"My mind is a center of Divine operation. The Divine operation is always
for expansion and fuller expression, and this means the production of something
beyond what has gone before, something entirely new, not included in past
experience, though proceeding out of it by orderly sequence of growth." ~
Thomas Troward
Keeping your thoughts in good order is one of the Thirteen
Goals of a Witch, along with celebrate life, breathe and meditate. This is a difficult goal for many people but it is an
important one. Our bodies are wondrous
things that the God and Goddess have blessed us with. We should respect the
bodies and minds we have been given and keep them in shape.
Our words health, whole and
holy are all derived from the Anglo-Saxon word root 'hal'. "Healing" is derived from the same
word root and means to restore to a state of wholeness, soundness, or
integrity. "Holy" comes from the
same root and signifies wholeness and purity of mind and spirit. Taken in its fullness of meaning, therefore,
"health" has come to mean completeness and perfection of
organization, fitness of life, freedom of action, harmony of functions, vigor
and freedom from all stain and unholy corruption. In a phrase, "health" is a sound
mind and spirit in a sound body.
Conceptions of mental health in the Old Middle Ages
in Europe was a mixture of the divine, diabolical, magical and transcendental. Theories of the four humors (black bile,
yellow bile, phlegm and blood) were applied, sometimes separately (a matter of
physic) and sometimes combined with theories of evil spirits (a matter of faith). Madness was often seen as a moral issue, either a punishment
for sin or a test of faith and character.
Bodily remedies in general used included purges, bloodletting and
whipping.
Lunatic
is an informal term referring to people who are considered mentally ill,
dangerous, foolish or unpredictable; conditions once called lunacy. The term may be considered insulting in
serious contexts, though is now more likely to be used in friendly jest. The word derives from lunaticus meaning
"of the moon" or "moonstruck", by the Goddess Luna.
What
if your duty was to take care of a temple, its ground and interior? Undoubtedly, you would do so with utmost
sincerity. You would sweep daily the
walkway of leaves and debris. The lawn
would be freshly mowed, flowers deadheaded, shrubs modestly
trimmed; you'd re-plaster the outside
and occasionally repaint the sides and trim.
Inside you would dust the alter, wash the windows, vacuum or sweep the
floor and tidy the seats. Perhaps you
would keep a candle burning and light some incense.
Even if you are not a religious person, it is
helpful to consider your body an important structure, it is indeed the
foundation on which your good health and well-being is based. Replace the word temple with shrine, palace,
sanctuary, hof, amusement park, home or any word you are comfortable with and
would care for.
You
would accept these duties with reverence and honor. Indian Sanskrit has a wonderful word for
temple - mandir. Take a moment and look
in a mirror. What do you see? Has it ever occurred to you that the person
you see in that mirror is the only one responsible for your life? This is a silly but profound thought - you're
a sacred place, a worthy being, a divine sanctuary for your soul.
There
are many halls or rooms in your personal temple. The one focused here is the Hall of the Mind. Sometimes you have to wonder who is really
running the show in there. Here’s how
you can find out: pull up a seat, sit down, and close your eyes. Now see if you can stay focused on the
inhalation and exhalation of your breath at your nostrils. Try it right now for a few minutes. What happened? Most likely after a few seconds you forgot all
about your task and was totally absorbed in random separate thoughts, as if
someone started a movie in which there was no cohesiveness to any of the
frames.
It
has been estimated that the average person has sixty thousand separate thoughts
a day. I don’t know about you, but I
usually stop counting after the first few thousand, and that’s before I’ve
gotten out of bed! We don’t need
scientific evidence to prove or disprove it, the fact is, our Hall of the Mind
is like Grand Central Station. It is
noisy and busy, the Hall’s door opening and shutting with a new visiting
thought every second or so. The Sage
Yogananda says that the mind is like an unruly child.
Added
to this weight of unruliness is the fact that the mind is an incredible recycler.
To experience time, the mind has to
think of past and future. Each and every
day many of yesterday’s thoughts cycle back around, as do thoughts about
tomorrow or anything else about the future. Is it no wonder that with so much clutter in
the mind, you might feel a sense of separateness, literally pulled in a million
and one directions? And do you wonder
where, in all those thousands of daily thoughts, your divinity lives?
Imagine
that you are able to stand in the Hall of your Mind unnoticed. You are able to recognize four distinct
altars. It is your obligation to care take
each of the following altars:
The Judgments Altar, perhaps
cluttered far more with judgments, opinions and criticisms than with love,
compassion and kindness. The Fears Altar, overflowing
with shame, guilt, anxiety and insecurity.
The Desires Altar, stacked high
with desires. And the Goals Altar, a
hodgepodge of both unclear, shallow, noble and stupid goals.
In
real life, a high proportion of your mental energy is expended toward moving
around dozens of thoughts on these altars each and every day. And you wonder what ever happened to your
peace of mind!
You
need to vigilantly care take these altars regularly in the Hall of your Mind,
clearing negative energies from aisles, sweeping up unworthy behaviors that
clutter the floor, cleaning insecure ideas of the Ego that soot the altar, and
throwing out self-centered thought-moguls that prevent you from loving and
serving unconditionally.
The
task is truly formidable and you need help: a different perspective on your
duties. Over 350 years ago, the French
philosopher and scientist Pascal said: “All man’s miseries derive from not
being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” Pascal was talking about the mind. Stilling the mind is about bringing more space
into the hall. It is the first shift in
perspective you need to clean up those four altars of thoughts you are so fond
of entertaining.
Imagine
now that there is a sacred place inside the Hall of your Mind in which you can
simply be. Here you can just
relax. In fact, you might just call it
the Relaxation Corner.
It is a special place of attention and
focus that allows you to turn your back on your clamorous mind and altars. You need to care take this part of yourself
devotedly. You need to outfit yourself
with the knowledge and strategies for limiting stress in your life. Such activities as yoga, walking, breath work,
biofeedback techniques, prayer, journaling, meditation, gardening, holding a
pet, daydreaming or taking a leisurely stroll are highly beneficial in
relieving mental indigestion.
Activities
and experiences that are pleasant and relaxing are like little sanctuaries
inside the busy Hall of your Mind. They
may serve not only to give you peace but encouragement to seek experiences that
foster creativity and intuition as well. But more than this, such experiences are your
gateway to the Mind of the Divine.
By
becoming absorbed with the Divine, you don’t necessarily lose your connection
with the world and what makes you happy. Rather, you become more of One Mind, one
overarching force that binds the universe together. Psychologist Hillman concurs: “The soul of the
individual and the soul of the world are inseparable, the one always
implicating the other.”
When
we surrender to the idea that our Mind is of the Divine, we step outside our
human dimension of time and space into the realm of Divine. The Prophet Paul calls this “putting on the
mind of God.”
The
Monk Brother Lawrence, speaks of “practicing the presence of God.” The Upanishads say
“the Self becomes the enjoyer only when he is united with the body, the senses
and the mind.” There is a quaint story
that makes the point here:
One
day Dahinda came to a master and asked how he could find God. The master told him to go home and meditate on
God as an island in his mind. “Ply the
boat of your concentration to that island and you will find God,” the master
spoke. A few weeks later Dahinda
returned distraught. “Master, help me! I no sooner enter the waters of meditation and
I sink under the weight of hoards of thought-passengers who jump in!” The master replied: “Then imagine you are
already on the island, standing on the shore, then you will find God.”
A
few weeks later Dahinda returned again distraught. “Master, help me! I made it to the shore, but there was such a
clamor in my mind, for all the thought-passengers made it too and their noise
drowned out any hope of hearing God speak to me.” The master replied: “Okay, I want you to
concentrate on the image of God now. Everywhere
you turn in your mind, there will be God.
Concentrate on the image of God as a buffalo, that should do.” Several months went by and Dahinda had not
returned to the master, so the master set off to Dahinda’s abode in the woods. When he arrived at the door he called out:
“Dahinda, your master is here, please come out to pay respects to your
visitor.”
At
this point Dahinda replied from inside: “Oh beloved master, I sincerely
apologize for not greeting you at the door. But you see, my horns have grown so big that I
cannot ever hope of getting through the doorway!”
This
is the great power and insight that one of the most important temple keeping
aids can give us: meditation. The Indian
sage Easwaran likens meditation to a kind of spiritual screwdriver, intended
for loosening identification with the body, mind, and your sensual relationship
to the world.
The
screws are your senses and thoughts, and it takes long patient effort to loosen
them, to release the tension that keeps you tightly connected to the world. Even Gandhi found the task practically
insurmountable, saying it requires the patience of a man trying to empty the
sea with a blade of grass.
Nevertheless,
you should strive to still the mind. Sanctuary,
as you might surmise, gives you a tremendous advantage in keeping the Hall of
the Mind noble in spirit and intent. It
puts thoughts and things in perspective and order. The Sanctuary Path allows your mind to find
refuge in the Divine.
Water is considered a purifier in most
religions. The waters of life run
through our bodies in our blood, which is as salty as the oceans. According
to Norse mythology, Ice was one of the two Primordial Elements. In the beginning,
before the world was created, there existed only the great yawning void of
Ginnungagap. On either side of the void was Muspelheim, the primordial fire,
and Nifelheim, the primordial ice. it was only when these two came into contact
that the world was created. Call on the
water element to cleanse your thoughts and allow for the Divine to enter.
Make time
for stillness and meditate. Pursue
meaning over pleasure. Read to help keep
your brain sharp. Don't sweat the small
stuff. And let your mind wander and
daydream.
As I imagine
water all around me and within me,
I picture your vast, pristine oceans teeming with life,
your sparkling shorelines and the clear blue water of your lakes
I picture your vast, pristine oceans teeming with life,
your sparkling shorelines and the clear blue water of your lakes
basking under the brilliant sun.
Your streams and rivers flowing with vibrant, radiant energy.
I feel what that feels like as part of me – my mind revitalized with clean, pure water.
Your streams and rivers flowing with vibrant, radiant energy.
I feel what that feels like as part of me – my mind revitalized with clean, pure water.
Excerpts from forthcoming book: Islands of Grace: Creating
Sanctuary in Daily Life. By Dr. Christopher Forrest McDowell and Tricia
Clark-McDowell
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