Who am I?

June 23, 2023

The mind can get tangled like a thick jungle or it can be as tranquil as a still lake. Our state of mind depends on continual readjustment of our mental activity if we want clarity and balance. Our minds perceive, judge and categorize everything and everyone all day. Then we take action according to its assessments. The problem is that the mind gets tangled and thick with its ego's wishes - its story, fears and desires that distort the mind's purity and clarity. Then we cannot readily trust our tangled mind’s opinions.

So when our mind unwittingly becomes a jungle of thoughts, eventually it's normal to live in the jungle. The only way back to peace and clarity is through the regulation of our thoughts.

Our ego tries to regulate our minds, for example, when we are ultra sad or confused, scared, angry, etc. But mind regulation by the ego alone is like a child trying to control other children. The ego is a mental structure that tries to control the entire mental structure, which is impossible, but the ego doesn't know it. Its efforts to regulate our thoughts work for a while, but the sheer will of the ego cannot untangle a jungle of thoughts.

The thing which regulates the mind is the heart, whose feelings are more primary than our thoughts. Our heart was the first organ to develop. Likewise, we felt emotion before we developed our most rudimentary thought processes.

We cannot see reality fully if we bypass our hearts. So, unlike our ego, our soul goes through the heart to regulate the mind. That is why it is necessary to take care of our hearts physically and spiritually. A pure heart has profound clarity because it is grounded in the essential quality of love.

The bottom line is that the mind works better, not according to how much information it accumulates and not how well it synthesizes and analyzes that information, but how attuned it is to the heart.

A man and woman were entangled in thoughts about their aging mother's long-term care. They were embroiled in perplexities of choosing the right nursing homes and understanding Medicare rules, etc. Their minds were a jungle of thoughts and this persisted for months. Finally, a decision had to be made. They went to a trusted person who had been through this herself. She heard all the information and counter-information they recited. She was a wise soul, and after the couple stopped to get their breath, she said, "Wait a minute - don't say or think anything else right now. I want you both to drop into your hearts and tell me what you feel there.”

Then she said, "Now, from this feeling in your heart, tell me the decision that comes naturally." Their hearts gave them direct contact with the essential needs of everyone in the situation. The heartfelt needs gave them the clarity they needed for the best decision, and this clarity cut through all the tangled thoughts. Their bodies confirmed their decision because immediately, they felt a deep sense of relief on a gut level.

Inquiry: Is it true or not true for you that we must choose head or heart?

Dear God,

I pray that for every entanglement, I will drop into my heart before I make a decision. Amen.

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