FINDING GOD ON THE TRAIN STORY BLOG - NOTES ON ENLIGHTENMENT

NewThoughtNoteForTheDay - ONE OF A KIND/IGNITE THE WORLD - Finding God On The Train - 9.2.2014.

 

         JOIN US AT OUR MAIN LOCATION

          www.FindingGodOnTheTrain.com 

       Connect on Twitter @GodOnTheTrain

 Facebook www.facebook.com/GodOnTheTrain

  

DON’T CHANGE?

 

Sometimes, I read a quote that stops

me in my tracks. This past Saturday,

I was reading the Daily Guide published

in the monthly Science Of Mind - Guide

For Spiritual Living magazine, the guides

authored this month by Rev. Dr. Patrick

Cameron, the spiritual director of the

Edmonton Centre For Spiritual Living,

who featured this quote below, in his

guide, Saturday, titled Stay as You Are,

by an Indian-born Jesuit priest Anthony

De Mallo. We are told this quote is a

prayer, and was De Mello’s final recorded

words before his death.

 

“Don’t change. Change is impossible,

and even if it were possible, it is undesirable.

Stay as you are. Love yourself as you are.

And change, if it is possible, will take place

by itself when and if it wants.  Leave yourself

alone. The only growth-promoting change

is that which comes from self acceptance.”

 

I have posted numerous notes expressing

this very same advice, but down deep

in my consciousness, molded by years

of Fortune 500 management assessment

and training, of course with constant,

and vigorous feedback; I am still, beneath

the surface, working to improve myself -

tweak this or that, refine my personality,

be more focused, motivated, productive,

open, etc.  

 

In a sense, this “don’t change” idea is a

radical request, on par with love thy

neighbor: considering if we don’t need

to personally change, then neither does

anyone else in our lives. I know some of

us are thinking, “well, truthfully, I am ok,

but these other folks in my life do need

to change.”

 

As I ruminated on this quote the past

few days, I considered all the wasted

energy, the frustration, the heartache,

yes, the suffering, we encounter trying

to change ourselves and others – forcing

change on the unchangeable. What if,

we just accepted ourselves and others

as offered, without attempting a change

intervention.

 

I offer two supporting Affirmative

Thoughts from my achieves, prompting

us to follow similar advice.

 

ONE OF A KIND

 

Today let us aspire to be ourselves,

rather than adjust ourselves to fit

some standard – some formulation

of improved qualities we should all

strive to mirror in our day-to-day lives,

and instead just bring to life what we

have been created to offer.

 

Today, let us just be our best selves –

no more – no less – understanding

that within our eccentricities exists

our unique contribution to the flavor

and fabric of life and existence itself –

so bring all of you to the party – leave

nothing out – and let us all bask in

the wonder of one of a kind.

 

Today, let us just be us, as we allow

others to be their authentic selves –

no need for compromise, no cause

to criticize, no expectation of change,

no list of minor improvements needed,

and together tap the strength of our

true diversity.

 

AT G. 7.3.2012

 

IGNITE THE WORLD

 

Today open up and share the miracle

that is you, be the spark that ignites

the world, let all see what time and

good intentions has created – a work

of love, a spirit of unharnessed beauty,

a tender soul with hard and fast convictions.

 

Today stand tall and strong, knowing

you have what it takes to succeed, to

master any phase of this life – to move

forward and complete the task at hand,

as you lead the way to a vision not yet

clear to others.

 

Today be the you who makes life special,

the you who makes us smile, sing, dance,

and marvel at your charm – laugh at

your spontaneity – sympathize with

your causes – but always making us

feel life is more scintillating when

you are near.

 

AT G. 12.19.2012

 

WITH LOVE, G. 

NewThoughtNoteForTheDay - NAVIGATING OUR OWN THOUGHTS - Finding God On The Train - 9.9.2014.

 

         JOIN US AT OUR MAIN LOCATION

          www.FindingGodOnTheTrain.com 

       Connect on Twitter @GodOnTheTrain

    Facebook www.facebook.com/GodOnTheTrain

 

Currently, I am working on revising, editing, and

updating Chapter Nine of Finding God On The

Train - The Book. Chapter Nine is the first of

three chapters of Part Three focusing on the

control of consciousness, primarily approaches

and techniques for accomplishing mind control.

 

Based on the pioneering research work of Dr. Mihaly

Csikszentmihalyi, who in his book Flow theorizes 

that our minds, left unattended, descend into

Psychic Entropy as a fall-back state, leaving most

of us living in a condition of mental chaos, if left

uncontrolled.

 

To further support this premise, and the impact

of mind control on our happiness and well-being,

I have added the 2010 research of Dr. Daniel T.

Gilbert and Dr. Matthew A. Killingsworth, both

from Harvard, on what they term "mind

wandering," -  supported by their  Journal of

Science article outlining the results of this

research titled,  A Wandering Mind Is An 

Unhappy Mind. (Science 12, November

2010:932).

 

Along with this, I have included Killingsworth's

2011 TED talk discussing these findings titled, 

To Be Happier; Stay In The Moment, featuring

his creation of the iPhone app used to randomly

survey over 2250 study participants. 

 

Below, from Chapter Nine, the section featuring

this discussion on the interplay of Psychic

Entropy and Mind Wandering on the effective  

control of consciousness. 

  

NAVIGATING OUR OWN THOUGHTS

 

35 Hard it is to train the mind, which goes

where it likes, and does what it wants. But

a trained mind brings health and happiness.

36 The wise can direct their thoughts, subtle

and elusive, wherever they choose: a trained

mind brings health and happiness.

The Dhammapada Sayings Of The Buddha

               Translated By Eknath Easwaran

 

As reinforced by Buddha’s quote above, control of consciousness is not easily accomplished, if it were, we would have a world of peace and plenty. Instead, it takes effort to navigate through our own thoughts, filtering them and learning to listen to the constructive, rather than the destructive guidance. To fully understand the complexity of this mind control endeavor, we need to address the central underlying component of consciousness - “Psychic Entropy.”

The truth is that our thinking, our consciousness, is not ordered and logical, but when left on its own, it quickly becomes chaotic and negative. To help us understand the normal state of our minds, I will introduce the term “Entropy,” which Webster defines as “a process of degeneration marked variously by increasing degrees of uncertainty, disorder, fragmentation, and chaos.” Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow theorizes that “Entropy is the normal state of consciousness – a condition that is neither useful or enjoyable… the normal state of the mind is chaos."

For the most part, we all avoid much of this “Psychic Entropy,” or mental confusion, because of our culturally defined roles, which structure our work and home life activities and thinking - clearly defining our thoughts. So for the majority of our day we are simply, and luckily, living on automatic pilot. It is when the day is done, and we are left alone without any demands, the basic disorder of the mind reveals itself.

 

With nothing to do, it begins to follow random

patterns, usually stopping at something painful

or disturbing. Unless a person knows how to

give order to his or her thoughts, attention 

will be attracted to whatever is problematic

at the moment.

 

Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, goes on to suggest, that people are eager to avoid this condition, filling their heads with whatever information is readily available; for many, television is the main source of stimulation that easily structures their attention and avoids this Psychic Entropy, but adds little to their enjoyment and development. Let’s take a moment to review some related research, which expands on this perspective of Psychic Entropy provided by Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, examining its impact on our happiness and well-being. This current research defines,our tendency to entertain this mental entropy, as "mind-wandering."

 

A human mind is a wandering mind, and a

wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The

ability to think about what is not happening

is a cognitive achievement that comes at an

emotional cost.

 

The quote above is offered by two Harvard University research psychologists, Dr. Daniel T. Gilbert - Edgar Pierce Professor Of Psychology, and his doctoral student at the time, Matthew A. Killingsworth, based on their 2010 research published in the Journal Of Science titled, A Wandering Mind Is An Unhappy Mind (Science 12, November 2010:932). As described by Csikszentmihalyi’s Psychic Entropy concept, this research also confirms that Humans, unlike other animals, spend a lot of time thinking about what isn’t going on around them: contemplating events that happened in the past, might happen in the future, or may never happen at all. This mind-wandering appears to be the human brain’s default mode of operation. 

The premise for the mind-wandering study, as this book has also contended, was that many philosophical and religious traditions teach that happiness is to be found by living in the moment, and practitioners are trained to resist mind wandering and to “be here now.” These traditions suggest a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. This new line of research, the authors say, seems to suggest that these traditional approaches are right.

So to test this premise, Gilbert and Killingsworth studied subjects ranging in age from 18 to 88, representing a wide range of backgrounds, by developing an iPhone app that contacted 2,250 volunteers at random intervals to ask how happy they were, what they were currently doing, and whether they were thinking about there current activity, or about something else that was pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. Subjects could choose from 22 general activities, such as walking, eating, shopping, and watching television.

Respondents reported that their minds were wandering 46.9 percent of the time, no less than 30 percent of the time, during every activity except making love. The results showed the following:

 

• Mind-wandering appears ubiquitous across all activities. The study shows that our mental lives are pervaded, to a remarkable degree, by the nonpresent.

• Mind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people’s happiness. How often our minds leave the present, and where they tend to go, is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged.

• Time-lag analyses conducted by the researchers suggested that their subjects’ mind-wandering was generally the cause, not the consequence, of their unhappiness.

 

With this study, Gilbert and Killingsworth established that mind-wandering is actually our preferred fall back position, when we are not fully engaged by our clearly defined roles and pursuits, and it turns out, at least 30 percent of the time, our minds are wandering during these activities. The catch, or better said, snafu, is that waiting for us when we start mind-wandering is our own Psychic Entropy, ready to take us on the fast lane to a world of mental chaos, painful recollections, and negative thoughts. It is easy to understand why mind control is so essential, if we are to focus our minds and proceed on our spiritual path.

I strongly encourage all who want to explore this study in more depth to view Matthew Killingsworth’s, Ted Talk titled Want To Be Happier? Stay In The Moment, filmed in 2011 and inserted below. Like Csikszentmihalyi’s research, Gilbert’s and Killingsworth’s research stresses the negative impact of our human brain’s default to mind-wandering/Psychic Entropy, when not fully mentally engaged. 

  

Please Stay Engaged

With Love, G.

NewThoughtNoteForTheDay - BEST LAID SCHEMES OF MICE AND MEN - Finding God On The Train - 9.26.2014.

 

         JOIN US AT OUR MAIN LOCATION

          www.FindingGodOnTheTrain.com 

       Connect on Twitter @GodOnTheTrain

Facebook www.facebook.com/GodOnTheTrain

  

BEST LAID SCHEMES OF MICE

                     AND MEN

 

I would like to focus on those times

in our lives when even our best laid

schemes do go awry, and the universe

seems to leave us like the mouse in

Robert Burns’ Scots poem, composed

while he was still  holding his plough

in 1785, tilted, To a Mouse, On Turning

Her Up In Her Nest With A Plough.

 

In truth, the final stanza seems to

suggest that the mouse, who lives in

the present, is blessed and in better

straights, even without a house, than

Burns, who must suffer with the fears

of an unknown future and the regrets

of a not so distant past. Let’s take a

moment to read this poem in Scots

dialect with needed translations offered,

that coined a famous phrase as well as

a John Steinbeck book title.

 

BURNS' ORIGINAL POEM

 

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,

O, what a panic's in thy breastie!

Thou need na start awa sae hasty

Wi bickering brattle!

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,

Wi' murdering pattle.

 

(bickerin’ brattle =scurry, run;

laith = loath; pattle = a small spade

for cleaning a plough)

 

I'm truly sorry man's dominion

Has broken Nature's social union,

An' justifies that ill opinion

Which makes thee startle

At me, thy poor, earth born companion

An' fellow mortal!

 

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;

What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!

A daimen icker in a thrave

'S a sma' request;

I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,

An' never miss't.

 

(daimen = occasional;

icker = an ear of corn;

thrave = twenty four sheaves;

lave = remainder)

 

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!

It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!

An' naething, now, to big a new ane,

O' foggage green!

An' bleak December's win's ensuin,

Baith snell an' keen!

 

(Big = build; foggage = moss;

baith = both)

 

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,

An' weary winter comin fast,

An' cozie here, beneath the blast,

Thou thought to dwell,

Till crash! the cruel coulter past

Out thro' thy cell.

 

(cosie = comfortable; coulter = iron

cutter in front of a ploughshare)

 

That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,

Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!

Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble,

But house or hald,

To thole the winter's sleety dribble,

An' cranreuch cauld.

 

(monie = many; thole = to endure;

dribble = drizzle; cranreuch = hoar-frost;

cauld = cold)

 

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!

 

(no ‘thy lane = not alone;

gan aft agley = often go awry)

 

Still thou are blest, compared wi' me!

The present only toucheth thee:

But och! I backward cast my e'e,

On prospects drear!

An' forward, tho' I canna see,

I guess an' fear!

 

__________________________

 

I realize the Scots dialect requires

some patience, (by the way Burns

spoke and wrote in dialectless

English except for his poems and

lyrics), but as I prepared this post,

I became more attached to Burns

the poet.

 

I began to understand why he was

so greatly loved in Scotland.  In the

second stanza of the poem, Burns

apologizes to the mouse for the

behavior of mankind, going on to

equate his existence with that of

the mouse.  

 

By the final verse, Burns reveals his

own despondency, having to exist

with the human load of the past,

and the fearful  possibilities of the

future, a vulnerable Burns expresses

his true sentiments.

 

So when our - best laid schemes o’ Mice

and’ Men, gang aft agley,” – that is,

go awry - what might we do to rebalance

ourselves, to stablize. First, we must

stop our minds from beating us up

for the situation. Next, we are going

need to be grateful. Yes, I said it -

grateful, and as outlined below, then

we will be ready to find our poise and 

regain our balance. 

 

BOUNTY OF BLESSINGS

 

Today, focus your thoughts on all that

is positive, affirming, and true in your

life – the bounty of blessings you have

received and continue to receive

daily – the doors that open when needed –

the smile or kind word that arrives

at the perfect moment – the long embrace –

the laughter of those who you love and

who love you – the opportunity to reach

for the sky and shoot for the stars.

 

Today, affirm and give thanks for all

that surrounds you – that works and

comes through when needed – provides

balance and stability – lifts you up when

you are down or have stumbled  - all that

enhances the living and the becoming –

give thanks for your courage, your stamina,

each fresh breath that powers you forward

towards your potential.

 

So today, replace your worry with a list

of all that is right and going well in your

life and be grateful.

 

AT G. 9.26.2014

 

WITH LOVE, G.