“All the things that truly matter—beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace—arise from beyond the mind.”–Eckhart Tolle
Hello loves! I just yesterday flew to Ajijic, Mexico for another glorious month in the Sierra Madres. I’m here to write, to hike and to enjoy this stunning climate.
While here, I’m playing around with my new spiritual hobby — self-inquiry. Calling it a hobby is a huge disservice, because I’m in this for keeps, to wake myself up, to become more aware of well, awareness. As Jed McKenna says, “All of life is either appearances or awareness and one of them isn’t true.”
Like most humanoids, I’ve been conditioned to rely on my mind when seeking information and/or guidance. But honestly, I’m losing interest in what my thoughts are telling me.
I find them to be laughably limited, sometimes dark and well, I’m discovering it’s quite possible to have a productive, meaningful life without taking them seriously. Thoughts, as far as I can tell, are mostly good for building walls of resistance, judgment and fear.
Thoughts, of course, don’t go away (or at least mine never have), but as I quit believing everything they yammer on about, I find myself more open to life as life is.
I’ll keep you posted as I spend this month like Madeline (the plucky heroine in the Paris house, covered with vines) saying “pooh-pooh” to any and all “thoughts” in the zoo.
Or even better, I’ll channel the big Poobah–Winnie himself who once wisely asked, “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”
Keep having fun, my friends! #222 Forever!
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World).
20 Responses
This is awesome Pam💖 I especially love the book quotes guiding you on your journey!
Why thank you, my friend!
As always, what I needed to hear WHEN I needed to hear it! 💓
Thank you for the reminder Pam.
Thankyou Pam for this excellent reminder! I so often forget that my thoughts aren’t necessarily true, helpful, right, wise or useful. I forget to question my thoughts, especially the ones that don’t bring me peace, joy or love. But those are the very thoughts I NEED to question. This post is perfect for me today Pam because I woke up feeling less than enthusiastic about my day and I allowed my thoughts to remind me of why I felt that way, and so I kept feeling worse and worse! Silly me! Now I feel fabulous and ready to flick away any more of those thoughts that bring me down. Yeeehaaaaah!! I don’t have to believe everything I think? Amen! What a relief!! 😁💃🎈Have a fabulous time in the Sierra Madres Pam. I look forward to hearing more of your happy wisdom in the weeks ahead. 🥳🦋💛
Here’s to not believing everything we think. I’m beginning to find out that my thoughts have a mind of their own! Pun intended!
Thank you to Pam & everyone else who recommended Living Untethered by Michael Singer, in the last blog & comments. It’s fabulous!
222 Forever!!!
Your posts seem to show up in my inbox exactly when i need them! Thank you for being such a sharing soul. Enjoy Mexico!
Thanks, Pam. Enjoy your time in Mexico. Yes, as Neville Goddard stated in the title of one of his wonderful books, “Consciousness is The Only Reality.”
Have a GREAT time, Pam! 2 of my favorite things to do are to hike, write ✍️, and read what YOU write! I’m looking forward to all the updates from your Mexico adventure. And I agree! Thinking is overrated! And come to think of it….this thought means nothing! 🤣🤣🤣
Yes… 😊 good stuff Pam.
Have an absolutely fabulous time, Pam! Wishing you the very best in your self-inquiry. Much love to you!
Absolutely! The heart and gut have neural transmitters in their cells too, yet so often we prioritise information from the brain. As Dr Sue Morter says, our mind is just a tool we have, it’s not who we are. A good exercise Dr Hanscom recommends to reduce unhelpful thoughts, is expressive writing. Different to journaling, doesn’t involve analysing your thoughts or trying to change them etc which can be counter-productive (the more you try to suppress a thought the louder and more repetitive it’s going to get. And trying to’think positively’ just produces the ‘ironic effect’ as in order to think about what you want your mind had to first consider what it isn’t. Like when you tell students not to think about a pink elephant, they immediately picture a pink elephant.. need to first think about what it is you’re not suppose to think about 😄) Our brain has many limitations, getting back into the body is so important. Expressive writing is just writing your thoughts, without consideration to what you are writing, no analysing, no attempting to change, just writing and then tear the page up, throw out or burn it.. the last step is important in physically reinforcing that thoughts don’t matter, they come and go. What you’re writing aren’t ‘issues’, to be analysed and resolved there just thoughts.. no need to ‘work on them’, just let them go..mere energy by remaining focused on them actually preventing movement of that energy and causing them to remain stuck. Can’t resolve a thought problem with more thoughts.. drop back into your body. We are energetic beings, our minds (and thoughts) are not who we are.
❤
Sounds like you’re on your way! Have a great time in Mexico! Thought of you recently when in the middle of a healing session, when things got really interesting, my practitioner noted the time: 2:22. 😉 Big time soul reconnection/healing. ❤️
LJ Thank you so much for the idea. I am going to try expressive righting. I tend to have an obsessive thinking mind and I really connected with Pam’s words as well as yours
S
I always laugh at my thoughts too – I think this Post is more useful than any hour of therapy 🤩🦋
So true. Thoughts are something the body produces. Therefore they are always about survival, and always about the past or the future. ‘Did I handle this correctly, how can I handle this better next time’. In the now lies the answer. The now you can only feel and experience. There are no thoughts in the now.
Thank you once again, Pam for “reading my mind” You always seem to know exactly what I need to be aware of. Looking forward to your messages throughout this month.
mmmmm, delicious! Are you familiar with the framework of being the witnesser / observer only of your thoughts? Granted, it’s a concept / thought at first (it’s been said before that one must first use the mind in order to ‘destroy’ transcend / see through it ) but rather than having to try and stop the mega freight train running thoughts, one can detach and or disidentify from thoughts entirely by being a completely impartial bystander or witnesser of them…just merely observing without latching or clinging on to them for dear life like we’ve trained to do for what seems like forever now lol. I’ve found doing this, helps tremendously for allowing / being in the flow of what you beautifully call “The Divine Hum” or what the ancient spiritual teachings of Vedanta call ” Satchitananda” which means simply existence consciousness bliss : )) love you dearest, enjoy and hugs to Madeline and Winnie! xo
I love this one Pam , you always come through for me ! 222 forever <3