In the last part we discovered a clear path forward to freedom from ego domination: shifting our attention from chronic mind chatter to our Now senses. We noted that the “muscle” of the mind is very strong, while our attention
In the last part we discovered a clear path forward to freedom from ego domination: shifting our attention from chronic mind chatter to our Now senses. We noted that the “muscle” of the mind is very strong, while our attention is weak from lack of use. Here are some practices to strengthen our Now attention.
Guidelines:
— If you do the ordinary, you get the ordinary: no change. Therefore, summon the extraordinary. Anything out of the ordinary strengthens attention. The Zen term for creative risk is “not doing” (zu jan)… ie. not doing the ordinary. Your imagination is the limit.
— Plant seeds outside the garden of the known. Take intentional forays into the unknown/unexpected/extraordinary. Example: a child has never seen a piano. Let them touch the keys that make sound. This seed in the child’s imagination could sprout.
— The “risk” is to overcome the threshold of resistance to doing something unknown (beginner’s mind).
— Every moment is a choice point: either conditioned ego-mind “choice” or true choice: Now (see Graph).
— Creative risks are in the Here/Now, therefore they strengthen the muscle of attention and deflate the habitual ego: A client comes to the therapists office complaining in chatty terms about his wife’s other affairs. He sits on his volcano of frustration/anger. Creative risk? Get in touch with — and express– the pent up (repressed) anger. Note the threshold, the trademark of a worthy creative risk. Another client comes in ranting about his good-for-nothing wife. Creative risk? Say 10 nice, truthful things about his wife. Both examples cut through the ordinary and plant outside the known/habitual/ego.
— Creative risks are adventuresome and generate energy/aliveness for that reason.
Attention exercises/creative risks:
*Sit for an hour by a mountain stream and intensely watch flowing water, reflections, bottom of stream etc. note sounds and your own inner flow as well.
*Take a dip in the stream for 10 min.
*Dress in clothes that are not your style.
*Walk long distances and watch your mind chatter and the scenery.
*If in a stuck emotion, drop the story that perpetuates it, enter the physical feeling; explore the most painful place (“the way out is within” Oscar Wilde).
*Say something pleasant to someone you dislike.
*Turn off all entertainment, news, e-mails for a day/week.
*Sing and note what comes out without judgment (overcome the threshold). *Complement a younger person daily.
Practice creative risks for half an hour daily+: they become easier, more fun as your muscle of attention develops. You wake up your personal sovereignty.
To discover a superego reaction, challenge it: after a day of fasting, prepare a gourmet meal… and eat it under the table… Watch the resistance/temper tantrum your condition superego throws. Or, take your meal, put it in the compost and go to bed hungry. Again, your “should-shouldn’t” superego will scream!
Your superego must learn that you are the boss, or it will keep running the show: YOUR show! These exercises require a stable personality, adaptability and a sense of humor. Every successful creative risk empowers your essential self and weakens the ego program. The challenge is to overcome the threshold of resistance to the non-ordinary. DO it, don’t just read about it.
• Arius Hopman lives in Hanapepe. This column was adapted from his manuscript ‘The Ego Empire Exposed.’
