All of
us have 3 types of consciousness: The Super-conscious mind, the Conscious mind,
and the sub-conscious mind. The super-conscious mind is akin to our higher
self, the all-knowing mind. The conscious mind is our reasoning mind. The
sub-conscious mind is the non-reasoning mind.
Our
sub-conscious mind is an information store (or memory bank if you prefer)
containing all our thoughts, emotions, imaginations, habits, patterns, impulses
and desires. It has been programmed by our environment, people we come in
contact with, the media etc since the day we were born. As children, we were
already poisoned from small with faulty thinking and faulty beliefs. All
parents are guilty to different degree of this, not by conscious choice, but by
their own sub-conscious too. So, just as the body can be filled with physical
toxins from poor eating and abuse, the sub-conscious is filled with mental
toxins from improper programming and education.
And the
thing about the sub-conscious mind is that it is as happy to destroy the body
as it is to create perfect health. It will create whatever it has been
programmed to do. No one consciously destroys themselves, but many people
unconsciously program diseases into their bodies with self-hatred, victim
syndrome, revenge, depression etc. The idea is that we should consciously tell
our sub-conscious minds constantly that we are in perfect radiant health and
that every day we are getting healthier and healthier.
From
the Law of Attraction, we know that what we focus on, we become. So those of us
who talk a lot about making money, makes the most money. Conversely, those of
us who talk a lot about the lack of money, always have to struggle for money.
It is
probable that the sub-conscious mind is where the Law of Attraction operates. The
sub-conscious mind is continually attracting and repelling things to and from
us according to what it has been programmed to do. Therefore, it follows that a
master would use this law via affirmation and visualization to his own
conscious benefit.
The sub-conscious
mind is also the seat of our psychic abilities. All human beings have psychic
abilities. It is just either latent or awakened to varying degrees. We have 5
senses. The sixth sense is what most people associate with psychic abilities.
Not true. The “sixth sense” is actually 5 corresponding inner senses to our 5
physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. They are inner sight
(clairvoyance), inner hearing (clairaudience), inner smell, inner taste, and
inner touch.
The
best proof of these 5 psychic abilities is when we dream. I am sure some of you
would have noticed that in your dream, you have 5 senses available to you while
you sleep. How is this possible if you are physically asleep? You are using the
5 inner senses of your sub-conscious mind. Everyone has psychic abilities and
we can all develop it further. It requires proper training and practice just
like any other skill. There are schools who teach the use of these abilities
and they have become quite common place now compared to a few decades ago.
Anyway...
the key function of the conscious mind is to be the driver of the sub-conscious
mind. Unfortunately, most people let their sub-conscious take control of their
lives. In Buddhist terms, it is akin to letting their ego take charge of their
lives. And this creates a lot of problems for us.
Even
when we say we want to change, after going for some personal development
program and coming out on a high note, very often, we end up going back to our
default mode which is letting the sub-conscious run our lives. Look at it this
way... Think of it as an iceberg. Only 1/3 of an iceberg is above water whereas
the bulk of it is submerged. The submerged part is like our sub-conscious mind
while the part above water is the conscious mind. So even if we say we want to
go in a certain direction, we end up going another direction, the direction
that our sub-conscious mind is programmed to move in.
The
first key to change would of course be awareness of our patterns. By being
aware, we are “pushing” the water level down and we then can make a conscious
effort to catch ourselves when old patterns repeat. It is said that it takes 21
days to make something into a habit.
Psychological
health is the process of letting into your mind only the positive spiritually
balanced thoughts. Just like if we want to be physically healthy we put
healthful food into our bodies, we need to put good healthful thoughts into our
minds if we want to be psychologically healthy. By disregarding negative
thoughts (not pushing it away) and letting go of it, we are not giving them
energy. Eventually, like a plant that is not watered, the negative thoughts
would die off from lack of attention and focus. In its place, we will keep
affirming positive thoughts or spiritual thoughts. By continuing the process
over 21 days a new positive habit can be formed in place of the old negative
habit.
Always
remember that if you do not take ownership and responsibility of your
sub-conscious mind, your sub-conscious mind or other people will run your life.
It is always ideal to be the cause, creator and master of your own life.
When
circumstances or someone attacks use psychologically or psychically, you can
protect yourself by visualizing a golden bubble shield encompassing you and
protecting you. Any negative energies directed towards you hits this bubble
shield and slides off like water off a duck’s back. You can even imagine it
bouncing off like rubber pillow. You make a conscious effort or choice not to
let it into your sub-conscious mind. However, it is important to note here that
this bubble needs to be semi-permeable and allows positive energies in but
keeps out negative energies. Your intention is important in this aspect in
order to make the bubble shield strong.
Sometimes,
it is not possible to protect yourself with the shield especially if you are in
a room full of negative people throwing negative vibes at each other unless you
are very powerful spiritually (or are a powerful healer). In such
circumstances, it is better to just leave the room. No one is responsible for
your own psychological well being other than yourself. If leaving the room is
not possible, then do need to watch yourself to make sure you do not react to
them and maintain your inner core’s stillness. You can respond by choosing how
you want to deal with the incoming negative energy. But do not react to it
because reacting would be to let it in to your sub-conscious.
One of the best metaphors I have read is likening psychological
health to physical health. If a person you know catches a cold or the flu, you
certainly don’t want to get it. You do everything in your power not to get it.
You stay away from that person. You take extra Vitamin C. You tell yourself you
are not going to get sick. You eat well and try to get enough sleep. In other
words, you build up your resistance. If you keep your resistance up you don’t
get sick. Doctors and nurses don’t get all the sicknesses of their patients.
How come? The reason is that there is no such thing as a contagious disease.
There are only people with “low resistance”. This analogy is exactly the same
on the psychological level. There is no such thing as a contagious psychological
disease. There are only people with low psychological resistance.
The protective bubble shield is one technique. Another is
maintaining one’s personal power. There are other ways but I’ll not delve into
them here. We are here in this world to set a better example for others. We are
here to bring people up, not let ourselves be sucked down.
We will now look at Personal Power.
What is Personal Power? Personal Power is Personal Will is the guiding force of a healthy personality. It is first and foremost an attitude. We can choose to hold an attitude of weakness or strength every single day from start to end. Your power is the energy that you use to enforce your decisions.
Say for example you decided to wash the car at 6pm. When 6 pm comes, do you wash your car as you have committed to do or do you push it to another time? This power is also needed to control your sub-conscious mind. Your sub-conscious mind will push you around unless you own your own personal power. That means your conscious mind’s enforcer is your personal power. It is that energy that your conscious mind musters to command and direct that personality.
One cannot be a master of one’s own life if one lacks personal power. Let alone help others.
Many personal development gurus have advocated that everyone find their own personal power to take charge of their own lives. We all have personal power. It is whether we choose to use it or not. Some forms of yoga teaches that life is not only a school but also a battlefield whereby progress means taking three steps forward and taking two steps backwards until the top of the mountain is reached. People who own their own personal power will never quit.
Your personal power is required to even keep your bubble shield strong and impregnable. The moment you waiver, it collapses. By using your personal power for long periods of time, you will eventually develop discipline. Owning your personal power will allow your conscious mind to stay in control and not be overwhelmed by your sub-conscious mind nor the environment.
You need not be afraid of your own personal power even if you are a wilful person. Why? Because you are only going to use it to serve yourself and the people around you in a loving way. You will feel good when you maintain that power with you. And we must own our power if we are to create our own realities all the time instead of being a victim of circumstances.
You can claim your personal power every morning, the moment you get up, by choosing to affirm in your mind that you have it. Therefore, every morning, when you get up, claim your power and commit to yourself by becoming the master of your own life.