original mind, creative living stumbles and fear and anxiety can creep in. If this continues unimpeded, it reaches a point in which positive impulses turn more negative affecting how we manage life. It is then that original mind recedes, obscured by a bourgeoning, problematic shadow of itself. And as our life goes off the rails, we encounter monkey mind.
Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, identified our chattering intellect 2500 years ago as the singular psychological basis for human suffering. He used the term “kapicitta,” meaning monkey mind, to describe it. He identified the dilemma of the restless mind, diagnosed the source, and provided solutions. As a most gifted and insightful psychologist, his ideas are relevant for the uncertain modern life we live in. His concepts help us understand and deal with the anxious, fearful, unmanageable, ego-based thinking of monkey mind.
EXERCISE: How to Cultivate Original Mind
Practice Mindfulness/Still Your Mind/Present-Moment Centering
Mindfulness is an important first step in dissolving monkey mind and cultivating original mind. It involves learning to be in the present moment. Mindfulness meditation reduces the activity of the chattering and hyperactive mind. Practice mindfulness to help still obsessive worrying, and when that happens, you can access your calm and creative nature.
· Pick a time to practice mindfulness. (You need not sit since practice can occur anywhere and anytime). · Anchor your situational awareness to the present moment. · Be present by focusing and centering on your actions. · Attend to sensory experiences (sights, sounds, smells, etc.). · Attend to mental activity and label the dominant opinions. · Observe these thoughts without judging them.
