Article: Keeping it Real

Keeping it Real
By Keith Sherwood


Like the universe, your authentic mind emerged from Universal Consciousness through the tattvas which are steps in the process of evolution. As evolution proceeded—via the tattvas—a hierarchy of physical and non-physical dimensions was created in both the physical and non-physical universe. You exist on all of these dimensions. And on all of these dimensions you have an authentic mind that has the capacity to experience and share life affirming energy with other people. Of course it can do much more than share energy.

Your authentic mind allows you to express yourself, form an authentic identity, gather knowledge and share all forms of love, including universal love with other living beings.
The ancient masters of Tantra and Yoga studied the human mind and its relationship to both the physical and non physical universe. And they learned that to be ‘real’ a person had to remain centered in their authentic mind – and that only people who were being ‘real’ could experience and share universal love with other people.

Your Authentic Mind

The authentic mind is a vast inter dimensional organism, composed of energy bodies with different functions - an energy system, (chakras, auras and meridians) - that nourishes them and that provides them with the energy they need to function healthfully. It also includes organs of perception and expression which function on both physical and non physical dimensions and a nervous system that co-evolved along with your energy field and energy system.

Awareness, memory, deductive and inductive reasoning are all functions of your authentic mind. In addition – your authentic mind has fifteen ‘functions of mind’ through which your awareness, personal power, soul urge, emotions and feelings emerge. They include, intent, will, desire, resistance, surrender, acceptance, knowing, choice, commitment, rejection, faith, enjoyment, destruction, creativity and love.

‘Get Real’

By now you’re probably wondering whether you’re centered in your authentic mind. From Yoga and Tantra we learn that there are several signs. You know you’re centered in your authentic mind and being real whenever you’re sharing pleasure, love, intimacy, and joy freely with another living person; whenever you experience a surge of vitality or creativity; whenever you feel a profound sense of well being, contentment, or satisfaction; and whenever you experience the inner truth of something through insight, intuition or katharsis. You’re also centered in your authentic mind whenever you use your functions of mind to perform appropriate activities.
From Yoga and Tantra we learn that appropriate activities enhance the flow of Shakti through your energy field and keep you centered in your authentic mind. Inauthentic activities - that are motivated by attitudes and feelings like jealousy, envy or dependence don’t.

Shakti

Your authentic mind is nourished by Shakti. Shakti is a form of non physical energy that has only universal qualities.
Some of you may already recognize that Shakti’s energy is so powerful that, when it’s unleashed during meditation, moments of katharis or even during periods of deep intimacy, problems and worries disappear and you can, at least temporarily, participate in the bliss that is continuously experienced by the living universe.
But Shakti is not the only energy that exists. There is another form of energy that competes with Shakti for your attention. That energy emerges from you individual mind and ego – and it has only individual qualities.
Whenever you worry, experience self doubt and confusion - or when you get annoyed or want to hurt another person, you are being motivated by energy with individual qualities.

The Individual Mind and Ego

That you have two minds – an authentic mind that radiates Shakti and an individual mind and ego, that radiates energy with individual qualities - shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Adepts have recognized for millenium that any attitude, thought, emotion or feeling that changes and causes contraction, or creates inner conflict and ambivilance, comes from your individual mind and ego.
All humans have come into this life with layers of energy with individual qualities in their energy field. And virtually all humans have added additional layers, into their energy field throughout the successive stages of their life.

Energy With a Flavor

Unlike fields of energy with universal qualities fields of energy with individual qualities have a flavor - or individual signature, which makes them unique. This is one reason why you’re more aware of energy with individual qualities than Shakti. You can sense the flavor of energy with individual qualities when it attaches you to people in unhealthy ways – and makes you feel anxious, or depressed - or when it restricts your access to pleasure, love, intimacy and joy.
If you become attached to your individual mind and ego and become the thinker of the thoughts that emerge from it your individual mind and ego can bagger you with destructive thoughts and attitudes – like, you’re not good enough or you’re not worthy of love.
Given enough time it’s possible for you to become overwhelmed or even obsessed by an idea, attitude, or emotion that emerges from your individual mind and ego. That idea, attitude etc. can alienate you from your body and the people with whom you share relationships.
To overcome the affects of the individual mind and ego and to help you to stay centered in your authentic mind I’ve included two exercises below.

Authentic Mind Meditation

The first exercise is called the Authentic Mind Meditation. It takes about twenty minutes a day. You can perform the exercise in the lotus position, sitting with your back straight and your legs crossed, or sitting upright in a straight-back chair.
Central to the exercise is learning to relax the major muscle groups of your physical-material body, which you will do by contracting and releasing them. This helps to quiet your mind by releasing residual stress. The technique is easy to learn and it can be used by anyone, regardless of his or her prior experience in energy work.

It’s important to note that in this exercise your intent serves the same function as a computer software program. Just as a software program instructs a computer to perform a particular task, your intent instructs your authentic mind to turn your perception inward. Your perception consists of your senses, which gather physical-material input, as well as your other, nonphysical means of knowing, such as intuition and insight. If you use your intent properly, without watching yourself, trying too hard, or mixing your intent with sentiment and self-doubt, your perception will automatically turn inward.

Once you are comfortably seated, close your eyes and breathe deeply through your nose without separation between inhalation and exhalation. Slowly count backward from five to one. As you count backward, mentally repeat and visualize each number three times to yourself. Take your time and let your mind be as creative as it likes. After you reach the number one, repeat this affirmation to yourself: “I’m now deeply relaxed, feeling better than I did before.”
Continue by counting backward from ten to one, letting yourself sink deeper on each descending number. When you reach the number one, affirm: “Every time I come to this level of mind, I’m able to use more of my mind in more creative ways.”

Next, inhale and bring your attention to your feet. Contract the muscles of your feet as much as possible. Hold your breath for five seconds. Then release your breath and allow the muscles of your feet to relax. Inhale deeply again and repeat the process with your ankles and calves. Continue in the same way with your knees, thighs, buttocks and pelvis, middle and upper abdomen, chest, shoulders, neck, arms, and hands. After you’ve tightened and relaxed all those body parts, squeeze the muscles of your face and hold for five seconds. After five seconds, release and say “ahh” as you exhale. Next, open your mouth, stick out your tongue, and stretch the muscles of your face as much as possible. Hold for five seconds. Then release the muscles of your face and say “ahh” as you exhale.

Finally, contract your entire body and squeeze the muscles of your face while you hold your breath for five seconds. Expel the breath through your nose and relax. Now affirm,
assert, “It’s my intent to center myself in my authentic mind”. Immediately your orientation will shift. From your new vantage point —you will become aware that you are free of the distractions emerging from your individual mind and ego. To enhance your experience of your authentic mind you can do two things, first you can assert, “It’s my intent to turn my perception inward on all levels of my authentic mind”. Once you do that you’ll become aware of your autnetic mind by seeing, feeling, or sensing it.

Take fifteen minutes to enjoy this experience. Then count from one to five and open your eyes. When you do so, you will feel perfectly relaxed and better than you did before. The more often you practice the exercise, the greater the benefits will be, and the easier it will be to remain centered in your authentic mind.

The No Mudra

In order for you to say no to the thoughts, attitudes, emotions and feelings that emerge from your individual mind I’ve included the No Mudra. By performing the No Mudra, after you’ve centered yourself in your authentic mind you will be able to resist, (say no to) the inauthentic thoughts, attitudes, desires, thoughts, emotions and feelings that trap you in your individual mind and ego.

To perform the mudra, use your thumbs and index fingers of both hands to form two loops that are connected to one another like two links of a chain. Then bring the tips of your middle fingers, ring fingers and pinkies together so that they resemble the sides of a triangle (see Figure 1). You can perform the mudra on it’s own for at least five minutes or while you are centered in your authentic mind.
In either case by saying no to fields of energy emerging from your individual mind and ego it will be easier for you to center yourself in your authentic mind and experience the benefits of being ‘real’.