Ego and Mind

Forgetting Painful Memories

Address mind thus

Hey my mind. 

Listen. 

I find that you are needlessly occupied with this particular thought / experience about (________). 

I request you to please give it up and return to your state of peace and quietude. 

I will do the needful in the matter. 

Thank you.

What I know about my mind

I know enough about my mind.

1. What it is.
2. How it thinks.
3. How it feels.
4. How it gets log-jammed.
5. How it listens.
6. How to get it to listen.
7. How to make it inoperative.
8. How to generate joy, happiness and peace.
9. How to make it kind, loving, caring too.
10. How to restrain it when taken over by urges, impulses and desires.
11. How to use it for reality testing.
12. How to use it for decision making and problem solving.
13. How to use it for out of the box thinking.
14. How to restrain it from flitting and flirting.
15. How to use it for productive, creative, rewarding decision making.

Two Minds and Self

The Two Minds and Self

The two minds are the thinking mind and the observing mind. While all the thoughts in our head occur in our thinking mind, it is the observing mind that generates the feeling of being “Me” as it watches the thoughts in our head.

We have capacity to first become aware of these two minds. Sit at ease. When thinking starts step into the shoes of the observing mind and watch the thinking mind in operation.

We could do this. We can now de-personalise ourself and become the non reflecting observer of both. 

Thus we move to the locus of the self.

How are emotions activated

The answer to this question appears at the very end of this long explanation.

This explanation is not correct in terms of popular theories but is useful to understand how various components are connected and how activation of thoughts, feelings, emotions and bodily sensations takes place.

Memory caches. These store many types of data inputs - conscious, extra-conscious and unconscious meaning beyond our understanding and conscious awareness. Also of people, names, things, knowledge, ideas, learning, conclusions and everything else.

Psyche - Memory caches of experiences, unresolved matters, genetically installed memories and those received, learnt, copied from parents and parental figures. Each unit has thinking and feeling as components with visual, auditory and kinesthetic components and with associated understanding.

Mind is the space in which creations of the brain are projected and perceived by us as thoughts, feelings, emotions and bodily sensations. These are projected by external activators - people, things and events etc and internal activators - the psychic memories.

Mind is name for the set of faculties including cognitive aspects such as consciousness, imagination, perception, thinking, intelligence, judgement, language and memory, as well as noncognitive aspects such as emotion and instinct.

Memory caches are of two types. Those storing psychic memories (MCSPMs) and those storing other memories (MCSOMs).

There is an association between thinking, associated feeling and related emotion.

When psyche is affected (adversely or beneficially) mind is affected. Feelings show up as related escalated emotions.

Emotions have a thinking and bodily (somatic) component as well.

When brain is affected body is affected.

There is a subtle connection between mind and brain.

So whether psychic memories or mind or brain are affected, emotions are churned up and body is also affected.

We have many entities and they are linked as follows for ease of our understanding.

Emotions are escalations of related forms of feelings with components of body and thoughts.

This circle of feelings / emotions explains. From six feelings arise / we find generated thirty eight primary and seventy six secondary emotions. We are therefore affected by a hundred and fourteen emotions. There are further variations due to depth, impact and associated emotions being activated together.

Feelings are sensations. Feelings arouse the cognitive centres of the brain on the one hand and hormonal system on the other hand to deal with the situation - thereby activating all the body systems - circulatory, respiratory, muscular, excretory, urinary, digestive mainly. These to my mind generate a mix of thinking-feeling-somatic trio experienced as emotion.

The Limbic System of our brain plays a major role in generation of emotions.

The limbic system includes the hypothalamus. This organ plays a role in myriad functions by releasing hormones that help sustain homeostasis — the ability of the body to maintain relatively consistent conditions. Other limbic system organs include neurons, the basal ganglia, portions of the prefrontal cortex, the cingulate gyrus, and the ventral segmental area.

Its activation triggers memories coupled with cognitive assessment and release of hormones activating bodily systems. Our perception and appraisal thereby undergoes change from objective to subjective with resultant temperamental and attitudinal change.

Link to article on Limbic System

Silencing our Mind

We can silence our mind at will by asking these two questions and then saying no.

Question 1. What is this mind thinking? Explore for 10 to 15 seconds without  finding an answer.

Question 2. Do I need to think? Explore for 10 to 15 seconds without finding an answer.

Say no. Then remain thought free for 10 to 15 seconds.

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Do this many times a day for 1 to 3 months. It not only jacks up our mental awareness, it also helps us to silence our mind if it is uncontrollably thinking or is locked  in an emotional hype.

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How to talk to our mind to ask it to give up any particular thinking or engagement or emotional hype. See blog post at Permitting our Mind

Permitting our Mind

Choose one of these two address formats.

(1)

O my mind.

I like you, I love you, I admire you, I adore you.

I give you permission to let-go, release and discard this particularly disturbing feeling / emotion.

Come on, let-go of it and enjoy peace of mind, happiness in life and joyful living.

(2)

O my mind.

I find that you are presently occupied with this particular thought / overwhelmed by this particular feeling / emotion.

I give you permission to let-go, release and discard this thought disturbing feeling / emotion.

Come on, let-go of it and enjoy peace of mind, happiness in life and joyful living.

I will do the needful in the matter.

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Link to Silencing our Mind : Silencing our Mind

Personality, Mind, Brain and Body

When the psyche is affected, the mind is affected. When the brain is affected the body is affected. There is also a subtle connection between the mind and the brain. That is why when the psyche or the mind is affected, body is also affected.

In my opinion our mind controls us more than our brain. The operations of thinking and feeling do take place in our brain. But they reflect in our mind. The sources of psyche are also in the brain. Their activation organises the nature of thoughts and feelings. Therefore though the operative structural components are located in the brain, they manifest in our mind.

All this together forms a complex psychological whole. The psychological whole is understood in psychology through the medium of personality. Therefore for the purpose of common understanding it is the study of personality that helps the psychologist to understand the operations of the brain and of the mind and of the psyche in treating patients.

Psyche: Memory caches in the brain.

Mind : The virtual space in which the brain's output is observed and felt by us.

Mind is name for the set of faculties including cognitive aspects such as consciousness, imagination, perception, thinking, intelligence, judgement, language and memory, as well as noncognitive aspects such as emotion and instinct.

Brain : The principal organ of our neural system.

Personality : The characteristic manner in which our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, assessments, evaluations and conclusions happen when we face or deal with people, events, happenings, incidents, occurrences, situations, problems, difficulties, conditions, challenges, dilemmas - real, actual, imagined, fantasised our recalled. Personality shows up in terms of our characteristic behaviour patterns, and the manner in which we present ourselves to others and in various ordinary and stressed life situations.