Looking into the Mind
If you take a minute to look into your mind, you’ll be surprised at the amount of activity. It can seem quite noisy when you really notice what’s going on.
There are thoughts, images, sequences of images (like movies, but more real because you can smell, taste, and feel everything), emotions, drives, attitudes, and impulses. We are so used to this bedlam that we don’t notice it until we bring ourselves to look at it.
The Doorways to the Mind
This activity is set in motion and controlled by what I call the “Doorways to the Mind”. These doorways are of three types:
• Our five senses: Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Whatever we sense through these portals makes its way into our minds
• Our activities: The things we do throughout the day also leave their impressions on the mind. Sometimes these impressions bypass the conscious mind and are stored in the sub-conscious part of the mind, the part of which we are not normally aware.
• Our memories: The sensations that come in through the other two doorways are stored as impressions in our subconscious minds and often come to life as memories in our conscious minds
How the Mind Works
The things we see, hear, smell, taste, touch or do, give rise to sensations in the mind. These sensations may cause a thought, an emotion, an impulse. They may call up memories from the subconscious.
Ordinarily, our minds are left to their own devices. Random mental events happen all the time. The awareness flits from object to mental object. This is what we called the Monkey Mind. There are many mental objects, and the impressions created are fleeting, soon sinking into the subconscious mind.
These impressions are stored in the subconscious as memories. They are called up into the conscious awareness at need or when something awakens them. This is an important thing to remember. We will refer to it later.
