Living in Awareness – Day 5

The disciples of old did not need to have a degree in psychology to understand the mind and how it functions, and neither do you. A simple, but yet concise understanding of the creation of the conditioned, thinking mind, and how it functions will support you to begin to live a life with intention and purpose. It will support you to live a life that is not confined to the limitations of your conditionings.

Being Conditioned

From the moment a child is born, situations, events, and things begin to happen to the child, and the child’s mind records each and every one of them. It not only recorded the event, but it also recorded what precipitated the event and what followed afterwards. The mind not only recorded the event, it also recorded the child’s feelings or interpretations throughout the whole exchange. It recorded how it felt to the child, and at this point, it only recorded it as feeling either good or bad. There was no experience that was not recorded. Some experiences happened because of other people’s involvement such as their parents, siblings, etc, and other experiences happened naturally such as hunger, upset stomach, sleepiness, comfort or discomfort, etc, but nothing was excluded. The mind not only recorded each experience, it did so very systematically. As the mind was recording the experience, it would also search its database for other experiences similar, and it would link the current situation with past situations. As the mind began to be filled with experiences, and the interpretation of those experiences, ‘files’ began to be built inside that child’s mind. If it was a completely new experience, it would just keep that stored in its database to be used another time. These ‘files’ accumulate and begin to create the child’s belief systems. These early belief systems can vary greatly dependent on the situations a child goes through, and the child’s interpretation of those events.