Minding your mind so you won't mind your mind anymore
Play the Game With Minutes
Author and life coach Martha Beck, in one of her recent podcasts, talked about a recurring dream she has where she's walking through her house and keeps noticing a door in her hallway that she doesn't ever recall going through. She keeps passing the door until one day, she decides to see what's behind it.
When she opens the door, she says she finds a huge, beautiful room that contains a cathedral. She's mystified about why this room is in her house and why she's never seen it before. She interprets the dream this way: Everybody has this room within them. This is the cathedral of the higher Divine Self that lives within each of us – but we're too busy playing the ego's game of "seek but do not find" that we walk by the door of our own awakening all the time.
To put it another way, she tells an old Sufi story of a wise man who comes across a beggar sitting on a box by the road. The beggar asks the wise man for alms, and the wise man tells him, "I am poor, like you, so I have nothing to give you. But, may I ask, what's in the box?"
The beggar stars blankly at him and says, "I don't know. I've never thought to open it."
"Get up and open it," the wise man says, and when the beggar does so he finds the box is filled with gold, silver and other treasures. He's been sitting on his vast wealth the entire time.
Beck says these two stories reveal the secret to minding our mind so we won't mind our mind anymore, because it gives us the key to escaping the ego's treadmill of seeking, finding, getting and still being dissatisfied, so we start the whole endless loop over and over again, without ever getting satisfaction. To get off the ego's hamster wheel that keeps our mind preoccupied with our feelings of separation and limitation, we need to pay attention to the mundane things in our lives that we think don't help us at all – the spaces between what the ego deems to be the important tasks of our daily lives.
We're built to recognize what comes to us through our senses, Beck says. But the part of our being that is that vast cathedral within us "is already enlightened," she reminds us.
"Whatever we see as the objects in our lives keep us from noticing what doesn't look like anything to us, which is the empty spaces between things," she says. "The empty space between your thoughts or the empty space between falling deeply asleep and waking up. We see the spaces as empty but in fact they may not be. Your enlightenment is showing up in all these little inconspicuous places. In the place of non-thought there's been part of you that has consistently been present that is not afraid of anything and does not identify as you. It identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe. You don't notice it because it doesn't feel like your ego. It feels like life. It feels like no-thing."
This is the "no-thing" chapter 11 in the Tao Te Ching points to. It's the hub of the wheel that makes it useful. It's the inside of the jar that is useful, windows and doors make the inside of a room useful. "Therefore, profit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there," it concludes.
To begin to mind your mind so you won't mind your mind anymore, is a matter of focusing on the inside – that cathedral within, that treasure in the box you've been sitting on your entire life. The ego likes to convince us that the world outside of ourselves is where the real action occurs. It keeps us so busy, in fact, that we constantly overlook the boring, but obvious, places inside where our enlightenment can be found.
Our enlightenment, Beck says, shows up in those areas of our lives she calls "non-thought." That space between our ego moments when our mind is captured by life's anxieties and challenges, she says, is the part of ourselves that "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe." It feels unfamiliar simply because this space between is not our ego. It is the cathedral within – the treasure inside the box where we sit begging for the world's limited resources and our own limitations.
That wise man that invites us to get off our box of enlightenment and go out of our ego mind is the voice of God that is speaking to us in every moment, but we're not in our right mind, so we can't hear it. This is the voice that beckons us to stop passing by the door of our inner cathedral on our way to the hovel that the ego insists we must live in.
There is a part of our mind, though, according to A Course in Miracles, that is constantly attuned to that Holy voice. It is that "no-thing" that Beck talks about that only "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe." It is constantly tuned to K-GOD, or WGOD, as we would call it on this side of the Mississippi. It's constantly jamming to the Holy tunes of enlightenment. It's our choice which part of our mind we listen to – the calm, smooth jazz of the voice of the Holy, or the wild, loud and disorienting punk rock of the ego mind that A Course says "is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind."
Everybody play the game
How do we tune out the part of our mind that A Course says "is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain"? There are many tools, of course, including meditation, using a mantra, studying and applying tools from A Course or other teachings, yoga, contemplation, journaling, or chanting.
One tool I have recently discovered, however, could be a good starting place for all of us. It's called "The Game with Minutes" and was developed by an evangelical Christian author name Frank Laubach. Now, don't dismiss the game because of its origin, because I think this is an effective tool no matter your spiritual bent or background.
Admittedly, the instructions I found online are a bit archaic and downright misogynist, since it has sections about how men can call to mind the voice of God while at work and how women in the home can cultivate God's presence while "cooking, washing dishes, sweeping, sewing and caring for children." Sometimes we discount very good practices because they come with loaded words and ideas such as these, but when stripped to its basics, this game is a great way to find the space between our daily outward activities where we can enter that "no-thing" mind that "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe."
The game is simple. First you create a scorecard for yourself that simply reads: "During this hour, I thought of God at least once each minute for ___ different minutes." Again, modify this game as needed. If "God" isn't a word that resonates, use "the Holy," "the Universe," "the force," "Holy Spirit," or whatever you may call the all that isness that exists within each of us.
So, if you called to mind the Holy at least once for 20 minutes during the past hour, mark that down. Keep a record of it. However, Laubach warns us to not use a score card more than an hour, "and not that long if it tires you. This is a new delight you are learning," he writes, "and it must not be turned into a task."
This is important, because this is where the ego tries to worm its way into your spiritual practices. If it can make you think this is one more task on your to do list every day, then it can pervert the process and show you that this, too, is simply another one of those woo-woo things that ultimately don't work. The ego is sneaky and will always seek to turn even the best spiritual practices into its "seek but do not find" game.
How do we keep the ego from again taking over our mind? A Course gives us this advice in Workbook Lesson 49:
"Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. Go past all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your eternal link with God. Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. You do not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God."
If this Game with Minutes ever becomes arduous, tedious or does not bring you peace, you can be sure the ego is trying to hijack it and use it for its own means to keep you in the part of your mind that is distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain. This game should be fun and easy. It offers a way to notice the doorway to your cathedral within. It offers an invitation to get off of our box of enlightenment and discover that everything you need is already within you. It offers a way to make the mundane a doorway to that part of you that only "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe."
To play this game effectively, Laubach says, requires five things from us. First, we must put in the effort and concentration needed to remember the Holy's presence in each moment. Next, we will need perseverance to keep playing the game. Third, we must surrender every part of our lives to the game. The ego will want to keep some parts of your life for itself – to keep you anxious and uncertain, so be aware of those favorite fears that you're not allowing to tune in to the Holy's voice. Next, he invites us to tell others about the game and get them to join in. Finally, he says the key to playing this game well is to not do it alone. You need a supportive community where you can share your success and challenges.
Like all games, though, we need to know when we're winning, right? The point of this game is to come into our right mind – that place within us that only "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe." If we keep playing this game, Laubach says, "grudges, jealousies, hatred, and prejudices melt away. Little hells turn into little heavens. Love rises like a kindly sea and at last drowns all the demons of malice and selfishness. Then we see that the only hope for this insane world is to persuade people to 'practice the presence of God.'"
Laubach may not like it, but he's pretty much speaking A Course in Miracles right there. A Course would tell you, in fact, that this game works because when we're focusing our mind on the Holy, we can't focus on our grudges, jealousies, hatred, and prejudices. Take the focus away from them long enough and the more unreal they will become as we train ourselves to see the Holy everywhere and within everyone. As we play this game, the concerns of the ego begin to drop away and are replaced by "love, consciousness, space, the universe."
How would it change the way you lived, if you were constantly on the hunt for thoughts of the Holy in every hour of the day? Instead of allowing your ego mind to run the show, playing its discordant songs of fear, anxiety, sadness and never-satisfying desires 24/7, what if you tuned your mind to WGOD, and allowed the calm, smooth jazz of the Holy to sing you back home again – to that place of calm and peace that only "identifies as love, consciousness, space, the universe."
It's available right now – that cathedral within is beckoning you. That box of enlightenment is right underneath your butt, waiting to be opened, enjoyed and shared. I invite you to get off your enlightenment and go out of your ego mind and into your right mind. If you mind your mind in this way, you'll never mind your mind again.
Your turn: What box of enlightenment or secret cathedral have you discovered in your own inner life? What are your moments of awakening?
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About this event
Sometimes we all feel lost on our spiritual journey - stuck in old ways of thinking, believing and acting. The AWAKEN model can help you heal those old patterns and get you moving again on your spiritual path. Rev. Candace Chellew, Motley Mystic and spiritual director at Jubilee! Circle, has developed a six-step process that helps you identify the patterns that are holding you in your limitations and a method to heal and release them.
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Take 20 with Candace
This week’s Take 20 is from Jubilee! Circle's August 21, 2022, celebration: “Minding your mind so you won’t mind your mind anymore”
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Want to learn more about A Course in Miracles?
NEW DAY AND TIME! Jubilee! Circle hosts an informal discussion group about A Course in Miracles every Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If you’re in the Columbia, SC area, you can join us in-person at 6729 Two Notch Road, Ste. 70 in Columbia. If you’re anywhere else in the world, join us by Zoom using the link below. Whether you’re new to ACIM, or have been studying it for years, this is a low-pressure, friendly environment to learn more and grow together! Join us:
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86088245457?pwd=bWd6QzhscGlUYnFnYUU1dy9uTUVMZz09
About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true, Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.
http://www.giuliotortello.it/ebook/cathedral.pdf
The story I mentioned.