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Thought-Control Example
A surface thought: "Right, I better get the cat a new flea collar..."
"Right, I better get the cat a new fl..."
Becomes: "Right, I better get the ca..."
"Right, I better ge..."
Getting better: "Right, I bet..."
"Right, ?..."
"R???..."
Nearly got it: "???..."
"...?..." â This is the pressure of a thought about to start
Almost there: "......" â Lessening thought pressure
"..." â Hardly any thought pressure
Perfect!: "?" â No thought pressure at all = clear surface mind
Thought-control and concentration exercises should be done daily for at least fi
ve minutes in
total, and for longer if possible. This is best spread out over the day and made
into several smaller
exercises. (Waiting and traveling time can be put to good use.) Although this ca
n be difficult and
frustrating in the early stages, with a little regular practice the surface mind
can be held clear with
very little effort for extended periods of time.
The Deeper Mind
Once the surface mind gives in and the internal dialogue is silenced, you will e
xperience a
profound silence inside your mind that may feel a litde strange at first, a bit
like sitting alone in the
middle of a quickly emptying sports stadium after a big game and listening as it
falls slowly into
total silence as everyone leaves. You miss all the activity, and it suddenly fee
ls strange and
unnaturally quiet. This is because you are stilling surface thoughts that have b
een chattering away
unnoticed in your mental background for your whole life. You have created a kind
of forced, hollow
feeling, a forced mental silence inside your mind. Holding this takes effort and
concentration, which
adds to the forced-silence kind of feeling.
It will take some time for your deeper mind to get used to this mental silence a
nd begin relaxing
and expanding, so be patient. You will grow used to this and one day will learn
to love it more than
anything else. Once you have attained inner silence, you can think more profound
ly and focus your
mind completely on whatever you are doing.
The criticism by religious groups of the practice of meditation and of clearing
the mind stems, I
believe, from people jumping to conclusions when they hear terms like emptiness,
emptying the
mind, inner silence, or entering the silence. Some religious people claim it is
not safe to empty the
mind, as tile devil or some evil entity may then try to enter and inhabit it. If
, however, you take into
account how difficult it is to empty die mind and hold it clear for any length o
f time, it becomes
evident that this emptiness only comes through disciplined mental effort. You ar
e blocking your
own thoughts, and are thereby also blocking any other thoughts from entering you
r mind. In a way,
meditators fill their minds with silent mental static and use this to suppress a
ll thought. The clear
mind, or empty mind, associated with meditation can more accurately be thought o
f as forced
mental silence that has become easier through practice.
I have found that the practice of holding the mind forcibly clear can be an effe
ctive
countermeasure against intrusive energies and thoughts, regardless of their natu
re or origin. A spirit
entity that wanted to invade or mentally interfere with someone would find it mu
ch easier to slide in
among that person's internal mental dialogue, and hide among the meaningless cha
tter of an
undisciplined mind. If that surface mind is held clear and silent through discip
lined mental effort,
there is no place left for spirits to hide.