It’s happening all the time to all of us, I would imagine, that various sorts of troubles and complications, various kinds of resistance and dissatisfaction, and so on, arise into the mind from conditioned mind. This is the case for me also, even after all of these years of spiritual practice. A steady awareness is required, and sometimes even a more exact and constant vigilance, to prevent ourselves from losing consciousness in the conditioned thinking, and then doing things that undermine or sabotage our peace and well-being. And so it’s good, I think, to keep in mind this simple guideline when conditioned thinking is happening:
“No matter what’s happening in your mind–just don’t act out of it.”
Just don’t do or say anything that you’ll regret. Just don’t allow those conditioned thoughts to take over your body, mouth and mind, and to use your body, mouth, and mind to create trouble in your life and in the lives of other people. It’s just not worth it! And besides, every time we act out of some kind of conditioned self, we reinforce and give power to that self; we practice, in a sense, being apart from our authentic nature, and the more we practice this the more a habit will form. Every time that we refuse to act from conditioned mind we undermine its power, and we increase our ability to consciously choose–and this, of course, is the direct path to a happy and fulfilling life.
And so when conditioned mind says that you absolutely have to say something or do something, or you absolutely must avoid saying something or doing something that you know you need to say or do, do what you know in your heart is the best and most compassionate thing for all, instead. If you act out of conditioned mind, nothing good will happen. If you act from your authentic nature then everything that follows will be in your best interest. That’s just the way that it is.
Take care of, friends, be well, and have a beautiful day!
In peace,
David