Your Conscious, Friendly Mind – Day 27
Your Conscious, Friendly Mind Day 27
Observing Our Minds Without Judgment
To monitor our mind and thoughts, it is important to be neutral, to observe our thoughts without categorizing them. When we put things into categories of good or bad, we are being judgmental. Anything we identify as bad only becomes more powerful. We see that clearly in children; when we ask a child not to do something, it becomes almost irresistible to the child.
Our mind is nothing more than a child’s mind. It resists any restrictions or any imposition from outside, because it loves freedom. It has been given freedom. A sudden withdrawal of freedom is never accepted or appreciated. The less judgmental we are to our mind, the less condemning we are, the less resistance we have, the better our mind performs, the more cooperative and harmonious it is.
Most people battle with the mind in meditation and in their daily work. They find what is wrong with them, how many mistakes they have made and keep a running list of shortcomings. Then the pattern extends to others. Anything that brings about self-condemnation is not a spiritual path. While it is good and helpful to recognize mistakes, repeating that we have made this or that mistake doesn’t send our mistakes away.
We need to be more watchful and vigilant of our minds at play. What kinds of thoughts are coming to our minds? We are compassionate. We understand ourselves. We love ourselves, knowing if we don’t love ourselves, we can’t love God or others.
