Self-inquiry

It begins with the realization that I’m not myself, that I’m stuffed into a girdle of tics, persuasions, judgements, beliefs and behaviours, and that this mess of quarrelling propensities is driving the bus.

The ouroboros effect

Emotions begin as thoughts in the head. These mind forms are discharged into the body where they reconstitute as feelings. These feelings then move ‘back upstairs’ to inflate and validate the thoughts that conceived them. Then you hear: “Let me tell you what she did to me.”

Stopping non-stop thinking

First things first: We cannot use the mind to solve a problem the mind has created. Same principle expressed differently: A problem cannot be solved using the same consciousness that created the problem.

Do you like me?

If I am a man who cares what other men think, I will develop a set of courting behaviours designed to elicit a positive response to a question I would deny ever asking.

Status quo

The statement “We’ve always done it this way” is all by itself the best reason to stop doing it.