by Presence
Someone cannot think straight when they become angry, happy beyond belief, or even worried out of their minds, because thought precedes feelings.
Realizing that thought causes feelings must be overlooked by the person who becomes overwhelmed at any given time.
Clarity of mind, and the peace of body, which are together known as the mind-body connection, are only possible in the absence of thought.
It is from the state of clarity that all progresses are made from out of suffering states of body and mind. Progress is only possible in that clarity; there is no longer the tendency of thought to jump around… and a person consciously enters this state.
A visitor said:
“I suffer from worries without end;
there is no peace for me, though there is nothing wanting for me to be happy.”
The Sage asked:
“Do these worries affect you in sleep?”
The visitor admitted that they did not.
The Sage asked him again:
“Are you the very same man now, or are you different from him that slept without any worry?”
“Yes, I am the same person.”
The Sage then said:
“Then surely those worries do not belong to you. It is your own fault if you assume that they are yours.”
- From the Maha-Yoga or the Upanishadic Lore in the Light of the Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana
People who become angry, worried out of their minds, or lottery winners, eventually retain their resolve… usually. And in the absence of that flood of feeling, in the clarity that arises (detachment), one can observe the situation directly.
…Until thought runs away with the body again. Perhaps even as one thinks about wanting this very clarity back, until one realizes that thought causes suffering.
For the majority of people this is not a problem, until one becomes angry, happy beyond belief, or worried out of their minds. The inability to enter this clarity at will is the mark of the lost.
The Sage then said:
“Then surely those worries do not belong to you. It is your own fault if you assume that they are yours.”
the Sage is very right….they are of someone else’s projecting that onto you…but did you pass that same worry on to them first? then becoming a tennis match, you are continuously asking, “did they think this first, or did I?”
thoughts become things and things become thoughts….very goovy concept…THINK POSITIVE and positive things will happen, (of course along with a little action thrown in )
Should that worried man, lucky to be in the presence of a sage, realize that some, or even all of his worries came from others, he might also realize that it would naturally follow that he also gave some worries to other people. A tennis match needs two, but in realizing that he realizes “his” mind is no different from the countless worried minds he had influenced, and that influenced him. Realizing that alone is very original. Thank you.
It was an amazing insight to me when I read, “Worry is not a preventative action.” I really had always thought I was actively “doing” something to change or prevent or alter reality when I worried. Instead, I was missing the present moment, so locked in fear of the future. And I just couldn’t see anything clearly. Oh, the rippled waters of the unquiet mind.
You know I still fall into that trap, having been worried about this or that for not even very long, I conditioned myself into not only worrying, but at times being too worried to do something – you know, take actual action! Thought just keeps skipping that pebble across the surface, until it reaches the end of my throw and it effortlessly drops beneath the surface, revealing how miraculous this present moment truly is.