Karmel Nair - Tarot Predictions 2019

Tarot
Predictions

2019

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

Contents

In this section, I will discuss the importance of living in the moment, mindfulness and the adverse effects of mindlessness. I have discussed anicca (impermanence) and apranahita (aimlessness) in previous books, and will discuss another interesting theory associated with mindfulness here the concept of no mind.

WHAT IS NO MIND?

The concept of no mind is described thus in the film The Last Samurai: It is the basis of creation, the basis of life of the samurais. The film discusses how being in no mind can help you achieve what you desire and can even help in attaining salvation. Later, I read up on this concept and discovered that no mind means the space in your mind where your mind doesnt exist, where your mind is empty. This is the part of the mind which does not have ego or 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, insecurity, pain and misery so loudly that they bother me. At times like this, I usually give up on trying to sleep and give in to my chattering mind, which makes me a slave to it. 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 and 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. Its not great news and I hope you take it well. Let me know when you are here and we can chat.

While you are listening to this conversation, you may start having horrific thoughts such as: Chat 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 am no good, I am just a pathetic living creature. 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 useless. I dont like this man who just fired me, he needs to be out of this place and not me. I am dead meat, I am doomed.

These thoughts of anger, dejection and disappointment are all symptoms of a state which is the opposite of no mind. Observe how your mind drove you to assume what your boss was planning to say to you. You jumped to conclusions and became stressed and worried without a legitimate reason. 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. 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:

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

You will resume doing the dishes mindfully, feel the water on your fingers and the foam of the liquid soap, and focus on rinsing them. You will do this task with your full attention, without any other thought. Neither will you 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, disturbed by negative ideas or joyous because of positive thoughts. You are focused only on doing the dishes. This is how your mind will appear when you are in a state of no mind; when the mind is quiet, calm and focused on the task assigned to it.

BENEFITS OF THE STATE OF NO MIND

You will benefit greatly when you reach the state of no mind, even if it is for a second. Imagine a minute of no thought, no tension, no worries, no pain and no fear. 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. They practise no mind all day long. If you speak to them, you will realize how detached they are from worldly desires, which makes them calm and peaceful.

You can begin practising no mind by taking small steps. Through this practice, you will achieve moments of bliss and learn to calmly handle the stress 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 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 negative standpoints to positive ones. 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 chatter in your mind and simply smile at it. As you begin to observe the 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 attack 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 or 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 and I, me and myself disappear from your identity, your mind will no longer have power over you. You will then achieve a state of no mind and you will simply be in the present moment, where fears and inhibitions dont matter, good and bad dont have any importance, and neither does wealth. You become enlightened, and the realization that you have power over your mind becomes your greatest tool to achieve success.

If you start watching your thoughts and not identifying with them, you will achieve the following benefits:

• You will have control over both anger and ego.
• Love, hatred, pain, misery and other emotions will have no impact on you.