Selling Mysticism

I cannot, in any easy way, tell you what mysticism is.

It might be easier to show you.

Imagine our minds were similar to computers and we could, when needed, take them to a shop and get them upgraded.

What would such upgrades entail?

The Upgrades

This might seem alien, dangerous or even horrifying. One might only recommend such endeavours to only the bravest or those with most folly.

Upgrading the mind involves eliminating unnecessary processes. These processes seem important yet they arise based on a misunderstanding. Once this misunderstanding is recognised, their illusory nature is revealed.

DELETE <personality>

We can free up mental space by recognising that our personality is neither something to be cherished nor something we might want to keep. I recognise that this might seem shocking so bear with me.

We don’t really have a personality. What we have is a tendency to react in certain ways. This tendency is nothing more than our experiences and how they condition us. If we are fortunate and have enjoyed a happy and stress-free life, we might be said to have a lovely personality. We might be fair minded and open to others opinions. However, if we suffered trauma and a difficult life we might have difficulty trusting, be ‘close-minded’ and suffer prejudice. What we and others might call a personality is really nothing more than how we are conditioned to react.

Our ‘personality’ becomes problematic when it has been conditioned to react in problematic ways. This is then made worse by blaming the personality and not the reasons that created this behaviour. It isn’t even you. Just how you tend to react.

Once we recognise that personality is our conditioning, we can see it doesn’t really exist as a separate thing. Once we turn our focus on understanding how we react, we can work with reacting differently.

Can you see how personality is just an illusion that can trap and limit our personal scope of being?

DELETE <identity>

Beyond our personality lies our identity.

Again, I suspect the idea of deleting one’s identity, for many, might sound terrifying. Yet, in truth, it is our investment in this identity, for better or worse, which creates significant problems in the day to day experience of being.

Our identity is a cluster of thoughts and beliefs we have about ourselves. Again, there is no separate identity as a discrete ‘thing’ – identity is the name we give to all the behaviours and attitudes we have regarding to a self.

As you can imagine it is complicated, and in practice one deletes the aspects of identity in a step-wise manner. Each layer that is removed, frees-up mental space and could be considered an upgrade.

DELETE <identity(physical)>

In truth what we call ‘identity’ is simply a collection of wants, likes, needs, fears and dislikes.

There is no separate thing that does the wanting, liking, needing, fearing or disliking.

There is only the behaviour that has been conditioned by our own particular experiences. We tend to repeat or seek to repeat those experiences that create pleasure, whilst avoid those, if we can, that are painful or unpleasant.

Sometimes we suffer from mental illnesses that create ongoing internal unpleasantness and seek to distract ourselves with pleasurable things, which is probably one of the mechanisms behind addiction.

What we think of as our urges or desires are, in truth, nothing more than cycles of behaviour that have become established to find pleasure and avoid pain.

These urges arise and we identify with them, thinking them to be our desires or fears and not simply the result of previous conditioning.

This is important as there is a significant difference between thinking ‘I want this…’ compared to what is closer to the truth which is ‘the thing is wanted’.

Our five senses and thinking mind are programmed to seek what we want and avoid what we don’t want. This wouldn’t be a problem if our upbringing and education were perfect. Furthermore, our poor minds are influenced by countless advertisements that harry for our attention and try to align with our desires and fears.

Our five senses and thinking mind become confused and hypnotised into wanting things that are not good for us and unnecessary (or at least exaggerated) fear. If we recognise that these are simply habits that arise within our senses and mind, and not really anybody’s desires or fears, we stand a much better chance of addressing them.

DELETE <identity(mental)>

It might be difficult to believe, particularly if this is new to you, but our experience of being is constrained by subtle ideas we hold about ourselves. These subtle ideas manifest as hopes and fears, as well as creating pervasive illnesses such as depression and dissociative disorders.

Our mental identity has three parts, with the presence of these three parts creating a certain restlessness and confusion, which we will consider in the next ‘upgrade.’

• A desire to be.
• A desire not to be.
• Conceit.

DELETE <desire(ToBe)>

I suspect the desire ‘to be’ is one of the main mechanisms for chronic dissatisfaction of life. Subtly we might hold ideas of what our life ‘should be’ and when it fails to live up to certain material or social circumstances, we either get angry and blame others or blame ourselves for this ‘failure’. Things might be perfectly acceptable and yet we cannot enjoy them due to this pervasive problem.

Our dreams that we have about ourselves are often far from realistic. If we hold many unrealistic ideas we are sure to be constantly dissatisfied with what we have. We suffer chronic mental restlessness and cannot be content.

Once we learn to eliminate any subtle desires to be a certain type of person, we are free to enjoy whatever life presents to its fullest.

DELETE <desire(ToNotBe)>

This manifests in various ways. It tends to broaden from not desiring to be in a certain situation to not wanting to exist in any capacity.

Generally one doesn’t want to be poor, or sick or in pain. However, typically as a result of unending mental distress such as in chronic illness or depression, one might crave non-existence.

Again, although the ‘desire to not exist’ isn’t really a ‘thing’, it is an expression of subtle thoughts and ideas we have about ourselves. Often those who ‘tinker’ with their mind have suffered the alienating effects of mental illness and might have a degree of attachment to not existing as anything.

This ‘desire’ manifests as a reluctance to participate and can present as a significant obstacle to recovery from severe mental illness.

DELETE <conceit>

Conceit is very interesting and perhaps the root of identity. If you can recognise the illusory nature of conceit it will really help you understand all of the previous ‘upgrades’.

Conceit arises as we evaluate our relationship to other sentient beings. Here, we weight the quality and value of the thing we call ‘ourselves’ versus the quality and value of the things we call ‘others’.

You might think that rating ourselves as more important than others is necessary for our own survival. It is. But only in a few, important situations. Otherwise, believing we are more important or valuable than others can create jealousy and even hatred when ‘others’ fail to treat us how we think we deserve to be treated.

DELETE <conceit(better-than)>

This is the most well-known form of conceit. By believing oneself to be superior to others, one suffers from conceit.

The mind carefully edits experiences and collects evidence that is heavily biased to support this belief. However, once cause and effect are examined, no substantial reason remains for such superiority.

DELETE <conceit(worse-than)>

This is a common but less recognised form of conceit. Strangely enough, it fuels narcissism.

Holding the belief that you are worthless is itself a form of conceit. Traumatised individuals tend to suffer low self-worth, sometimes creating intense compensatory behaviour. While humility may offer perspective for a time, practicing humility as a goal can alienate oneself socially.

DELETE <conceit(same-as)>

This is perhaps the most subtle form of conceit. The mind settles too comfortably on the concept “we are all the same.” This illusion of harmony stunts deeper spiritual development.

Our problem lies not in whether we compare better, worse, or equal — the issue is the need to compare at all.

Comparison always creates bias. These biases blind us and generate suffering. As we abandon the need to compare, clarity arises and correct action becomes natural.

Further Upgrades

Once we recognise that aspects of mind such as personality and identity are not real, we can eliminate them from ongoing awareness. This results in a performance upgrade as the mind ceases to be preoccupied with invented figments.

The restlessness of mind arises through confusion when we struggle with addiction, hatred, and conceit. The mind can be upgraded into super-performance modes once it ceases to habitually regard to itself. Once this habit ceases, delusions fall away and ultimately the mind recognises its true nature.

“Free your mind and the rest will follow.”
— En Vogue