Spirituality Guide

The mind has been interpreted many ways over the thousands of years, a testament to the mystery that is the mind. Where does it truly start? Where does it truly end? Does it ever end? What makes you you?

I have had the mind and how other people explained to me in many ways, but with the previous posts about mind mapping, a new metaphor comes to my mind.

Think of your mind as a blank brick wall when you are born. There is nothing there but brick and everything holding the bricks together. The wall is blank.

When you are young is when people can leave the biggest imprints on your wall. They have an easier time leaving graffiti – their own messages and beliefs from their own walls. People have an easier time making scratches and gouges in the bricks. They can even destroy parts of the wall and build them back up in ways they see fit.

As you grow older, it tends to be (but isn’t always the case) a little harder for people to do those things – especially tearing down parts of the wall. It still happens and your wall can still be completely destroyed, but (hopefully) you have a few defenses to help you.

Of course, depending on your beliefs, you could get into the influences of previous lives what that could do to your wall, but as I haven’t touched on the subject of reincarnation, how about we leave that alone for today?

What does this all mean for you as a person? In terms of the metaphor, it means that people can change. Beliefs can change. But it can take a lot of time and a lot of hard work, especially when it comes to the painful gouges and slanderous graffiti people have left behind.

But it can be done.

Wouldn’t you rather work to create your own wall instead of letting other people dictate what it looks like?

Now that you have your mind map (or web) and may have discovered some associations that surprise you, what do you do with that now?

As always, that is completely your choice. You can choose to move on and make more mind maps. Sometimes it can be fun and interesting to simply continue exploring through various topics.

You can choose to put it away. It may have not been such a fun exercise for you and you don’t want to deal with it any longer.

Another alternative is to use it to change your life. If your subject was ‘love’ and you have a lot of problems with love but aren’t sure why, this mind map could be the beginning of you facing what issues you have with the subject.

For instance, say you underlined ‘love’ in connection to ‘money’. You may have never realized that you associated love with money, but there it was on paper.

You could choose to ignore it, put it away, forget about it. That’s completely your right. However, you can also choose to pursue it. Why do you associate love with money? Was it because one of your parents was with the other purely for money reasons? Do you think your mate might only be with you because you make a lot of money?

These are the sorts of questions you can begin to ask yourself once you have done mind mapping.

Mind mapping is by no means a miracle cure, solution, or answer. However, it can be used as the first step in finding your base beliefs and opening up. Mind mapping could even be your first step in changing your life, for you can’t change your base beliefs unless you know what they are.

Whatever you decide to do, be well. You have my best wishes to you on your journey.

Now that you have your blank paper and pen, it’s time to pick your topic of exploration.

It’s completely your choice as to what you choose to explore. However, I do recommend that you choose something you don’t have passionately strong feelings about on first go. Again, it’s completely up to you, but I believe in gentle probing as one of the better ways into exploring your own mind.

For this part, I’ll choose a topic to use as an example to lead you through the process. If you have never done a mind map before, think of a large web which you use to connect the words you associate with each other. In the middle of the web will be the word/concept/belief you have chosen to explore.

For this example, let’s go with ‘money’.

The first string of associations you might make are alternative words for ‘money’. So your first line of the ‘web’ might look like:

Money – Cash – Dollars – Change

At this point, I would like to remind you that nothing is ‘wrong’ on this map. Anything goes.

Then you might start with money equals comfort. Comfort equals luxury. So on and so forth. You could come up with anything. Don’t censor yourself. Let your subconscious make the associations.

After connecting money to comfort, money to abundance, to a good job, to the lottery…after connecting it to many things, you might find yourself connecting it to something that surprises you. Money equals sex, perhaps, or money equals power.

Any time you start to write something or write something and it surprises you and/or makes you pause, underline it, circle it, or star it. Those pauses mean you’re starting to tap into the underlying beliefs that are ingrained in your subconscious. Those are the things you are going to want to focus on.

You have your mind map. Now what? That will come in part three…

It’s easy enough for me to sit here and advise you that a good first step on your spiritual journey is to identify your prejudices and determine why you have them. By me saying only that, you are left to wonder exactly how you are supposed to do that.

First, we’ll get rid of the word prejudice. Prejudice is an ugly word that often brings negative things to mind. This should not be an exercise in berating yourself but rather identifying ingrained beliefs. That’s what we’re exploring – unquestioning beliefs.

We’re often raised with certain beliefs. Everything from artificial sugar causing cancer to all other religions besides the family religion being ‘wrong’. Sex, money, gender roles – these are all things we learn about not only by observing but by what we are told growing up. This exercise is about mapping out what connections you make to these things.

You might find something that surprises you.

I have been doing a lot of mind mapping lately for this very purpose – to get to the root of what I believe, what associations I make, and why I am the way I am. I am on a quest to find my true self.

You’ll need a blank piece of paper and a pen for this. Unlined paper is better as it encourages you to be free flowing in exploring your thoughts. Then you are going to have to pick one subject you’re curious about.

Do you find yourself looking at disgust with men and wonder why? Write ‘men’ in the middle of the page. Do you have an obsession with money and wonder why? Write ‘money’ in the middle of the page. Perfection? Love? Sex?

You can do this as many times as you want for any subjects. That is the beauty of it – it’s not limited to one subject, one sitting, or one anything.

Now that you are ready to go, stop back soon for part two of mind mapping.

I have been thinking lately about my negative experiences in the past in regards to religion/spirituality as well as the negative experiences of others. With those thoughts came not so much the need but the want to restate what I said when I began writing for this site.

I want to promise you a few things:

*I will never ask you for money, gifts, or anything of that sort.

*I will never claim to be your guru, your yogi, your priestess, leader, prophet, star child, spiritual beacon of light or goddess. Because I’m not.

*I will never say this or that religion/belief system is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. I will agree or disagree from time to time, but I am no here to dictate.

*That being said, I will not hesitate to point out alternative possibilities or holes in logic when it comes to any religion or belief system. I’m not here to be politically correct. A hole in logic is a hole in logic whether you’re talking about a minor cult or major world religion.

*However, I will do my best to be equal and fair without letting my personal prejudices dictate my words.

All I am here to do is explore. Learn. Prod. Point. Whether you see God or Devil, blasphemy or epiphany in what I point at…well, that’s up to you.

Please, don’t take my word for anything I present here. Explore things further on your own. Find your own truths. You are your own responsibility – not mine nor anyone else’s.

Feel free to use this site as your first step, but please don’t make it your only step.