About freedom….

Before I get wrapped up in the mysteries of the universe again I want to mention a good friend of mine who has been my work out body in the gym for many years and was very upset not to find his name on my posts. Tony has dealt with my mood swings and me showing up late for workouts so many times that it is hard for me to believe that he would even consider still hanging out with me four evenings per week. I really could not have wished for a better work out partner or friend and will tell some workout stories another day.

I am continuing the yesterdays thought. How would a life without the control of the mind look like and how are we able to achieve that? How can we leave all our ideas and beliefs behind us? How is that possible? What is left and who are we without the ideas of the mind? Who are we without knowing of who we are?

To me the first stage is doubt. Maybe all we believe, all that we judge as right or as wrong is not true. Doubt is a great way to shake things up. It is good to doubt every single belief, every single idea. We cannot be certain about anything because we are not able to see the bigger picture. We cannot see where things lead to. Something that was “bad” will lead to something “good” and versa versa. But even if we find out at the end that it was a “good” idea or believe we at least doubted it and introduced some sort of flexibility, mental flexibility. Then we are not set in our ways any more. Whatever we believe can change and that means we can change as well.

A teacher would be great, somebody who escaped the boundaries of the mind and can guide us to do the same. Good teachers are hard to find these days but are tremendously helpful. Living a life that is not controlled by the mind has to be learned. Actually it is not really a learning experience more an undoing, a letting go of ideas. It is almost like being born again. Life in that form is very different, we have to learn all over again how to live life. Again we are infants and have to learn to walk. This new life is very unstable because the mind is not the least interested in giving up control. It will create fears and doubts to prevent us from breaking away. This is when somebody who went through the same experience and might have had similar difficulties is very helpful because he or she knows the tricks of the mind and can help us to stay on course.

Some like Sri Nisargadatta do it on their own by asking themselves the ultimate question “who am I”. This is a way to realize all the things we are not. Are we our name? Are we the body? Would I be different if I would have a different name or body? From here we can go deeper and deeper and will understand that who we really are has nothing to do with who we think we are. It has nothing to do with our ego. The mind and ego are the same. The ego is the illusionary self, created by an insane mind. By letting go of the ego we transcend the illusion and welcome the truth.

But as for Neo in the movie “The Matrix” that is a very painful process. He had to use muscles he had never used before. He had to accept that the life he used to live was a lie. He had to get used to a new reality. Letting go is not easy. How would you feel if you would realize that everything you thought about yourself, your family and your life has nothing to do with what you thought it was?

The only way to let go off the mind is in baby steps. If we would do it all at once it would fry our nervous system. With patience and perseverance we will be able to conquer the mind and let go of the illusionary self, the ego. Will the mind stop to spin out of control when we have transcended it? No, the mind will always do what it was taught to do. But at a certain point we will stop to listen, its inanity will not affect us any more.

How will a life look like without the mind controlling it? It will be very unpredictable and often far from being logic. It will be a life that is only controlled by our inner voice; a life lived in the moment. Whatever decision we have to make we make it in the moment based on how we feel. Making choices we will not take in consideration how they will affect our future or what other people will think about us. The only thing we care about is what feels right for us at that moment. Sometimes our actions will be absolutely irrational but at the end always bring us joy and happiness.

What is this inner voice? Where does it come from? Can we trust it?

 

Letting go. Williamsburg/Brooklyn 01-16-08 at 02:21 pm.

 

Please check out my website at carstenfleck.com