Your Story: The Focus of Your Attention

Your Story: The Focus of Your Attention
Once you understand how your mind works, you must question
the truth of what it has been telling you. This allows you
to shift from a closed state of mind to openness. First, we
will describe how your mind creates your story, and then we
will give you a simple method to shift your view of the
story it has created. Notice we did not say you created the
story. Your mind did, and as you will see, you are not your
mind.

The illusory sense that your mind is you is what is often
referred to as the ego. Albert Einstein once commented that
the ego is "an optical illusion of consciousness." The
Toltecs of Mayan culture called it the Parasitic Mind. In
Zen Buddhism it is referred to as Monkey Mind. You might
have also heard it called your Gremlin. Call it what you
will, this parasite mind creates the interpretations that
you use to create your reality. Your external world is a
reflection of this illusion.

If you've ever felt as though you've been possessed by an
outside entity, it's because in effect, you have.
Unfortunately, most people have completely lost the
awareness that the voice in their head isn't them; they are
in a form of denial. Of course, that denial is also the
parasite mind speaking. The very survival of the parasitic
mind is dependent on your belief that the story it is
creating is true. When you live in this state, you are what
some refer to as spiritually unconscious.

So how exactly did the parasitic mind take control of your
consciousness to create its story? Your parasite mind
focuses on three types of objects: mental, emotional, and
physical. These objects are separate from your
consciousness, but the parasite mind wants you to believe
they are one and the same.

Here's a simple illustration of how the parasitic mind
works. Imagine you are driving on a long, straight highway.
You notice a house that you admire and you begin to think
of all the things you could do in that house, your children
playing in the backyard, the way holiday lights would be
seen by people driving by, what you would plant in the
garden. Your consciousness is drawn in to the story the
parasitic mind is creating. As you think of all the
possibilities, your emotions and mental reactions draw your
consciousness in further. Your awareness is now in an inner
movie theater watching your thoughts create a major motion
picture, a story that begins to expand in your thoughts.
You are no longer sitting in your car; you are focused on
the inner show that's playing, which is completely
unrelated to your driving. All of a sudden, you look up and
realize that you've passed your exit. Now you have to drive
to the next exit, turn around, and head back to your
destination, quite likely annoyed with yourself for
daydreaming.

What occurred is that your conscious awareness was
attracted to a distant thought, focused on it, and lost
itself in the thought. This thought process is going on
within you all of the time. It is the source of the
parasite mind's story creation. Throughout your life the
parasite mind takes imprints from your experiences and
creates a blueprint, which becomes what you operate from.
For most of your life, this thought blueprint stays the
same, because these thoughts are familiar and safe. They
are what you know at the parasite mind's level.

The emotions that arise from your thoughts are also
recognizable, with fear and love and other types of
feelings appearing based on your personal experiences. In
this case, the annoyance arose from self-judgment for
missing your exit. If you had a past experience of being
punished for daydreaming, the resulting emotions might
cause an even stronger reaction.

When something happens to trigger an emotion, your reaction
to the event will be fairly predictable. Eventually, the
thoughts and feelings will dissipate. Meanwhile, the
parasite mind continues to create stories based on the
mental, emotional, and physical inputs that triggered the
painful emotions. As a result, you lose contact with where
your thoughts actually originated. Although they were
caused by an external source, they are now controlling you
and the way you live your life.

As time goes by, the parasitic mind observes and records
more and more objects, drawing your consciousness deeper
and deeper in to that inner surround-sound theater. Your
parasitic mind has gained control because you've lost
perspective: the cause of your thoughts is not you. But
your true self is always at the center, looking out at the
feelings, thoughts, and physical objects the parasitic mind
is focused on. You are not orbiting around those objects;
they are moving around you. However, the parasitic mind has
tricked you into believing that the reverse is true. As a
result, you are now living an unconscious life with the
parasitic mind directing the show.

When you lose your consciousness to the parasitic mind, the
natural tendency is to close down because the emotions that
accompany the parasitic mind's thoughts are real, and often
uncomfortable. When you make a choice to stay safe instead
of recognizing that your thoughts are the cause of your
discomfort, you become what you are observing and
experiencing. The parasitic mind and its external focus is
driving you instead of your consciousness and inner
awareness being the source of your actions.

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Marilyn Schwader uses a unique blend of technology,
e-commerce, communication, and spirituality to help her
writing coaching clients create and market their work. To
find more of her tips, resources, and a schedule of her
webinars, teleclasses, and retreats, visit
http://www.clarityofvision.com