One incredible concept I’ve applied to myself since I was young is my ability to question myself, all my beliefs and my perceptions on life or being alive. To have this ability and retain no hatred or bias is difficult if not impossible; this is especially true of religion. For example, many atheists can be offensively fatuous in regard to religion – an antithetical extremism somewhat militant in nature. Many religious people can be abrasively snobbish in the same way. I say don’t hate anyone for their beliefs or belittle them.
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Posts Tagged detachment
I explain step by step exactly how to hypnotize yourself. Self hypnosis is easy to do and is a great way to learn how to relax and stay focused. I was taught self hypnosis as a child, and it has served me well in many areas of my life.
First, let’s dispel the common myths about hypnosis:
- It is not some type of mind control, though it does open us to suggestion.
- Virtually anyone can learn.
- It is not a powerful or dangerous technique that can cause a mental breakdown.
- What you see in the movies is not real and you shouldn’t worry.
Basically, hypnosis is nothing more than a focused, but relaxed state of mind. The problem most people have with it, is they may become sleepy when they relax. Hypnosis is an alert, but detached state of relaxation. First, lets talk about the most important part: Breathing.
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I read a mind shredding amount of literary critique and writing tips oriented blogs this week. I found most of them to be uninspired and in many cases, detrimental to artistic creation. It’s so funny that I found myself seeing the same things I’ve read from any form of criticism or artistic self-help – a bunch of useless opinionated elitism. There are some good ones out there, but aren’t easy to find.
It can be a daunting task to know the difference between solid, constructive criticism and bad advice. Sometimes, a solid critique can bring you to reality, and pop your bubble – so to speak. Just because someone has a college education, does not guarantee they can or will give a beneficial critique. An education does not mean they are a great writers themselves. I love to draw parallels to martial arts. If a person is a 9th degree black belt in Karate, does it mean they can actually fight? Absolutely not. I love the guys who have the words “Karate Master” written across the back of their uniforms. A real master would never have such things written on his uniform. Be careful picking a teacher in anything, especially on the Internet.
A critic is someone with an opinion, supposedly based on their knowledge of a subject, but is really based on what that person likes, or was taught to like. The first time I heard classical music, I liked it. I didn’t have a teacher explain why classical music is good, but I knew it was; I could hear the complexity, logic and wondrous beauty. In college, I studied music, and had a teacher try to shape or change my opinion by telling me why popular music, such as rock, was insignificant noise and deserved no recognition. The same is true of many literary teachers and critics. They will try to teach you how to have a cultured, sophisticated opinion, which is on a much higher level than that of a normal person. I changed my major because of it and taught myself.
I learned that most of my teachers had an extremely limited scope of artistic expression. If you are a stuffy, sophisticated and highly educated person who believes their conception of what is good is more valid than someone who isn’t, you are really just an arrogant human being who does more harm than good. It is very possible to be highly educated and still love B-grade horror flicks with no plot or love comic books.
You cannot tell someone what to like or what is good. I appreciate nearly all literature, but it is all different – much like movies are. The worst, most boring movie I have ever seen in my entire life was “The English Patient”, which won nine academy awards in 1997, including best picture. I understand why the film is supposed to be a masterpiece, but it is still uninspired and boring to me. Please, criticize me for saying that. Of course it is only my opinion – I don’t like long, boring movies.
If a musician studies music in college, let’s say, in classical guitar performance, that person will most likely end up an incredibly limited musician in the long run. I have a friend who has a master’s degree in that very curriculum, but can only play music that is written on paper. He cannot play other forms of music such as jazz, blues, funk, reggae or rock – and especially cannot freely improvise in every style. Some musicians play by ear, some play what is written. A real musician can do both.
Though I do not have a degree in music, he takes lessons from me and has for the last two years. I know how to read music and can perform many classical and baroque pieces, but that is just one tiny part of what I do. I see writing the same way.
What If Writers Were Like Classical Musicians
This is an interesting subject to contemplate. What if a writer said, “I can rewrite any Shakespeare work from start to finish. I can also recite it aloud, with expressive and dramatic passion…from memory.”
My answer is, “So what.”
It’s like saying you can repaint “The Mona Lisa” or can play Bach’s “Bourrée in E minor” on a piano. It does require skill and practice, but it isn’t art, it is imitation. It’s much like performing a complex classical piece from start to finish. The problem is, you didn’t create it. Performing something someone else wrote is not a matter of talent, but a matter of drive, perseverance and natural physical or mental ability. To write your own music is where the art is. Many writers do similar things. Some writers love the works of Jane Austen and can write in a similar voice and structure. Some authors have based their entire careers on trying to be her, instead of finding their own voice and style. Some of them have even become famous doing just that!
The point is, no one artist, author, poet, computer programmer or blogger is any more valid than any other – it depends on what you like. I have every bit as sophisticated perception as anyone else, but I also love popular literature, music and art; as well as obscure, unusual music and so forth. I love music such as underground death metal as well as Bach or John Coltrane. Famous classical guitarist Andres Segovia said that electric guitar and rock music was painful to his ears and disgusting to hear. Compare a modern guitar master like Joe Satriani or Stevie Ray Vaughn to Andres Segovia. Who is better? They are all good. One thing is for sure, Stevie Ray Vaughn would decimate Andres in a live blues Jam!
Everything is Valid and Relevant
All art, literature and music is valid and none should be put on a pedestal and thought of as more important than another. Guitarist Joe Satriani by comparison has vastly more knowledge of music than Segovia ever did, but because he plays rock, will never be held in as high regard. It is purely genre bias.
Classical martial arts are much like other classical art forms. They are rigid, traditional, inflexible and limited. Famous martial arts pioneer Bruce Lee said it was this “classical mess” that limited all forms of artistic expression. Bruce took bits of boxing, kung fu, karate, savate, fencing, kali, escrima, his own ideas and made up his own art; thus shattering all preconceived notions, completely revolutionizing martial arts. He proved how ineffective many of these arts actually were and insulted many masters from across the world. If you write, paint, play music or whatever; I highly recommend you read Bruce Lee’s masterpiece, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do. It is one of the finest books on artistic expression ever written. This is a book written for all artists and I still read from it quite regularly. It’s amazing how beneficial Lee’s work can be to a writer. He can help you smash all limits and take yourself beyond anything you may have previously believed.
The Ego Must Be Destroyed
Criticism has more to do with ego and respect than it does in helping a person reach their goals. Don’t ever let someone’s negative criticism affect you. Rise above it and be yourself. If you take too much advice from people, it will only hinder your progress and keep you from fully realizing your dreams. My dream is to write, and no criticism will ever keep me from being successful. I do listen with an open mind, but only accept it if it is truly constructive and beneficial. I believe that morbid tales of terror are every bit as valid as anything Shakespeare ever wrote. If you compare yourself to other people, thinking “they’re better than me” or “I’m better than them”, then you have an ego problem. The ego is the greatest single hindrance to all forms of artistic expression. Just because you’re famous or successful doesn’t mean you’re good, it just means you’re famous and successful – but that’s another subject for another time.
I discussed in a recent post of mine entitled “Beyond Thought” about a rarely comprehended concept known as “detachment“. Please click on the link an read the wiki as it may help those of you unfamiliar with it. I have been fascinated with this concept for over 25 years and all the ways it defies logic.
First of all if you think you understand this concept then I can say with certainty you do not. It cannot be understood. It is not logical or governed by laws of physics. Do I understand it? You cannot understand something that doesn’t exist. Think about this: A state of mind is an intangible multi-layered personal feeling, or experience. Can a “state of mind” be understood Sure it can. We can all relate to that. We communicate to others all the time an unbelievably complex conveyance of a vibe or expression of dynamic moods, etc. Hand gestures, tone of voice, attitude and unsaid clusters of vibes are used all the time in daily life. We often take the complex nature of this sort of endlessly dynamic human flux for granted. Hidden in all of life’s normalcy is where the real discoveries of revelation dwell. Beyond all we don’t see and know is where I am madly destined. I’m not saying this like I am interested in the paranormal or mysteries from beyond. I had a friend once said, ‘I know exactly what you mean, it’s like some evil secret from beyond the grave like on The Twilight Zone.”
No, no, no. He is was so far off base that it would be impossible for him to grasp. Before you think about what I mean, please don’t. Just consider this. I’ll write a description of a state of mind to help not show you what doesn’t exist so that we can transcend a detached mind state into endless and magical depths of nothingness. Here we go:
“One afternoon I was driving on an extremely busy four lane highway during Christmas traffic while on the phone in a serious conversation with a former employer. Subconsciously I studied about twenty separate situations; some dealing with traffic, some with a song on the radio, etc, etc, hearing tiny slices of passing conversations and so on. I fully realized my absolute detachment from all and understood this is why I could study each situation in detail – simultaneously. I analyzed how I was doing this like I was a third party writing a report on this person in a kind of “overview” mode. There was my over-viewer, my under-viewer, etc. I saw a through a dozen viewpoints upon my situation. All the while psychological wisp’s of streamed consciousness echoed many revelations in thick layers each with their own complete selves. All the while, still driving and on the phone. Sometimes a passing feeling could encompass all the above as an exhalation enwrapped unto itself. A thousand deep cognitions still as I became each moment.”
Do you see how complex all these things occurring in this little story are? I’m sure a lot of you have experienced something like this. You may do it everyday. This might be why so many intelligent people blog. I think blogging is an education at all times. I don’t learn something because it’s on a test or because I am being paid to. I learn because I love to learn. This type of attitude is very conducive to acquiring a logic defying detached state of consciousness.
Ask your self this question. “Am I aware of what I think about while thinking, and why I am thinking this way?” or “Do I pay attention to and monitor my every thought?
Try as a daily mind exercise to see yourself as a narrating observer. If you catch yourself thinking in circles about some friend, situation or scenario – stop and write it down on a note pad with time periods. For one week, keep a little note log of your thoughts in high detail. If you brooded for six hours about why it should have been you who married that beautiful Thai girl on your street and not your best friend- write it down. This is the first step to mastery of your thoughts. Once you are dynamically aware of all thoughts as they happen it becomes automatic. You just “are aware” and it goes on auto pilot. Like a hardened war veteran hunting his enemy, he automatically pays super attention at all times.
Now- thoughts are much too complex to be described with words only. You have feelings, emotions and perpetually changing variables involved in thought at all times. For fun we’ll call it a dynamic cognition cluster or DCC. The state of mind story from earlier was filled with DCC. For computer heads out there it is like organic XML for your mind. Those intangibles of consciousness that must be described in a “macro” point of view. I hope you can wrap your head around all this. This may sound like psychology but it isn’t. If we can gain a detached mental state that sort of unconsciously self navigates composed of a moving carpet of macro cluster packages then the beginning of this trip can start. We’re not trying to do a million things at once or think real hard. We are simply not thinking. We are doing nothing. We are not trying to not think. We just want to become aware of all this so we can forget about it all and JUST BE.
Inside the mind of man is his own prison, a prison of designed perfection which existed long before eternity. You are your prison and trying to escape is what keeps you in.
This is just the beginning of a series of articles. I promise if you stay with me you’ll be well rewarded with something incredible. Just be patient and trust me.
Beyond Thought I
May 6
I know there are a lot of people who want to expand their minds. Maybe you are interested in discovering more about the things you can do to make yourself more powerful in a mental capacity. Is it possible to become a more prolific thinker? Is it possible to raise your IQ?
I say the answer is YES. The concepts I will be discussing have absolutely nothing to do with the amount of college you have, the degrees you have or most things most of you would think about.
First, I want to say that I recently joined My Blog Log and through it have made many new friends from India, China, Taiwan and many other countries. It is a fantastic site. Please do yourself a favor and join it as you will meet a whole new group of great people from everywhere on Earth!
In America we are taught about nature in a different way then in countries like India and most Asian cultures. In these countries they are taught from a very early age about your inherent spiritual energy. The Japanese call it “Ki”. People from India call it Prana (pra: first unit; na: energy) and the Chinese refer to it as chi. I have often wondered why Americans don’t have this concept in their (I am American) culture. This is the power of the breath. A lot of Americans may ask, “What does this have to do with the mind?”
It has everything to do with the mind. This energy in a lot of cultures is taught like the elements of air and water are are taught in the west. Concepts like intuition, witchcraft, tameshiwara (breaking boards, etc in martial arts), psychic energy and clairvoyance are all a product in one way or another of this energy.
I believe in the concept of “no limits”, or believing there is nothing I cannot do. What is amazing is that there are many westerners who demonstrate powerful “ki” energy everyday in life, work and their teachings without having any idea what it is. This is a universal energy that all life possesses no matter your color or creed.
There is a concept known as detachment we should all become aware of. There are many ways to teach this but I am really trying to teach westerners (though I am a westerner) about this.
The late, great Bruce Lee talked about detachment in his classic book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.
He said basically that when fighting you must become a doll made of wood with absolutely no thought. He said that thought was the single greatest hindrance to all physical action. I would even go farther by saying that thought is the greatest of all hindrances to all thought! If you think it is too late. This can be a heavy idea to grasp but we have all seen it in action. Take for example the incredible boxer Roy Jones Jr. He doesn’t think when he fights, he feels. It’s much more then feeling however. Imagine the geometric complexities that scream by every second of a fight not to mention thousands of other variables that occur. It’s mental, physical and spiritual.
I used this as an example for us western minds to grasp. I do wish that Bruce Lee had lived because I know he would have been electrified to see Jones in action.
I plan on writing many more posts on this subject. They are only for one purpose: To help bring this world together so that all people will love one another and kill that nasty disease known as racism!!!!!
Go read the book “The Science of Breath” by Yogi Ramacharaka to learn more.
By Bobby Revell
One afternoon I was driving on an extremely busy four lane highway during Christmas traffic while on the phone in a serious conversation with a former employer.
Subconsciously I studied about twenty separate situations; some dealing with traffic, some with a song on the radio, etc, etc, hearing tiny slices of passing conversations and so on. I fully realized my absolute detachment from all and understood this is why I could study each situation in detail–simultaneously.
I analyzed how I was doing this like I was a third party writing a report on this person in a kind of “overview” mode. There was my overviewer, my underviewer, etc. I saw a through a dozen viewpoints upon my situation. All the while psychological whisps of streamed consciousness echoed many revelations in thick layers each with their own complete selves – all the while, still driving and on the phone.
Sometimes a passing feeling could encompass all the above as an exhalation enwrapped unto itself. A thousand deep cognitions still as I became each moment. I have never been more alive and I will remain until I pass.
