Thursday, December 30, 2010

mind, mind and more mind. . . .

The ideas of time and mind are both constructed to make us feel safe, us poor mortals. We toil and sweat our way through life only knowing that at some point in some unknown future we will perish. We are (as the saying goes), born to die. And there is nothing we can do about that, or is there?

Well of course mind being what it is to us, we may see things in a different way to another mind.
If you haven't got the point yet that 'our' mind is a conditioned thing, then you aren't listening, or you don't agree, in which case why are you still here?

When I was flying back from India there was little turbulence, not much, in fact a very little. But it is very disconcerting because it makes you remember that you are flying through the air at 500 mph, give or take a few mph's, and you are 5? miles up in the sky, hmmmmm.

As the turbulence struck, my mind and body shifted gear, this is called the fight or flight syndrome funnily enough. "Air travel is very safe, oh my God, I can't remember the last time I heard of a plane crashing, at least not in the Uk! Arrrrgh, Oooooooh. I don't like this" etc. I'm laughing now, of course, but there it was, the dreaded death anxiety full in my face, heart beating and sweating..........

As we moved through the turbulence I quickly regained my composure and started to breathe again. Every now and again an image of me hurtling through the sky would encroach on my mind and to be honest, the heart rate went up again, but after a while I forgot all about it.

The easiest, (read), probably, the commonest way to deal with anxiety, of any kind, it to distract oneself from it. In a situation like the one above this is useful, if you can do it. But on another level constantly distracting oneself from the angst of existence can lead to a sense of being ungrounded, living in cuckoo land. We see these people everywhere, don't we? :}

'Neurotic suffering is created to avoid authentic suffering.' S. Freud.

('I' am very happy), is a very powerful statement. Try it some time.

Shanti

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