We have grown up with the idea that “I think, therefore I am.” But somehow we have got ourselves rather confused. “I am” should come first. I am a spirit soul somehow entrapped in this physical world. Only for this lifetime I am this one’s father or this one’s wife. But considering that we have spent many years returning to this planet, who is really my father or my mother? If we were to meet them all on another plane, we would have a long string of relatives for each incarnation. That is going to take some explaining! Of course due to in-completion of karmic debts, we often keep reincarnating with the same group, trying to find out exactly what we are not meant to do this time round.

So because “I am” I am also very fortunate to be in a human body whereby I can think, express myself, search for truth if I am really serious about ending this madness of life on this planet and search for a higher meaning. At last there is a chance of that free spirit showing signs of awakening. But all around us are check systems to stop the awakening if we show any sign that we don’t want to change.

“The more you identify with your mind, the more you can become susceptible to mind intrusion…. The mind is constantly engaged in accepting and rejecting stimuli in its environment.”

Sometimes, as we grow spiritually, we become disturbed by people and places around us. We seem to become hypersensitive to many of things resulting in allergies and illness.

“When you enter an environment that is different from your normal sleeping environment, remember that every single dwelling has the energy of the people that frequent it. Some people, especially those who are spiritually oriented, find it difficult to rest soundly in hotels and motels. They are disturbed by the impure energy permeating those environments, even if the place has not been used for many months…..

The converse is also true: by sleeping in a spiritually surcharged atmosphere, dreams that offer spiritual realization and assistance can be obtained.”

When you move past accepting everything that the newspapers, television and so-called knowledgeable people say, you start to realise that you have lived someone else’s life and not your own. Start questioning yourself why you have certain behaviour patterns or why you never dare to think contrary to what you have been taught. If you like what you are doing and really believe it – great. But do you need to follow superstitiously some things you have never proved to yourself. For me circumstances soon resolved the old myth that you will always get a cold if you go to bed with wet hair.

Anyone who has ever watched the old television series “Monk” will get an idea of how a grown man still avoids cracks in the sidewalk because walking on cracks “broke your mother’s back”. In many of the episodes he is almost forced by “fate” to handle the exact pattern that needed breaking.

But these stories seem to be almost unbelievable until you start to look at yourself. Do you still throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. What about being driven mad by your mind when you can’t get to the phone in time or even continually following the same way to work every day because the mind can do it automatically!

"A powerful technique is to treat your mind as another person who is speaking to you. When your mind starts telling you things that are unhealthy or untrue, when your mind starts giving you grief, when your mind starts causing fear, when your mind starts arousing anxiety, don’t accept these thoughts. You can better reject them if you have already realized that there is a distinction between the mind and you. Always remember that because you are separate from the mind, you can evaluate what the mind is dictating to you. "

If the mind is considered just as another attribute of the physical body then we can be more alert to not let everything the mind presents us to influence us so much. The intelligence is higher than the mind and is more ethical and morally orientated. We, the soul, which is above intelligence, the mind and the body, should use the intelligence to process the information that the mind brings to us.

“…. (W)hen the mind comes to you, check it out, evaluate it, and qualify it. Don’t just accept whatever it brings to you, because the mind has been conditioned to keep you in a state of illusion.

Interestingly, the mind can also hold us back to change and will present all safe alternatives. When we start to use the mind properly and not just to react to the mind’s promptings, then we are taking steps as the soul, to utilise the power of the mind in an effective way, being of use to us rather than allowing the mind to take control.

“The focus of psychic defense is not to impart warfare, but to teach you certain protective strategies to enable you to remain the free spirit that you are. The key is self-realization. This means you must work on yourself. Any teacher can stimulate you, but there must be an underlying desire and commitment on your part to raise your consciousness.”

So take back your mind!