"But Andre, the mind is so powerful and I can never get it to stop. So, what do you say to that?"

Yes, I agree, the mind is a powerful intangible instrument with very powerful potentiality as well. Placed in the wrong skull and used in devious ways it truly is capable of very heinous actions against others. We've all seen these instances in recent history. Perhaps, bringing it closer to home, we've been the instigator of these so-called 'I don't know what happened, I just lost my mind' heinous type of actions that are now memories in our mind.

But, put inside the right skull and used in a more, shall we say -- productive manner -- a mind can again be a very powerful instrument for good.

We all know what happens when our mind takes control of us. But, think of what actually happens, when that happens. Our mind, this seemingly concrete object somewhere inside of each of us takes control of our life and our actions and we are but automatons to its whims and desires.

It controls us. Or so we each think.

It's in charge of the show and it will do everything in its power to ensure that the final outcome that it pictures is carried out to fruition, right?

But, what if that fruition is something that entails actually harming the holder of the mind? Each of us, per se.

What if that action entails causing the body to react adversely to what is happening to it, because of what the mind tells it that it should be reacting adversely to?

What if that action causes the body to feel stressed and emotionally charged, say, akin to an emotional powder keg and capable of exploding at any time all the while blowing away oneself and everything, and everyone, within near vicinity?

Does that make sense?

Does it make sense that something that we believe is in charge of each of our personal games in life is in charge of us? Does it make sense that this thing, this mind, actually has all of our best interests in mind when it comes to taking care of each of us and our best interests and needs?

I'll tell you what I think. It doesn't make sense that something that is inside of us, and we tell ourselves that it controls us, has our best interests in mind when the outcome of the actions it creates is harming the keeper of the mind: essentially, each of us.

So, this challenges one to think: Does this actually mean that the mind perhaps is not in control of each of us? How can something that is inside an organism and be harming the organism be something that the organism can actually believe is necessary to the organism and something that should be operating unilaterally inside the organism? Quite unbelievable, isn't it?

I tell you, it very simply just doesn't make sense to me. Period.

This is akin to having a mental parasite inside each of us. Don't you think? I do.

You see, the mind is something that we do need for practical matters. We do need it to figure out which sock fits on which foot, when we get dressed in the morning. And we do need the mind to help us understand that when we're driving our vehicle and we come to a lighted intersection in the road that green means go and red means stop, no matter where we are in the world.

But would we be believing that our mind has our best interests in mind when it tells us that red means go and green means stop? We're liable to get t-boned in the intersection or rear-ended and end up a crispy corpse in a flaming fireball of a wreck.

Seriously.

What makes us think that our mind is our best friend? It's supposed to get each of us everything we want.

It tells us what we want.

It convinces us of what we want.

It makes us do everything that it tells us to do to get what it tells us that we need and want.

And yet we end up bereft and devoid of actual satisfying substance throughout our days and lives, to the end. This doesn't seem right to me, does it to you?

So, where am I going with this? Well, our mind, again, is a necessary instrument for practical everyday matters we all deal with through our existence. But, after that, the mind is literal dross. It's fluff. Excess. The useless fat of life.

It doesn't serve a useful purpose except to burden us with unmet desires and unsatisfactory strivings and needs.

I've learned recently that the mind is what it is. It's not going to go away. We can't kill this internal intangible parasite at the best of times. Neither do we want to. We do need it as much as it needs the body it uses for its host. But, we don't have to be allowing it to run the show and dictate the prescription for living a full life.

It can't. It doesn't.

We can, and we should though.

You see, we can take a different approach to all of this. We can understand that the mind is going to do what it does. That's a fact that isn't going to go away. It's going to be our mental mate through to the end of each of our existence's on this plane.

But, we can also understand that although we can and should allow it to do what it wants us to do as long as it doesn't harm each of us, or others, that doesn't mean that we can't begin to see our-self as something other than this all too convincing internal mental director of our life.

We can work diligently to begin to allow ourselves to begin to entertain the notion that we are not our mind. We are not it. And it is not us. We are something else. We are what we are outside of the mind. Before the mind. Behind the mind. After the mind. When the mind isn't there and pure simple presence of existence is: there we are.

This all sounds all too simplistic, but it is something that is becoming ever more so clear to me as I continue doing what I can to understand this potentially heady and very esoteric viewpoint of existence.

It's not about spirituality. It's about practicality.

This is what is whether one believes it or not. In fact, it's not about belief. It's about experiencing the simple experience of what we are, in between the thoughts and the machination that the mind puts us through each day, each moment.

There is much more to write about on this topic so stay tuned for more articles on the subject. It's something that is becoming a common part of my life and my days and it is causing a wonderful peace to permeate my existence here. Not elation, or enlightenment, but peace.

Pure simple peace.

Or, more accurately, pure, simple, peace of mind.

Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'

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