Episode Transcript
We Americans enjoy a wonderful and powerful way of life, but internally and in relationships, we may wish for better. Join me as we look beneath the surface and gain insights to transform every aspect of your life. My name is Dr. Ann O'Hare, and this is The Spiritual American. Hello everyone and welcome to the Spiritual American. My name is Dr. Anne O'Hare and I'm your host. And today we will be talking about the mind, all about the mind. And if you've been watching the other episodes, you know that I've been talking a lot about the mind. So as I was looking at this, of course, I don't know if you all know this, but as I'm sharing, I'm sharing, sometimes I say it's like hot off the press. So whatever I'm working on or whatever the realizations that are coming through, I'm sharing them. So I'm really sharing from my own perspective. However, I'm also sharing within the context of spiritual knowledge, soul, karma, things like that. So today I want to talk about the mind a little bit more, in the context of spiritual knowledge. And the first thing I, I guess the context that I'd like to use. Or the framework for today's talk is going to be anatomy and physiology. So, if any of you are in healthcare, I'm in healthcare, you take anatomy and you take physiology. So what's the difference? Anatomy is the nuts and bolts. What is it made of? What am I looking at? Anatomy would be like, let's say the anatomy of the eyeball. Now the anatomy of the eyeball would be the pupil and the iris and the retina and whatever else, the parts. So you're looking at the parts, that's the anatomy, what it is, where it is in relation, you know how to find it, what to call the parts and things like that. Physiology basically is how does it work and how does it work individually and how does it work in relation to the whole. So today we're gonna talk about anatomy and physiology of the mind. So, first of all, where is the mind? Is the mind here? Is the mind in my body? Is the mind my brain? Sometimes science will tell us that the mind and the brain are the same thing. I'm going to say for the sake of this conversation that they're not the same thing. That the mind is invisible. It's an invisible field of experience that we have. But where's the anatomy? So, if I have to say what it is and where it is, I'm going to say it this way. I'm the soul, so I'm the living being, I am the living consciousness, so I'm energy, I'm the energy, and then there's the mind. The mind is also kind of an energy field, but the mind can have thoughts in it, so it can have language, it can have pictures, it can have memories, so it's kind of like a field of experience, like a. I want to say like a 3D, but it's not 3D because it's not physical, but it's experiential. So the mind is a field of experience and you can't see it, so it's invisible. So we have the soul, the being, the self, you have the mind, and then you have the world. So there's three levels. There's soul, mind, and then world, physical world. How does the soul relate to the physical world? Well, right here, we have a body. Okay. And specifically we have senses. We have the five senses, right? Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. So the physical body is my access point to the physical world. So why am I going over this? Because it's important to understand once we get to how the mind works, it's important to understand what the mind is. So we have our physical senses, we have the body, and the body is in time like matter. It comes and goes and changes like matter. Like lives and dies, like, like goes through cycles of different things and regenerations and actually breathes like the body breathes in and out. So there's like a constant in and out, constant movement and exchange going on between the physical world and the body is constantly in communication and moving with the physical world. So where does the mind come in here? I, the soul, am the still being. As a soul, I don't have a body, I'm not in time, I don't have to think in order to be, right? So I'm being, I don't have to think, I'm still here. So, if we look at the mind, and what's going on in the mind, we see that it's actually different than the physical world, and it's different than the self. So that's the first distinction I'm going to bring forth. By the way, all these episodes, I mean, you can listen to them once, but you can sit and listen to them a bunch of times if you want, if you're interested, to get a little bit of an understanding or a kind of a grasp on what I'm talking about here. These distinctions that I'm making right now are very powerful because a lot of the problems and the sorrow that we experience. In our life is because we get these things mixed up the self, the mind and the body slash world get mixed up and because they get mixed up, there's a lot of sorrow. So I, the self am the being and I experience life or experience myself, my, my activities, my relationships in my mind. And again, you've heard me say this before. I can prove that you experience it in your mind. Because if you grow up in a home where there's three children and you talk about a specific incident that happened in the home and you interview all three children, I would assert that you would probably get three different interpretations of what happened. Some of the things might be the same, but the way they felt and the way they interpreted it and the way they experienced it will all be different. So each of us is a unique being and we experience everything in the mind, which is invisible. It's connected to me, but it's also connected to matter, to nature, to the body. So that's the anatomy. So we can kind of get a sense of where the mind is. Okay. I'm, I'm the self, I'm the pure being. And then I'm experiencing everything in my mind. I'm experiencing my thoughts and everything is there, but then the body is something different, isn't it? Does the body think not really, right? It's me that's thinking or the soul that's thinking with the mind or experiencing thoughts through the mind, but the body is not thinking, but the body is responding to the mind, right? Think about that for a minute. The mind is also connected to the body because, as we know, if you have stressful thoughts and negative thoughts, it stimulates different processes in the body, different hormones and chemicals get released in the body. And if you have loving and peaceful thoughts and experiences in the mind, that releases different chemicals and hormones in the body. How wonderful. Let's just think about that for a second. Wow. What a wonderful. mechanism we have. Maybe we've gone for so long thinking that I am the body, don't we? I have a pain, I have diabetes, I have cancer, I have whatever. It's not to say that we don't have to deal with it because we do. Because it's my experience, but it's helpful to have to make that distinction. I, the soul am not the mind and I am not the body. So how does this help us? Now we're going to look at the physiology. So I, the soul am observing and experiencing things through the mind. Now, many of you out there may be saying, okay, well, my mind goes crazy and my mind has negative thoughts. And I can't calm my mind down, and I can't meditate, and I don't even understand it, and it's not working for me. Anyway, that's how I was. So I'm talking mainly to the people who are like me. But to anybody, because this is all universal information. So if my mind is full of all this stuff, one of the first things I can do, Is to realize that I'm not it, I'm not what's going on in my mind and I can be peaceful and observe what's going on in the mind. You'll hear me talk to people, talk about meditation and saying that to have the expectation that your mind will become completely positive and calm overnight. I'm going to say is not a realistic expectation. It certainly wasn't for me. So what is the physiology that I need to understand about this? The mind is creating memories with emotions and so think about it, if I have a very negative experience or a painful experience in childhood, let's say, and that scene that happened is like burned into my mind and burned into my memory. And those feelings that I had are in my mind, but they're affecting me even today. So the mind, whatever is in my mind is affecting me and also affecting my body. Because the mind is connected to both the mind, the self, and the body. So what we want to do is because the mind records everything, has different levels of recording, maybe it's thoughts, it could be memories of pictures, it could also be very painful or very strong feelings that could actually go over into the body. Like how many of you have anxiety? I'm going to say anxiety is recorded stuff that's in your mind that's flowing over into your body. Can I say whenever it feels like it, but who knows what triggers it. There's a lot of triggers and Anxiety is a whole nother discussion, but anxiety is an example of how what's packed into my mind flows over into my body. So anything that's in my mind is going to be affecting me because I'm experiencing it, me, the soul, I'm experiencing it and also affecting the body. That's a pretty big deal. The mind is very important. And I wrote here, the mind can be our friend, or the mind can be our enemy. And the mind, it doesn't mean to be. It's just the way it works. So it's kind of like, let's say you have a refrigerator full of food, and the power goes out, and the food goes bad in the refrigerator. It's like, do you get mad at the food for going bad? No, it's following a law. Think about that for a second. It's following a law. So what is it following? It's following a law that if it, that if you leave something there, anything, food or anything, eventually it's going to break down and go back to the earth. That's a natural thing that we understand. So let's try to understand how the mind works a little bit. The mind is there to record, to give experiences, to also hold on to feelings and things like that. It also flows over into our body, and it also gives me, the soul, the experience of those things. That's the law. That's what it does. So it's doing that, whether it's positive or negative. Whether it's spiritual or worldly. Whether it's greedy and painful and addicted and miserable or peaceful, happy. Or maybe somewhere in between. Maybe trying. I'm trying to be authentic, trying to be honest, trying to get better. Okay. All of those levels of experience are happening in the mind. So where does spirituality come in here? Spirituality it's very simple. First of all, I'm making the distinction between soul, body, and mind. I'm making it very clear, excuse me, soul, mind, and body, making it very clear what they are, even if it's only intellectual at first, because like I said, we have it all mixed up. Everything's mixed up. So the first thing I do in meditation is I sit and I tell myself who I am. I must re establish the self, I, the identity needs to be taken out of the body, out of the mind, and into the self, into the soul, the actual spiritual being. So I am a soul, I am spiritual, I am a spiritual being, I am unlimited consciousness, and my nature is peace. Sometimes we say a point. Like I'm a point. That point is, that's it. Done. Period. I am a spiritual being. I am living consciousness and my nature is peace. That's it. The mind is here to help me experience things and the body is here to help me navigate myself through time and space. So that's the first distinction we have to make. Peace. Second thing we have to do in spirituality is keep building up this spiritual identity while dealing with the mind. And that's where people quit. And I'm going to leave it here because this, I could talk about this for like two hours, but this is where people quit because they say, Oh yeah, I'm a soul. That sounds good. Whatever. But as soon as they sit down to try to meditate, They have to face their mind. I said in a class the other day that human beings who take responsibility for their mind are heroes think about it for a minute if i'm blaming everybody else and i'm gossiping and i'm acting out and whatever and i'm miserable And then if I talk about how miserable I am and I say well, I want to get better and then I keep blaming everybody else How can I get better? In my experience raw yoga meditation and this spiritual knowledge that i'm sharing right now is the way to start getting better because I'm dealing with the facts, the law, the facts of the situation and the law of the situation. So I'm establishing my identity and then I have to start facing the mind. And this is what I want to say to all of you out there. Meditation is the first step and the access and the practice that we need to do to get back in touch with the truth of ourselves. But we have to be courageous and face the mind some things in the mind will be easy to overcome. Maybe some people and everybody's different, right? Everybody's unique Everybody has a menu of things in their mind that they have to deal with Some people are gonna have an easier time in one area. Some people are gonna have an easier time in another area But I'm gonna add two more things and then I'll stop here the worst poison in our mind I'm going to say is self criticism, self hatred, self criticism, feeling disheartened, and things like that. That is the worst poison in the mind. And I feel like one of the things that we can do right away is to make a decision that we're not going to believe that anymore or tolerate that anymore and work to dissolve that. Because I am honestly trying to get better and I am a good person and I am going to try to get better. So why should I let somebody sit there and abuse me? Even if it's in my own mind. The second thing is observation. Merciful self observation. It's really mind observation in this context, but Merciful mind observation and self, like your behavior. Start observing yourself. Try to just look because Like I said, we have to start looking at the mind, observing the mind, because then I'm starting to see, Oh, I'm not the mind. I'm actually looking at the mind. You see how that creates a little bit of a separation. That little bit of separation is the hope of getting better. That's where the hope to get better lies. So I'm sitting in meditation. I'm telling myself that I'm a peaceful soul, that I'm the soul, and this is my mind and I'm watching the mind. And I'm going to say, if you sat down for 15 minutes, watching a commentary or something in the description below, there's release your wings, meditations you can start with, sit there and put it on and watch your mind go crazy. Just watch it. Yep. There it is going there. There it is going there. I see you. I see you thinking about the laundry. I see you. Oh, I see you too. I see you now telling me I'm no good and telling me because I'm, I can't stay peaceful that I'm not being successful. Dr. Anne told me you were going to be there. Okay. I see you back to the peace. You all can do this. What this is doing is it's awakening my awareness of the self. That's what's making us sad. Not the self is making me sad. The fact that I'm not in touch with it is making me sad. Because I think I'm the mind, and I think I'm the body, and I think I'm the mind, and I think I'm the body, and I think I'm the mind, and I think I'm the body. And either way, there's sorrow there. Number one, because it's not the truth. And number two, because I have no power. Mind is going this way, mind is going that way. I mean, I'm sure you can all relate to this, right? Especially if you sit down and meditate, your mind's going crazy. So of course you might think, oh, well, I'm not good at meditation. I'm here to tell you no. Sit down and meditate. Have courage. Watch your mind and understand the three parts. Self, mind, body. If you sit there just with that information, you will start to have breakthroughs. So back to the topic, all about the mind. The main thing is, where does the mind fit into this whole experience, human experience that I'm having? And the second thing is, who am I? I'm not the mind. I'm not the body either. And that's okay. It's okay. Just sit quiet and try to watch and see, am I really my hand? Am I really this thing that keeps changing? I'm looking in the mirror today. I'm looking at the changes in my face and the changes in the thing. And I'm like, It's bringing up thoughts and stuff, I'm sure you can relate to this. Body image is bringing up all kinds of thoughts and I, this morning I thought to myself, Well, there's the body, here are the thoughts, and here am I. Wow, what a difference. Because otherwise there's suffering. If I'm suffering because I'm reacting to the body, the body's going to keep changing because it's following the law. The mind is saying something's wrong, and this is bad, and whatever, well, how is that doing me any good? I can remain peaceful doesn't mean that I should be inauthentic or not take care of myself or do something about it. You know, it doesn't mean you can't do something about your body, let's say, or your circumstances definitely do it. But at least let's get my power back. At least let's have some peace. At least let's have some chance of feeling okay inside myself. Okay. So I'm going to end there. As you can probably tell, this is a big topic because this is really where spirituality is. It is all about I, the soul, the mind, and the body slash world slash time, matter, and so forth. And getting that all straight and understanding how that works is a powerful way to start to understand what the soul is and start to feel who I am truly because I'm all mixed in with this other stuff right now. So. Okay, so I'll leave it there and, I really invite you to take a look at the links down below and start to practice meditation, daily practice, have courage, face your mind, get a little bit of space there and you'll see that you will see differences in a very short period of time. So I'll leave it there. Remember our slogan is heal, empower and serve. And until next time, take care. Um, uh,
