meditation question

[Guest guest]

Greetings all,I have read in a ky book that meditation is supposed to help clear your subconscious mind but I am really wondering what does that mean and I have been thinking that maybe this term is really not accurate. I mean, from what I have noticed, we have a mind and we are either conscious or unconscious and meditation is to help us deal with the unconscious (the stuff that causes us to react to things, the things that causes us to repeat negative behaviours over and over that we don't want but can't seem to stop). Is subconscious not really a term that just describes the unconscious? If that is the case it seems like a rather redundant term.

I am not just interested in theoretical explanations but people's first hand observations. Where would this fit in with yogi bhajan's 10 bodies theory?Thanks,Paula

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam,

 

Ahh...

 

This is a great question, and one that I have working on explaining recently, so

thanks for the opportunity to get this out and into writing.

 

Based on my basic understanding from Yogi Bhajan lectures, his book on The Mind,

psychology and other sources, this is actually an accurate description. But of

course, with a caveat that the mind is infinitely complicated and impossible to

understand...

 

Or is it?

 

The simple way to look at it is that the daily grind of the mind continues as

constant stream of thought that moves in a linear line from your mind to your

subconscious. These thoughts come from everywhere, and every little stimulation,

and every sensory input that reaches us.

 

As the 'bucket' that is the subconscious mind begins to fill with these thoughts

and rumblings, they can begin to exhibit themselves outwardly in a multitude of

ways. The most base ways are exhibited in ways that most people often take for

granted as a daily part of their lives: discontent, sadness, anger, distraction,

doubt, stress, insecurity, low self-esteem, duality, poor communication, desire,

physical symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, susceptibility to colds...

a category that is crowned by poor habitual behaviors, and the continual

cyclical repetition of such patterns.

 

Eventually as the subconscious 'cloud' or 'bubble' begins to fill up with so

much junk and inner b.s., it has no choice but to dump and download all these

stresses into the unconscious. If you thought the previous list of issues was

bad (or no biggie), then this is where the serious problem arise. As you fill up

the unconscious, our inability to release this overload of input can lead to

uncontrollable behaviors and symptoms of which there seems to be no direct

connection or solution: serious physical aches and pains, sicknesses of all

types, any number of irrational behaviors, outbursts, uncontrollable anger,

culminating in actions based completely on emotional reaction with little or no

connection to conscious decision making (exhibited as behaviors such as severe

drug abuse, violence and even worse).

 

That's a simplistic view. Bucket one fills up; dumps into bucket two. Bucket two

fills up; bad things happen.

 

So... how does meditation help?

 

Meditation, especially with mantra, acts to cut and clear this initial stream of

thoughts from entering into the subconscious. If you visualize the stream of

thoughts going from the mind to subconscious as a dash line moving from left to

right, then mantra and meditation is a dash line moving from bottom to top (an

appropriate analogy because mantra is vibrated in the mouth, up through the

upper palette, and taps a message into the hypothalamus - our autonomic control

center - sound familiar? 'Autonomic' relates directly to our subconscious and

unconscious. Specifically, it's the control center of everything outside of

conscious control, from our glands to our nervous system).

 

Anyways...

 

What happens simply is that meditation cuts through this dash line (negative

dashes moving left to right) and turns every dash into a positive... Literally a

plus sign! Additionally the force of the mantra acts to divert the flow of the

negative thoughts, turning them into a positive, and away from the subconscious

and towards the... SUPERconscious!

 

Yogi Bhajan's own term, the superconscious is where all good thoughts go to live

out the rest of their long lives in comfort and tranquility. It's where the

nurturing and positive capabilities of compassion, caring, understanding,

heart-felt love and light grow to infinity. It is where you plant seeds that can

creatively grow to become all the positive things we want to become and share in

our lives. It's our source of all things pure, positive and sacred. And, it's

also where we can tap into our subtle bodies and collective group consciousness.

It's ultimately the realm where see all things as ONE, equal in totality,

infinity, and God.

 

That's it! Simple eh?

 

Vibrate the hukam, wash the mind with the name, and become one with God.

Meditation in a nutshell.

 

" Bareeai Mati Paapaa Kae Sangih, Ohu Dhopai Naavai Kae Rangih "

 

(When the mind becomes polluted with sins, wash by coloring it with the Name -

Nanak, JapJi, 20th Pauri)

 

God bless with Infinity,

-Fateh Singh

[Guest guest]

Hello,Were does it start 'cleaning' first? The subconscious or unconscious? I wanted to get that book as it sounded interesting.PaulaOn 8/1/09, fatehsinghnyc <filipfilip wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

Sat Nam,

 

Ahh...

 

This is a great question, and one that I have working on explaining recently, so thanks for the opportunity to get this out and into writing.

 

Based on my basic understanding from Yogi Bhajan lectures, his book on The Mind, psychology and other sources, this is actually an accurate description. But of course, with a caveat that the mind is infinitely complicated and impossible to understand...

 

Or is it?

 

The simple way to look at it is that the daily grind of the mind continues as constant stream of thought that moves in a linear line from your mind to your subconscious. These thoughts come from everywhere, and every little stimulation, and every sensory input that reaches us.

 

As the 'bucket' that is the subconscious mind begins to fill with these thoughts and rumblings, they can begin to exhibit themselves outwardly in a multitude of ways. The most base ways are exhibited in ways that most people often take for granted as a daily part of their lives: discontent, sadness, anger, distraction, doubt, stress, insecurity, low self-esteem, duality, poor communication, desire, physical symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, susceptibility to colds... a category that is crowned by poor habitual behaviors, and the continual cyclical repetition of such patterns.

 

Eventually as the subconscious 'cloud' or 'bubble' begins to fill up with so much junk and inner b.s., it has no choice but to dump and download all these stresses into the unconscious. If you thought the previous list of issues was bad (or no biggie), then this is where the serious problem arise. As you fill up the unconscious, our inability to release this overload of input can lead to uncontrollable behaviors and symptoms of which there seems to be no direct connection or solution: serious physical aches and pains, sicknesses of all types, any number of irrational behaviors, outbursts, uncontrollable anger, culminating in actions based completely on emotional reaction with little or no connection to conscious decision making (exhibited as behaviors such as severe drug abuse, violence and even worse).

 

That's a simplistic view. Bucket one fills up; dumps into bucket two. Bucket two fills up; bad things happen.

 

So... how does meditation help?

 

Meditation, especially with mantra, acts to cut and clear this initial stream of thoughts from entering into the subconscious. If you visualize the stream of thoughts going from the mind to subconscious as a dash line moving from left to right, then mantra and meditation is a dash line moving from bottom to top (an appropriate analogy because mantra is vibrated in the mouth, up through the upper palette, and taps a message into the hypothalamus - our autonomic control center - sound familiar? 'Autonomic' relates directly to our subconscious and unconscious. Specifically, it's the control center of everything outside of conscious control, from our glands to our nervous system).

 

Anyways...

 

What happens simply is that meditation cuts through this dash line (negative dashes moving left to right) and turns every dash into a positive... Literally a plus sign! Additionally the force of the mantra acts to divert the flow of the negative thoughts, turning them into a positive, and away from the subconscious and towards the... SUPERconscious!

 

Yogi Bhajan's own term, the superconscious is where all good thoughts go to live out the rest of their long lives in comfort and tranquility. It's where the nurturing and positive capabilities of compassion, caring, understanding, heart-felt love and light grow to infinity. It is where you plant seeds that can creatively grow to become all the positive things we want to become and share in our lives. It's our source of all things pure, positive and sacred. And, it's also where we can tap into our subtle bodies and collective group consciousness. It's ultimately the realm where see all things as ONE, equal in totality, infinity, and God.

 

That's it! Simple eh?

 

Vibrate the hukam, wash the mind with the name, and become one with God. Meditation in a nutshell.

 

" Bareeai Mati Paapaa Kae Sangih, Ohu Dhopai Naavai Kae Rangih "

 

(When the mind becomes polluted with sins, wash by coloring it with the Name - Nanak, JapJi, 20th Pauri)

 

God bless with Infinity,

-Fateh Singh