Wouldn’t it be great to be able to control your mind against unwanted thoughts and emotions, at will? Who wouldn’t want that? I know I would. Unfortunately, I’m nowhere close to being the master of my mind. And the reason is that I’ve been focusing on the wrong things. Let me explain.
I once participated in a life-purpose workshop. The guide asked us to visualize our future self, in old age, having become whomever we wanted to be. When asked, I said I saw myself as the master of my mind.
Another guy in the group said, “What? You want to be a Jedi?” I laughed.
His comment reminded me of that epic scene where Luke Skywalker tried to use the power of his mind to control the Force and lift his starfighter out of a swamp. That was awesome. Right?
It definitely was for me. That scene is deeply embedded in my childhood memory. Imagine having such mastery over your mind that you can even move objects at will.
But as cool as that scene was, mind control or mental mastery, for me, has to be more down-to-earth. More practical.
What truly inspires me are these words a teacher said to his disciple right in the middle of the battlefield, just before a war started.
He whose mind is not shaken by anxiety under afflictions nor by attachment to happiness under favorable circumstances, free from attraction, fear, and anger, neither excited by good nor disturbed by evil, is called a man of steady wisdom. —BG II.56-57
Can you imagine being able to control your mind and emotions so that you remain perfectly calm, content, and serene under all circumstances, no matter what?
That’s true self-mastery to me, and what brought me to the path of the Indian yogis.
But to be honest, after all these years of daily meditation practice and introspection, I don’t seem to be anywhere close to mastering my mind. Sometimes it even feels as if I’ve gone in the wrong direction. Lol.
It took me a long time to realize that I was approaching this completely wrong. I’d been fixated on the end result instead of focusing on what I can improve right now.
I’ve been daydreaming about mastering my mind like a real Jedi instead of taking the baby steps I could take day by day.
So, all I had to do was focus on improving only one very specific part of my mind—not everything at once. And do it on a regular basis. That’s what leads to steady progress.
Also, that mental aspect should be relatively easy to change, and any improvement should have a practical impact on my life; it should make a difference.
That’s why I’ve been working recently only on my stress and anxiety.
That’s it. Nothing else.
Why this?
Because it’s not my biggest issue, yet the anxiety I sometimes feel stops me from thinking clearly, being creative, and taking the right actions to reach my goals.
It makes me inefficient. Writing a simple post like this can take forever when I’m feeling anxious.
So managing my anxiety can have a significant positive impact on my life.
Luckily, since stress and anxiety are mainly the result of our interpretation of reality, the only thing I have to do is pay attention. That’s it.
I just pay attention to my state of being, moment to moment, and notice how I’m feeling. Is there tension? Is my breath deep or restricted? Am I feeling agitated? Am I rushing for no reason?
I then reflect on what exactly I’m anxious about and remind myself that it doesn’t serve me in any way. Instead, it makes achieving my goals harder.
I’ve been doing this for a couple of months now, and I can really feel a difference. I’m not rushing as much. I feel much calmer even when I haven’t finished an email, prepared a lesson for my Sanskrit course, or published a blog post.
And that calm allows me to be even more creative and efficient the next day.
I know, it’s a very small thing, but that’s exactly the point.
In my opinion, to become the master of our minds, we need consistent baby steps focused on improving only a small, specific area of the mind at a time. It should be relatively easy to change, and it should have a tangible impact on our lives.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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