Truth... Examining "what is"...

 

 

Truth…

 

 

 “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
― Socrates

“The past has no power over the present moment.”
― Eckhart Tolle

And, of course the paraphrase of the old adage; “The truth will set you free.” …
“If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”
― Mark Twain

This morning I took a few moments to examine “what is”… right now.

This can a powerful and enlightening exercise and I recommend you give it a try…

·         Set a timer for 5 minutes.

·         Take a paper and something to write with… or in these days, you may want to use your computer.

·         Start the timer and, as quickly as possible, write down thoughts or words that enter your mind… without any censoring…

·         Stop when the timer goes off…

·         Examine the words, thoughts, and feelings you wrote about in the preceding 5 minutes… you may be surprised as to where the mind goes when left to romp in the wild!

·         This gives us a picture of “what is” at this time and what may be “on our mind” or what may emerge from our unconscious when we just let our mind play out its tapes.

·         How much is based on the past?

·         How much is concern or hoes about something future?

·         What is actually true?

·         How much of it can be considered “negative self talk?”

·         How much is comparing to others?

 Take as much time as you wish to consider the “mind ramble” you just experienced.

This is simply designed to show us what our mind does when left to wander and also to bring a bit of clarity perhaps to our present “state on mind.”

Our mental abilities are a valuable tool of survival and also of creativity. And the mind can also be guided and controlled by unconscious or somewhat unconscious fears and dynamics.  Examining the wanderings of the egoic mind may help us to dis-identify and become free of less than satisfying patterns, thoughts, and dynamics.

In some of the suggestions for meditation we are guided to still the mind. If you find this hard to impossible as I sometimes do, might I suggest that you focus the mind on something positive for 5-10 minutes. We can call this creative processing or contemplation. For instance, pick a positive characteristic, quality, or feeling that you would like to strengthen or develop in your life. Spend your time “thinking” about this quality and write down what comes your way.  You may use whatever words you wish. A few suggestions are: Love, Truth, Beauty, Peace, Serenity, Compassion, Oneness, Presence, etc…

Enjoy the present moment…

Love, John