Do Not Underestimate the Power of a Peaceful Mind
My crazy needs to get bigger than my sane, or more accurately put, I need to get better at distinguishing between my crazy and my sane thoughts. My self-doubt can look so rational and logical. I am getting better at ignoring the noisy thoughts of self-doubt so I can more fully embrace the calling of my heart. The voice that asks, “Are you delusional? Have you lost your mind?” That is the voice I need to ignore so I can hear my inner wisdom.
I do have grandiose ideas. Some might, even I might at times, say they are delusional. I am, however, learning to pay less attention to the internal chatter and to follow the good feeling of my heart. I am listening more to my intuitive knowing and letting that guide my intellect rather than trying to do it the other way around. My intention is to be of service to awakening humanity. My message is that you and I are God. We are ultimately formless potential — the vibration of love. Wake up to that and see what happens.
There are so many challenges facing the world. The overarching solution to these problems is awakening in consciousness. As Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems from the same thinking we used when we created them.” What the world needs is people who are able to receive information beyond the limitations of their conditioned thinking.
When we are caught up in our day-to-day worry and rumination, we are circulating familiar well-worn thoughts through our consciousness, but when we allow ourselves to relax, our thinking naturally settles. In these relaxed moments, our thinking slows down, and there is room for new, fresh, thought to enter our awareness. It is in these circumstances that the solution to our problem often appears out of the blue. What looked impossible moments ago suddenly is now possible.
Action is needed, but action based on peace, action stemming from a peaceful mind.
Following in the footsteps of Gandhi, “There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.”
My encouragement to myself, and to you, is to be open to seeing where there are even greater possibilities to stop fighting and to experience more peace. I intend to see where I can put down the sword of my judgment, so I may serve more fully. I don’t have to hate hunger and poverty to love people. I don’t have to hate GMOs and deforestation to love biodiversity. I don’t have to hate war and terrorism to love peace. I don’t have to hate disease to love health. When I act from a place of love, I see the possibilities. When I act from a place of anger and upset, I create suffering. My inner disturbance and upset adds more suffering to the planet not less. I can start with myself first. I can experience the peace within me and act from that place.
Mother Teresa said, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” Do not underestimate your power. Do not underestimate your ability to positively impact another’s life and change the world, but do start with yourself. Feel the formless divine presence inside of you and let that be your guide. Allow the calling of your heart to express through you. Let your actions ride on the energy of loving kindness whether they be inwardly toward yourself or externally toward another. There is no difference inner or outer. We are all one. We are all made of the same energy and stardust.
What small thing, or things, will you do today with great love? I am starting with sending my love to you. I don’t need to know your name or see your face to send love your way. I hope it is felt.
Christine Heath & Judy Sedgeman – Spirituality and Resilience
When you no longer give authority to the fear-based thoughts in your consciousness, all you are left with is happiness. Through the teachings of Sydney Banks, you can see how your psychological functioning works, which makes you less compelled to follow those thoughts that do not serve you. Becoming more aware of the wholeness and integration of both your human and spiritual natures helps to ground you in the unchanging essence of who you are, and ride out the ups and downs of your emotional experience more gracefully. Accepting the normalcy of your humanness will naturally reduce your anxiety and fear and enhance your joy and happiness in each moment. By placing less pressure on yourself to feel a certain way or be hung up on self-improvement, you may find that low moods do not derail or debilitate you; instead, you will become much more attuned to your innate wellbeing and peace of mind and experience more happiness as a result.
Greater psychological freedom is the gift that keeps on giving. How grateful would you feel if you no longer had to listen to your negative, self-punishing and painful inner narrative, day in and day out? Understanding the role of thought and recognizing how it creates your feelings of insecurity and self-doubt is truly liberating! You will be better able to hear and heed your inner wisdom and become less driven by the noisy thoughts of fear and constriction. As an ongoing practice, this allows you to more fully experience your resilience and reach a greater sense of clarity about how you want to move forward in your life. As a result, you can live in a way that feels authentic and true in every area, including your career, family, home, creative expression, play, relationships and overall well-being.
Your ability to enjoy life comes from being present in the moment rather than caught up in habitual, negative thoughts that take you out of the Now. Sydney Banks’ wisdom supports you in becoming aware of how you get seduced by your limited personal thinking and thus, create a painful reality of misunderstanding, fear and restriction. When you recognize how and why this happens, you can step free of the pattern. This understanding assists you to dismiss unhelpful thoughts and not take them seriously. Unlike traditional self-help or therapy, experiencing more psychological freedom and enjoyment does not rely on techniques. There are no magic bullets on the path of well-being. All you need to do is follow an internal compass that points to the truth of who you really are—beyond transient thoughts to your unchanging, formless essence.
In our culture, success is often associated with hard work and narrowly defined as material gain. However, authentic success, as shared by Sydney Banks, includes such intangibles as happiness, well-being, love, joy, compassion, and peace of mind that are innate in each one of us, along with outward goals and achievements. It honors the whole person in all walks of life, whether you are a professional, leader, executive, solopreneur, employee, mother, teacher or student. From this knowing and experience, you can access the infinite wellspring of love that is your essence, then share your gifts with the world from a place of fulfillment and meaning, through a profound understanding of the interaction between your psychological and spiritual natures. While conventional success can deplete you, authentic success only fills you up.
Are you self-critical, hard on yourself, and constantly trying to “fix” whatever you think is wrong with you? Perhaps you have tried all kinds of different personal growth techniques and spiritual practices in the hope of solving all your problems. This cycle can be exhausting and never-ending, because there will always be something to improve about yourself, from that mindset. Sydney Banks’ teachings can help you to see how your humanness is normal and not something that needs fixing: as a spiritual person, you don’t need to change or eradicate your humanness! Seeing yourself as normal allows you to love and accept yourself exactly as you are—warts and all. Adopting this perspective naturally brings out the best in you and helps to find peace with your personality. Self-love and self-acceptance is your natural state, and any disconnection from your true nature is only temporary. What a relief!
One of the first areas people often experience profound transformation from the teachings of Sydney Banks is in their relationships, both personal and professional. While it often seems like another person’s irritation, anger, indifference, insensitivity, rudeness, etc., directly affects your experience, in reality your disturbance is a product of your own individual thinking. By making someone else responsible for how you feel, that person automatically becomes the cause of your suffering. Once you understand that you always have a place of well-being inside, independent of another’s behavior, it is easier to maintain equanimity through their changing moods and behaviors. Romantically, you may experience deeper love and intimacy with your partner, but the teachings benefit all relationships. This awareness supports more authentic connection and expression, while facilitating greater understanding, improved communication, reduced reactivity, more acceptance of self and others, and improved ability to work out differences and find common ground. Best of all, just one person shifting in a relationship is enough to transform it.
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