THE RENEWAL OF YOUR MIND

All religions contain some useful advice on the subject of mental health---and on how to attain and maintain it.

For example, the Bhagavad Gita talks about the importance of a ‘stable [or steady] mind’ (Gita 2:56). Such a mind, or mind-set, is one in which the mind is imperturbable, that is, the mind remains unmoved and undisturbed by not just external circumstances but also the vagaries and agitations of the contents of the mind itself---for your worst ‘enemy,’ so to speak, exists within your own mind. That is what is really meant by that verse in The Bible which says, ‘A person’s foes will be right in their own household’ (Mt 10:36). Our foes are the sum total of all our negative thoughts and emotions, which for the most part are the direct result of our seeing things as we would like them to be as opposed to how they really are.

The Bible talks a lot about a ‘sound mind,’ making it unambiguously clear that such a mind is in contradistinction to one dominated by the ‘spirit of fear’ or timidity A sound mind is one of ‘power’ and is characterized by ‘love’ (cf 2 Tim 1:7); it is a state of mind that is ‘still’ and ‘frets not’ (Ps 37:7), and does not react unnecessarily. Rather it responds effectively to whatever takes place within or outside of us. The Bible also speaks on the importance of being ‘transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Rom 12:2). I will have more to say about that matter shortly.

The Noble Qur’an speaks of a mind characterized by ‘rest and satisfaction’ (Qur’an 56:89), and in Buddhism there can be found the idea of ‘no-mindedness’ [or 'empty mind']. Your mind is ‘no-minded’ or 'empty' when you cease to engage in conditioned thinking, when you stop trying to control things and others, and when you start to live spontaneously---free from all cravings, 'sticky' attachments and aversions. You know you are 'no-minded' when you receive each event or happening in your life with a mind-set which neither likes nor dislikes. This is sometimes referred to as having an 'equal' mind.

All of these holy texts are referring to more-or-less the same thing, and that is this---the importance of being renewed in your mind, not just once but all the time. Then, in the words of the Bhagavad Gita, you will be a 'sage of stable mind.'

So, what must you do to be renewed in your mind? Well, it is not so much what you must do, rather it is a matter of ceasing to do a number of things that stand in the way of mental health. Here are a few things to avoid: judging and criticizing others, holding on to anger, resentments and ill-will as well as illusions of all kinds, not letting the past stay in the past, living mechanically as opposed to mindfully, not being satisfied and content with your lot, imitating and copying others, seeking sense-gratification, and so on.

There is much that you can do to attain and maintain mental health. Renewal of mind is something that can happen almost instantaneously---because such is the nature of reality, which unfolds ceaselessly from one moment to the next. Just make up your mind to be cheerful under all conditions (that is, 'ever content,' in the words of the Bhagavad Gita), to 'speak good to [all] people' (Qur'an 2:83), and to live fully and mindfully from one moment to the next, being choicelessly aware of and alert to whatever unfolds outside of and within your consciousness.

There is nothing more important than the health of your mind. Make it a daily---indeed, a moment-to-moment---concern of yours ... without becoming self-obsessed in the process.

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PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE OF THEM ALL

When I was an undergraduate Arts/Law student at the University of Sydney in the 1970s---a wonderful time to be alive---I spent probably more time in the now gone Adyar Bookshop, in Sydney, run by the Theosophical Society, than I did in the university library.

It was during those years that I ‘discovered’ the great debunker and iconoclast J. Krishnamurti (pictured right), and I have been in love with his teachings, and the man himself, ever since.

I still have in my possession a bookmark which I was given when I purchased a book from the Adyar Bookshop sometime in the early 1970s. I don’t remember the book I bought at the time---it may or may not have been a book written by Krishnamurti---although I am sure I would still have the book somewhere on my bookshelves here at home. (I never throw anything away---something I have to work on!) Now, on the bookmark there was a quotation from the writings of J. Krishnamurti---‘In the acknowledgement of what is, there is the cessation of all conflict.’

For years and years thereafter I couldn’t comprehend the meaning of those few words of Krishnamurti. It took several traumatic life experiences, and some more reading of Krishnamurti, for the truth of those words to manifest in my consciousness. You see, it is not what happens to us that makes or breaks us, it is how we react---or rather respond---to what happens to us that determines who and what we are and will become. There’s more to it, still. If we can ‘acknowledge’---that is, observe, note, notice, but not judge, analyze, criticize or condemn---what happens in and as our life experience from one moment to the next, that is, if we can accept what is as what is, there will be no resistance, conflict or inner turmoil. Then, and only then, can we know peace and have serenity.

Another spiritual principle which says more-or-less the same thing, but comes at the truth from the other ‘end,’ so to speak is this one---‘What we resist, persists.’

We don’t have to ‘like’ what happens to us in order for there to be an ‘acknowledgement.’ That will often not be possible or appropriate. More importantly, forming a ‘liking,’ or a ‘disliking’ for that matter, is an act of judgment, and once we judge something, we are attached to it. The result? Conflict. Resistance. Positive or negative. Just look, observe, note, and notice. But don’t judge or analyze. That is so important.

The Apostle Paul understood the truth of this most important spiritual principle. It is written that he said. ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances’ (Phil 4: 11 [NIV]). He said ‘content,’ not happy. Contentment implies acknowledgment and a calm acceptance of whatever is---for whatever is, is best. Whatever the circumstances!

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