Many years ago I spent a summer working with horses. I had virtually no experience with horses beyond a few childhood encounters with unruly ones, which tainted my interest. Nevertheless, I was fast tracked through a training program and became “certified” by someone’s standards.
I often think back to that summer as a metaphor for mind. It becomes harder to contain ruminating mind the more it is given permission to wander wherever it likes. Ruminating mind will remain the default as long as we allow it to. Our ability to reign in ruminating mind is accomplished by having a consistent conscious dialouge on hand to return to. This becomes the basis for a new default system.
(2.5) Conscious mind is reasoning will. Subconscious mind is instinctive desire, the result of past reasoning will.
Subconscious mind is the result of past consistent thinking. Thus, we are a product of our previous thoughts. So by introducing new ways of thinking, we must anticipate that it is only through repetition that we can change our subconscious defaults. When our conscious replacement dialogue becomes our new predominant mental attitude, we will experience liberation from ruminating mind-which is not an end, in itself. Like any muscle, it must be exercised consistently to maintain its strength.
(6.8) Concentration may be developed by faithfully practicing mental exercise.
One of the most effective methods for consciously introducing new dialouges is mantras, which may also be understood as repetitive memorization. By consciosly returning ruminating mind to mantras that clearly state your intended mental state, we reinforce our desired predominant mental attitude.
(7.14) The law of attraction is the principle by which thought manifests itself in form.
(7.15) The law of love – which is the creative principle of the universe – adds vitality to thought, while the law of attraction brings the nessecary substance to growth.
Love is the conscious realization that all life is equal in value, as it is all an expression of the same creative force we refer to as nature. Mythology is ancient psychology and the gods were understood as personified representations of instinctual systems. The gods of religion are personified representations of nature, or natural law.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Aperture of Brahma 