Karmel Nair - Aries Tarot Forecasts 2018

TAROT FORECASTS 2018

ARIES

KARMEL NAIR

Om mani padme hum

With constant practice of mindfulness you can transform the impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech and mind of a Buddha.

Anonymous

Whats Inside

T his is my favourite section in the book because I get to write about things which are beyond predictions here. In fact, what I write in this section deals with the basis of existence. I will only discuss the importance of living in the moment, mindfulness and the adverse effects of mindlessness here. I have discussed anicca (impermanence) and apranahita (aimlessness) in previous books and will discuss another interesting concept or a theory associated with mindfulness in this book the concept of no mind.

I first learnt about no mind from the book Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. What I love about this book is the way it presents the concept of no mind. No mind means a mind without the mind! Complicated isnt it? During the read, if you dont understand something or have questions, please feel free to drop me an email at and I will be delighted to answer them or clarify your doubts.

Part I: What is No Mind?

Part II: Benefits of No Mind

Part III: Ways to Achieve No Mind

Part I

What is No Mind?

I first heard about this concept in the film The Last Samurai. In the film, this concept is referred to as the basis of creation, the basis of life of the samurais. The film discusses how being in no mind can actually help you achieve what you desire, and even help you attain salvation. Later I read up on this concept and discovered that no mind means the space in your mind where your mind doesnt exist or is empty. This is the part of the mind which does not have ego, or the emotions of anger, desire, fear, love or hate. Can you imagine a time, even for a second, when you are free from the constant chattering in your mind? I am sure you have never experienced this state. But if you do think about this concept and do the work required, you may be able to glimpse the no mind zone.

Whenever I cant sleep, I find I can hear my thoughts of fear and insecurity, pain and misery so loudly that they actually bother me. At times like this, I usually give up trying to sleep and simply give in to my chattering mind. This makes me the slave of my mind. You may be doing this too, when you are restless and unable to sleep. The mind is a formidable opponent. It is hard to defeat and will not go down without a fight.

The only way to train your mind to listen to you, to submit to you, is to create empty spaces in it; in other words, create a no mind zone. No mind is the state when thoughts dont exist, when you are open to everything, unlike in the normal state when your mind tends to latch on to thoughts and manipulates them. Lets try to understand how your mind behaves normally by looking at the example below:

Imagine you get a call from your boss and he tells you: Hey listen, I want to talk to you about something important. This may not be such great news and I hope you take it well. Let me know when you are here and we can chat up.

While you are listening to this conversation, you may start having horrific thoughts, such as: Chat up means what? Am I going to be fired? Oh God, yes I am going to be fired! No job means no money; I will default on my mortgage payment; I cant buy the car now; how will I pay my bills? My kids school fees are not going to be paid! Oh God, I am doomed, I am a loser; What do I tell my wife/husband? What do I tell my friends? I will never find a job in time, it will take me a year to find a job that pays me this much! I am dead meat, I am doomed.

These thoughts of anger, dejection and disappointment are all symptoms of a state which is just the opposite of no mind. Observe how your mind drove you to assume what your boss was planning to say to you. You simply jumped to conclusions. You have no idea what your boss is going to discuss with you, but your mind has led you to focus on the worst case scenario such as being fired! If you have had thoughts of this kind in other situations, then you know how you are enslaved to your mind and its incessant chattering.

Now if you were in the no mind zone, you are likely to have handled the comment from your boss in the following way:

While you are listening to your boss talking, you will be fully present in the moment. You will be devoid of any prejudice, anger, resentment or thought. You will simply be listening. At the end of the call you will simply smile with amusement, wondering what your boss wants to discuss. You wont dissect the information he provided, neither will you judge it as good or bad. What the discussion will be about, what will be its outcome, doesnt concern you at all. You will put the phone down and resume what you were doing maybe washing the dishes before the call.

You will resume doing the dishes mindfully, and feel the water on your fingers and the foam of the liquid soap, and focus on rinsing the dishes. You will not reflect on the call you just received. You will simply be in the no mind zone in which you are not attached to any thoughts, not disturbed by negative ideas nor are you feeling joyous because of positive thoughts. This is how you are in a state of no mind when the mind is quiet and calm, focused on the task assigned to it.

Part II

Benefits of No Mind

You will benefit greatly when you achieve no mind, even if it is for a second. Imagine a minute of no thought, no tension, no worries, no pain and no fear. Simply an empty mind! In such a state you can achieve eternal happiness. Unfortunately, the only people who seem to practise no mind are the monks. If you speak to them, you will realize how detached they are from worldly desires, which makes them calm and peaceful.

You can begin to practise no mind by taking small steps. Through this practice, you will achieve moments of bliss and learn to calmly handle the stressors in your life. No mind teaches you to approach concepts in a detached manner, without any inhibitions and illusions. You simply look at everything from the perspective of a third person and are not affected by situations, problems or difficulties. You become the watcher, the observer who sees an emotion without identifying with it.

When you begin to observe your thoughts, you begin to exert control over your mind. You begin to drive your thoughts from a negative standpoint to a positive one. You begin to control your emotions. Whether you are feeling happy or sad, you will be aware of what is happening inside you. This gives you power over your mind. The next time you are in a difficult situation, start observing the mindless chattering in your mind and simply smile at it. As you begin to observe this noise in your head in a detached manner, your negative or positive emotions will disappear.

You could be involved in a situation where someone is screaming or pointing fingers at you. If you are in a state of no mind, you will begin to look at this person as someone who is cursing your ego and trying to attach your mind. You will look at this person as someone who is wounded and needs to vent to feel better. You will begin to feel good that you could help this person because he/she could vent to you. You will begin to detach from your ego and, therefore, your mind.

Your mind will have control over you as long as your ego is involved. The moment the ego or I, me and mine disappears from your identity, your mind will no longer have power over you. You will then simply be in the present moment, where fears and inhibitions dont matter, where good and bad dont have any importance, neither does wealth. You become enlightened, and this realization that you have power over your mind becomes your greatest tool to achieve success.