Scientific Living » Mind Control

How to Tell Your Own Future

Scientific Living — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:28:01 +0000

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You don’t need to be psychic to tell your own future. It’s actually pretty easy. Here is how:

Lock yourself in your room and spend 30 minutes taking slow and deep breaths

Get a piece of paper.

Write down whatever thoughts enter your mind for 15 minutes.

Read it back to yourself.

Guess what. Whatever you read- THAT will be your future!

This is BS- right?

No, it’s not BS. It’s reasonable. Think about it. After you take the time to let yourself become calm and relaxed, by breathing, or by spending time in nature, or whatever else, you go and write on a piece of paper. The kind of thoughts that crop up in your mind at that time are going to be the most predominant and forceful thoughts that you have been thinking in your life. These are the thoughts that are ever ready to come back to the surface of your mind, even though you just spent some time making it calm. These are the thoughts that have dug deeper grooves in your brain, through habit, that make it easy to go back to them, again and again.

That doesn’t mean those thoughts will be my future though, does it?

Not necessarily. But if everything in your life stays the way it is now, then those thoughts will be a very strong prediction of your future.

“Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.”

It should be clear that thoughts have a tremendous effect on our future. Say for example you think that you would like to eat food today. Chances are that you are going to find a way to eat food today! No one can deny that thought controls our future. To say if does not is pure fatalism.

Of course, thought does not exclusively determine our future. Our will power can be likened to a leashed animal, tied to a pole. Using its will power, the animal can walk around. However, it can only go so far as the leash allows. The will is not entirely free.

But I always hear it called “free will”?

Not quite.

What if I don’t like the future I have just read to myself?

Change it. You can, if you want. Most people don’t try very hard. Say for example, your thoughts from this exercise express lots of worry about the future. Or they express lots of regret about the past. Or they are full of negative self talk. They say that you lack confidence, or they say that the obstacles between you and what you want to achieve are too big. If you have these kinds of thoughts, your future looks pretty unpleasant. But you have to realize that these thoughts didn’t dig grooves into your brain all by themselves. You helped them! You made them, and you can unmake them.

So thoughts are the result of habit?

That’s correct. By thinking the same thing over and over, you have convinced yourself that these thoughts are true. In the same way that we make bad mental habits, we can undo them, by instead channeling our energy towards making good mental habits.

Are you saying that I can alter my future?

Yes. By being extremely positive, by making healthy choices, by careful consideration, by fostering self confidence, by cheerfulness, and by continuous effort, you can control your future.

But you said that our willpower is limited, like an animal tied to a leash?

Yes, that is true. The leash may be very short now. That is only because we have allowed our power of will to atrophy, by disuse. When your willpower goes unused, the leash gets shorter. When the leash gets shorter, the power to struggle against negative thought declines. When that power declines, these negative thoughts will find it easier to dig footholds in mind. It is a vicious cycle.

So if I can prevent the leash from getting shorter, can I also help make the leash longer?

Exactly. Through protracted effort, the will becomes strong. Our ability to fight through obstacles increases. Our leash becomes lengthened. Furthermore, our efforts make us more resourceful human beings. We gain more skills and knowledge. We understand the workings of the world better. We make powerful friends. These are all tools that serve to give us additional power to alter out future. Our efforts bear exponential return. The stronger the will, the easier it is to change habits. The faster we overcome habits, the easier it is to strengthen the will. It is a helpful cycle.

Seriously, can I really control my future?

To a meaningful extent, yes. But many things you want won’t happen however, and many things you want won’t happen the way you imagined it. Nevertheless, the bottom line is your life is sure to be more joyful than had you not taken any interest in self-mastery. Anyone who really wants to can steer their life in a positive direction. Most people, however, do not want that. It’s easier to run in the same mental ruts over and over again. It’s easier to follow the path of least resistance. Very few have the needed zeal to overturn the backward workings of the mind.

In one word, what should I do to have a desirable future?

“Cauterize the can’ts.”

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Fearlessness

Scientific Living — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:48:56 +0000

I dare you to do this experiment:

Write down on a piece of paper your ten biggest fears (i.e. losing my job, not being able to do something fun that I was planning, etc, etc)

Hide that paper in a place you will remember

Mark a date on your calendar. Use Google Calendar for example, and have it send you a reminder. This date should be far enough away, that all the events your list of fears pertains to should be resolved by then. Or if you want to get quicker insight, you can set several dates along the way.

After that date comes, get your list out, and count how many of your fears came true

Typical Results

Typical results are as follows:

7 out of 10 items never come true, or are taken care of in a way that is easier than feared
2 out of 10 items do go as bad as feared, but do not at all cause any problems, because interest in the outcome of those items has pretty much disappeared in the mean time
1 out of 10 items really is actually as feared, and poses a challenge

Let me know how your results look like. Let’s say that about 1 out of 10 of your fears actually come true. I think this is a very reasonable result that people will get. Shouldn’t that say something? To me it says that most of our fear-based suffering is completely unnecessary.

Intellectually, you may agree. Most fears tend to simply be wrong perceptions. They just don’t happen. This being the case, they serve no rational purpose. And since humans are rational beings, why not simply do away with these irrational and unhelpful fears?

The Mind is Not Rational

Intellectually, we say “Don’t be afraid.” And our mind immediately revolts and says “Be afraid!” The mind is a sense organ. Just like our eyes and our ears, the mind gathers perceptions about the world. Many of these perceptions are ones of fear. It is not really a question about the mind being rational or irrational. It simply is what it is. The mind is an instrument that is constantly presenting us with perceptions about the world. And these perceptions are often wrong.

The Snake and the Rope

There is a very old example illustrating this point. Say it is dark outside. As you are walking along, you see the outline of what appears to be a snake. The mind shouts “It’s a snake!” As a result, you experience fear. You go home, light a lamp, and bring the lamp back to the area. Then you find that the snake was nothing but a piece of rope.

In countless ways the mind constantly gives us wrong information.

We Suffer Needlessly

We suffer a great deal because we willingly believe the information the mind gives us. If we train ourselves to not immediately react to various thoughts in the mind, then we could avoid needless fear and anxiety.

F.E.A.R. Stands For False Evidence Appearing Real

You may have heard of this acronym before. It is an interesting tool that people can remember when they are struggling to not accept false information from the mind. People can see that they are afraid of something. Then they can accept the fact that they are experiencing fear. Then they can say to themselves. “This particular fear makes no sense, and does not serve to help me. It is false evidence.”

Fear and Relationships

Fear is what causes all problems in human interactions. Say you are married and your spouse does something that makes you angry. Behind that anger is actually fear. Think about it. Say you had some expectation of your spouse, and he or she did not live up to it. As a result, say you get angry. That anger is because of a failed expectation that you created. And the reason you created that expectation is because you had an aversion (i.e. you had a fear) to not creating that expectation. In this way, creating desires implies fear.

Fear and Expectation

How can you be sure that you are on a track that will enable you to really love other people? The answer is to not create unnecessary expectations of other people. If you are constantly expecting things, then you will naturally tend to favor people who meet your expectations, and disfavor people who do not. If you don’t expect things of others, then you can love them equally. Then there is no fear surrounding whether or not they will satisfy your expectations.

Gratitude In Place of Expectation

But if I don’t expect anything from anyone, doesn’t that make me like a zombie? The solution to this question is far from having a hollow head. Instead of expectation, why not try gratitude? Let everything you receive from someone be a bonus. Expect nothing, and be free. Then watch as good things effortlessly come to you.

Fear and Real Love

Here is the real test. In real love there is no painful reaction. If there is pain, then that love is mixed up with attachments, fears, and expectations or desires. The more we grow in real love, the less we react.

The Mind Must Be Refined

Am I to regard my mind as something I should constantly distrust? If it is constantly giving me wrong information, what is the point of having it? We have a mind so that we can refine it, and then use it for its highest purpose. This purpose is to see things as they really are, and not with distorted perceptions. That is a wonderful task in life. The mind is an instrument. And just like any instrument, it can be refined, and made more reliable. When the lens of a microscope is dirty, you clean it. Then it gives the user much more accurate information. In the same way, the mind can be refined. Some practical ways have been given in this article. These include the listing exercise at the start, the F.E.A.R exercise, and also the suggestion of gratitude. There are hundreds of ways to refine the mind. The most well known way is meditation.

The State of Perfection

If you can be literally 100% free of fear, right at this exact moment, isn’t that the same thing as perfection? We seek for things in an effort to become free of lack. But the moment we stop fearing is the moment we stop desiring or expecting. This is the same moment we stop needing. In other words, we have no more lack. And if we have no lack in our being, then that is said to be the state of perfection.

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Judging By Potential

Scientific Living — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:36:02 +0000

Everybody judges other people. So if we are going to do it, why not do it right!

Do you like apples?

Consider that you answer yes to this question. Are you sure that you like apples? What about all the apples that fall off of the tree and rot? What about those that never ripen? What about those that become infested with worms? None of us like those types of apples. And yet we easily say “I like apples.” We have effectively made a judgment about something based on only one aspect of that objects existence. Namely, we have chosen to only consider apples that reach their full potential.

Human Potential

There are all sorts of characters on this planet. And each person is going through many phases of personal development, each on a trip towards realizing their fullest potential. So when we form a judgment about someone in our minds, are we judging them for whom they are right now, or are we remembering their infinite potential?

A couple quotes come to mind:

“Every sinner has a future, and every saint has a past.”
“A saint is a sinner that never gave up.”

Phases of Growth

Say a young kid does something offensive to you. We don’t consider that kid bad. He is just a kid! In so many ways, he or she might not know any better. In the same way, how can we judge a person who is a criminal? Or who has hurt us? Or who seems to be reckless? Isn’t it simply their state of progress. In many ways, they also don’t know any better. Has anyone shown that person a better way? Has anyone demonstrated it for them? When people insult me, out of habit, I immediately bite back. But I never stop to consider that this may be the only behavior he has ever been shown in life. So how can I judge him?

“Would it be right for an old man to say that childhood is a sin, or youth a sin?” It is simply their phase of growth.

Judging Others Really Means Judging Ourselves

You may have heard “Judge not, lest ye be judged yourselves.” I would say it differently:

“Judge not, because when you do, you immediately judge yourself!” There is no maybe about it coming in the future. That self-judgment happens instantaneously.

And just how does that work?

Say you tell yourself, “Dude, there is that guy who is always telling lies.”

Just how were we able to recognize that behavior in the person? It’s because we’ve done it before!

What if I have never told a lie before in my entire life?

The previous point may be a little hard to get at first. Say someone says something untrue, and it produces some negative reaction in your mind. I contest that if you have never said anything untrue to anyone before, you would not realize that the other person’s action was at all inconsistent. If you had never told a lie, how is it possible for you to form any impression or judgment about the action you have seen? All reason depends on past experience. When you see smoke, and conclude there is a fire, it is because you have seen fires in the past giving off smoke. Had their been no concept of “lie”, then the incident would have simply passed by your mental vision, and would have been calmly witnessed, without forming any judgment.

So when we recognize the fault of another, and then pass mental judgment, we really reinforce the fact that we ourselves exhibit that behavior. And in reinforcing that fact, we create a larger barrier for us to break out of as we try to overcome that behavior. In that sense, we immediately suffer the consequences of judging others. This gives weight to the old saying:

“Takes one to know one!”

Differing Standards

When a person forms a judgment, it is based on that persons own standards. Who is to say that those standards apply to the other person? When we judge, really on a certain level, we are at least in part claiming to ourselves that our standards are alone right, and that other standards are not acceptable. Standards differ not only in degree, but in kind.

“Every man should take up his own ideal and endeavor to accomplish it. That is a surer way of progress than taking up other men’s ideals, which he can never hope to accomplish. For instance, we take a child and at once give him the task of walking twenty miles. Either the little one dies, or one in a thousand crawls the twenty miles, to reach the end exhausted and half-dead. That is like what we generally try to do with the world. All the men and women, in any society, are not of the same mind, capacity, or of the same power to do things; they must have different ideals, and we have no right to sneer at any ideal. Let every one do the best he can for realizing his own ideal. Nor is it right that I should be judged by your standard or you by mine. The apple tree should not be judged by the standard of the oak, nor the oak by that of the apple. To judge the apple tree you must take the apple standard, and for the oak, its own standard.”
(Vivekananda)

Love Does Not Judge

It is better to help people accelerate through their growth by giving love, and by not reacting. When we return blow for blow, we stunt our own growth, and we stunt the growth of others. When we “turn the other cheek” so to speak, it is not that we are letting ourselves be walked on. We are simply accepting that this is the state of growth of another. He is on his path, and I am on mine. Everything is as it should be, and I am not bothered by others.

And wouldn’t it be so much more fun not to judge? Wouldn’t it be like losing 50 mental pounds! I can only imagine. But in truth, it is much easier to lose 50 real pounds than it is to remove even a part of our numerous preconceived judgments about other people and the world. So let’s all try and practice non-reaction a little bit more, before we get fat in the head.

So, do you like apples?

If you like human beings, let it be because you have seen great men and women walking on planet earth both now and in the past. Realize that all people have the same potential to become like those great people. In this sense, there is no distinction between human beings, and there is really unity, because the same infinite potential is in everyone.

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Concentration Brings Happiness (Why People Think They Can Actually Sing)

Scientific Living — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:30:50 +0000

People love to hear themselves sing because their mind is in a heightened state of concentration when they do so.

Perspective and State of Mind

A person can sing and think that they rock so hard that someone should write an opera just for them. Then they hear themselves on a recorder and squirm around a little when they realize they actually suck. This illustrates that there is a difference in the state of mind of a person when physically singing versus listening.

A person who is listening is more likely to have a diffuse mind. That person may not have made the conscious intention to listen attentively to music. That person may be thinking about so many things they have going on in their life right now. That person may be slouched in a chair or only taking shallow breaths.

A person who is singing however is much different. That person has willfully decided to throw their mind into one activity. That person has no room to worry about the bills while they give themselves to singing. That person is perhaps standing in a confident, upright, and noble posture. The act of singing itself is an exercise in breath control and deep breathing. The feeling of vibration in the throat and lungs is consistent and soothing. It focuses the attention away from other things.

So what is the difference made by all these aesthetic subtleties? The difference made is that the singer described here attains a heightened sense of concentration compared to the other person.

Who enjoys more?

In the case I have mentioned, it is clear that the singer, who is mentally absorbed in his action, enjoys many times more than the other person whose mind is diffuse. When a person really enjoys themselves as they sing, yet does not enjoy so much hearing their recording afterwards, it is not that the quality of the singing has changed. It is that the quality of mental perception has changed. This illustrates that dwelling in a state of mental concentration brings happiness. When the mind is free of distraction and able to give itself fully to whatever a person wills, then the power to enjoy anything multiplies many fold.

Can’t a listener also have that state of concentration?

Yes. The example above is just a hypothetical one that hopefully appeals to an exact experience you have had in your life. It is also perfectly possible that someone could sing some song and there could be another person who is listening to the song, and spontaneously becomes enthralled by it. That person’s mind may flow entirely in the direction of the music and enjoy every second of it.

Concentration Brings Happiness

The difference here is not whether or not a person is singing or listening. The difference is whether or not the mind is concentrated. Concentration is what brings that happiness.

A Note about Religious Practices

It is mentionable that just about every single spiritual path that exists in the world utilizes the phenomenon of music to help them along the way. It seems music is a universal phenomenon that everyone has noticed has a special power to bring concentration to the mind. If you look deeper, you will find that all religious practices all have this aim of attaining a state of supreme mental concentration.

Stemming from this goal, countless symbols and images and ideas have been created as aids to concentration. Spiritual truths recorded in many scriptures are also written in a poetic form as opposed to dry language. This use of aesthetics is another aid to concentration. And of course, the most direct approaches to achieving this state are straightforward methods of meditation.

Concentration can be defined as the repeated effort to fix the mind on one thought, idea, or ideal. The state of meditation can be defined as that state of sustained success in concentration for a period of time. Meditation as a practice refers to the methods used to achieve the state of meditation.

Secular versus Religious Standpoints

From either point of view, people want to be happy. And from either point of view concentration of mind is the means to that goal. The only difference is that religions have superior supports (though only those who are truly prepared ever recognize the existence of these subtle supports). In this sense, there is not really a difference between secular and religious people. It is only a matter of differing supports.

Objectivity

Everyone is either consciously or unconsciously trying to gain objective perception of the universe. Who knows what really is the nature of a song? One person thinks a song sounds enrapturing. Another does not. The perception is “subjective” rather than “objective”. It depends on the person perceiving. So if a person really wants to see what something is objectively, he or she has to remove the obstacle of the subject. This is what concentration can achieve for us. It gives us the chance to see objectively. The mind becomes calm and unable to distort our perception. The mind so to speak “gets out of the way”.

To summarize, the more concentrated a person is:

The happier that persons perceptions are
The more accurate that persons perceptions are

So put these two claims together and you can logically deduce that fundamentally the universe has a backdrop of pure unlimited happiness. It is only we don’t see it. But through concentration of mind, we can see it.

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The Power of Aesthetics

Scientific Living — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:39:28 +0000

It is not possible to achieve significant personality development without realizing the power that aesthetics have to accelerate or hinder our growth. This principle is understood by all truly successful people.

How do people develop their personality?

It is through the control of natural forces. Nature was made so that man could conquer it. In what ever sphere of life, people succeed by controlling nature. Nature is both internal and external.

Externally we have created clothing, shelter, plumbing, transportation, internet, societies, trade, and more. As you are reading this article, the computer you use is a result of man’s conquest of external nature.

Internally we control thoughts, emotions, fears, desires, impulses, judgments, lust, greed, and so on. The more a person controls these natural forces, the more powerful he or she is. These are raw energies to be harnessed, and directed wherever we wish.

External and internal are actually arbitrary delineations. Where does thought stop and matter begin? No one can say. That is because they are not fundamentally different. One is only a grosser form of a substance, and one is only a more subtle form of that same substance. Nevertheless, considering external and internal methods of control is a very useful framework.

Who is more powerful? A person who controls external nature or internal nature?

That depends on what you deem as power.

What is power?

Power is that which helps one achieve one’s highest goal. If something helps you achieve perfect happiness, then you possess power. The more happiness you can bring, the more powerful you are.

Power over both external and internal forces is helpful for happiness. However, only internal power is both necessary and sufficient.

How does a person get internal power?

If I say to you “Be happy”, but at the same time keep poking you with a sharp stick, it gets kind of distracting! It is not strictly necessary to remove the external difficulty to be happy, but it is almost the case. So in order to get control of internal forces, be diligent in getting control over external forces. In order to determine which external forces are most helpful or harmful, try to get control over internal forces, and the specific external forces that impede your internal efforts will become more obvious.

How can I get power over external forces?

By the manipulation and arrangement of aesthetics.

What are aesthetics?

Aesthetics are the sum total of all sensory stimuli, environmental factors, choices, and circumstances that we outwardly saturate ourselves with. Life is art, and should be lived as art. By manipulating aesthetics we make our life artful. The secrets of this practice form a science.

What is art and what is science?

Science is that which leads to prediction. Art is that which is pleasing. One knows what will be pleasing by prediction. So art is the fruition of science. Science exists for the sake of art. Art exists for the sake of joy. Joy exists for its own sake.

What is the value of aesthetics?

One can consciously arrange aesthetics to induce mental concentration. It is through concentration that a person gains power over internal forces and uncovers happiness.

Everything we do affects our mental state. So take care to optimize your environment. Remove harmful factors and encourage helpful factors. This artful living must raise the mind above physical existence. Cultivate things that raise the mind. Helpful externals take us by the hand and gently lead us inward.

Aesthetics are the vessel in which a meaning is carried. The form is not the meaning. But it indicates the meaning. Words, for example, are aesthetics. Words themselves are not meaningful, but they indicate meaning. Form cannot be separated from meaning. So if you want to manifest a certain meaning in your life, surround your self and saturate your thoughts with the aesthetics (forms) that are best fit for conveying that meaning. Take all the external help you can get.

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