Part 3 of a 3-part Series
By Charlene Muhammad
During the early childhood pre-school years, we are taught the valuable equation of cause and effect. For every action, there is a consequence: touch a hot stove, you get burned; snatch somebody’s toy, no one wants to play with you; sharing promotes friendship; and so on.
As we mature, we tend to forget this basic law of nature. We go through life doing as we please and expecting to be pleased regardless of our actions. On a larger scale, global warming is proof that the law of cause and effect is intact. On a personal level, most illnesses and disease also hold this law to be true.
The great Albert Einstein stated that the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” A habit is “doing the same thing over and over again”: a cycle that has been mathematically proven to not support our desire to change or overcome our current health imbalance.
Einstein’s life as a scientist was exemplary because he excavated mathematical studies in search of the root cause or meaning of life. If we truly desire to heal ourselves, we’ve got to be a little Einstein with self and dig real deep to uncover the root causes of our health issues.
Once we have recognized the thoughts, emotions and actions that underlie our habits, we must begin to take on the role of observer for self. This means watching yourself – watching how and what you think and how your thoughts make you feel physically.
Most of the time, we are reacting to our thoughts mindlessly. We don’t even realize that how we are feeling is a direct result of what we are thinking about. In the practice of meditation, we call this chasing the monkey-mind. Thoughts jumping around from one idea to the next and we chase thought after thought after thought. With each chase, our physical bodies respond in kind.
Consider this image: your mind is like a tornado. A tornado is a collection of wind and clouds, which create a funnel or eye that directs its path. The swirling clouds are your thoughts, chaotically wiping through space wreaking havoc along the way. Your observer is the eye of the storm. In order not to get caught up in the emotional reactions of our thoughts, we must stay in the eye of the storm.
Being the observer does not mean you don’t think or feel. Observation means being objective- neutral- about what is occurring in your mind. Acknowledging each thought and feeling for what it is- and this is critical- without judging yourself for having such thoughts and feelings. Once you can begin to observe yourself like this, you can begin to have truthful dialogues with yourself about why you think the way you do and how this makes you feel. The root cause of illness is suffering. Patterns of thoughts and feelings weigh on us like a burden. Habits are created to mask the pain that the burden brings.
Healing requires a deep reflection into your own soul. We are each created as whole, human beings shaped from the loving kindness of the universe. Reach into your heart and excavate your very nature of loving kindness and begin to live well.
