Crouching Mind, Hidden Shadows

There comes a time in your meditation practice where something seems to awaken inside of you. This powerful experience can literally change the way you see the world.

Some people suddenly become more perceptive, more intuitive and better at business.

Others release emotions they’ve held for decades.

And there are those who have stranger experiences still.

It can happen in an instant. It can build up over weeks or months. Either way, it rips apart your old thinking the way a baby chick rips apart its shell.

Suddenly, there’s a whole new world to explore.

The only thing left is for you to figure out how to navigate it. It’s lucky that you’ve trained in the best techniques to do that.

Here’s what not to do:

In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the main character -Mu Bai – runs away from his monastery. He was deep in meditation when he reached a state of pure emptiness. This void was not the bliss of nirvana but just a crushing, hollow sensation.

It scared him, so he ran.

Now, I get it. I’ve glimpsed a sensation like this from a distance. It’s never consumed me like it did him, but I understand the urge to run away.

But the part that confuses me is that he did run away. Not that he had the urge but that he acted on it.

He found something dark within his mind and he fled from it.

Me? I would have endured it. Mu Bai, being an actual monk, would know more of meditation than I do. Even so, I know enough to know how to breathe through emotions. To accept them, no matter how challenging. To persist without thought, analysis or judgement.

Am I really claiming to be wiser and braver than a fictional warrior monk? That seems unlikely but the results are what they are.

I doubt I’m stronger but maybe I have more faith in my unconscious mind.

It’s common for meditators to experience strong – almost overwhelming – negativity. Whether it’s a void like Mu Bai’s, or anger, sadness or grief, it happens.

Something that your unconscious has held on to, and hidden from you, steps out from the shadows and into the light.

Why?

Why would your unconscious mind wait until you meditate to release it?

The answer’s simple:

Because it knows you’re ready to face it.

Your unconscious mind shields you from a lot. That’s one of its duties in your mind. It doesn’t like to suppress anything, because then it lingers, but it’s better than releasing it when you’re not ready.

If you experience it, then you’re ready.

Be brave enough to accept the challenge.

You can choose to run from it, to suppress it again, to let it rampage through your consciousness. That teaches your unconscious not to trust you with important matters.

If you stay present with it, knowing with conviction that you can handle this, then the trust placed in you pays off. You resolve something that’s been lurking in the shadows for a long time. Once it goes, you can live a life that’s beyond anything this limitation could keep you from.

Work through this as you have worked through everything else in your meditation practice. Seek help if you need it. But know that your mind never gives you a challenging emotion that you can’t handle.

I have a few advantages over Mu Bai. Not many (let’s be honest) but a few. One of them is having mastered self-hypnosis beyond my wildest expectations. Knowing how to wield therapeutic thought patterns against your challenges is incredibly useful.

You can handle anything meditation throws at you. If you want to really strengthen your mind, then you know what your next step is:

https://guided-thought.com/downloads/unlock-vault-self-hypnosis/