“When you aren’t distracted by your own negative thinking, when you don’t allow yourself to get lost in moments that are gone or yet to come, you are left with this moment.”
The soul is the only true source of spiritual nourishment. There are many ways to connect with and rekindle your relationship with your soul, but the most effective way is rid yourself of the obstacles that come between you and your purity of thought.
When our channel to the soul is open, we live in a more harmonious reality. Such a state involves no effort and nothing we have to do. We simply go about our everyday business of living, our actions stemming from compassion, love, and wisdom.
This soul thinking is always present when we aren’t engaged in other types of thinking. Often our negative thinking gets in the way, and we are pulled from this pure state of thought. It’s almost as if a second type of thought is available to us. I call it “analytical thinking.” Obviously, we need our analytical thinking in order to live an effective life. However, this capacity for analytical thinking can be both a blessing and a curse, especially when we get caught up in negative and fearful thoughts. We are very apt to take these thoughts too seriously and stray from our inner serenity. When our thoughts are in such an impure state, a sort of darkness descends upon us, closing us off to messages from the soul. In this darkness, we forget that the only way to experience happiness, contentment, and joy is to be connected to our own inner wisdom. At times, we lose our positive feelings about life – so, naturally, we turn to analytical thinking to find out what’s wrong. But, like a hamster on a wheel, our minds go faster and faster without getting anywhere. We don’t see that it is our negativethinking that took us away from our purity of thought in the first place, and we soon find out that the more we think negatively, the worse things get.
Let me give you an example of how our thoughts can trick us, pulling us away from our true state of consciousness. Suppose Martin had a hard day and he’s tired. He’s on the bus, going home from work. Fifteen minutes from now, he’ll be with his wife for a quiet evening at home. As he is riding home, a few stray negative thoughts start drifting through his mind. “I hope my wife remembered to pick up my dry cleaning. Last week she forgot. I hope she doesn’t forget this week. She forgets to do her share of the work a lot of the time. It’s really not fair.” And on and on his thoughts go, until Martin has just about guaranteed himself a miserable night.
In fact, such thinking is the only thing getting in the way of a lovely time. Our soul or consciousness thrives on quiet, gratitude, and inner peace. Martin didn’t realize the was in an ideal position to engage in all three. He was all alone on a dark, quiet bus, on his way to be with the person he loves more than anyone else in life. He could’ve been basking in gratitude, enjoying the moment and the quiet ride home. If he were thinking at all, it could have been about how lucky he was to be on his way to a quiet evening alone at home with his wife. This nourishing mind-set would have resulted in a rich, positive feeling.
If Martin had recognized what was happening, he could have dropped the negative thinking and brought himself back to a state of gratitude. He would have found himself reconnected to a truer state of consciousness. Sound simple? It is – but it’s not always that easy!
What we are talking about is learning to live in the present moment, in the now. When you aren’t distracted by your own negative thinking, when you don’t allow yourself to get lost in moments that are gone or yet to come, you are left with this moment. This moment – now – truly is the only moment you have. It is beautiful and special. Life is simple a series of such moments to be experienced one right after another. If you attend to the moment you are in and stay connected to your soul and remain happy, you will find that your heart is filled with positive feelings.Many of us adopt practices that keep us spiritually nourished. I myself am nourished when I spend time in solitude. I enjoy being alone, in the quietness of my mind. Many others throughout the world use the practice of meditation to attain such a marvellous and unending source of wisdom, which comes from the inner self. Such a state fills one up with strength, harmony, and peace.
Does this mean we never need to use our more analytical mode of thought? Of course not. It merely suggests that we stay aware that our soul is always with us, waiting to nourish us, and that the connection to our inner peace is never more than a moment away. Once a person realizes that the brain sends conditioned and habitual messages that needn’t be taken too seriously, he or she is free to go back to soul thinking.
One nice by-product of understanding the distinction between our natural, effortless soul thinking and our habitual analytical thinking is that a feeling of forgiveness will follow. We can stop analysing our past, our childhood, anything and everything bad that has ever happened to us, and realise that now is really the only moment that exists. As we dismiss our thoughts about who did what to us in the past, we free ourselves from the slavery of our negative history.
If we can forgive everyone, regardless of what he or she may have done, we nourish the soul and allow our whole being to feel good. To hold a grudge against anyone is like carrying the devil on your shoulders. It is our willingness to forgive and forget that casts away such a burden and brings light into out hearts, freeing us from many ill feelings against our fellow human beings.
You can begin the process of nourishing the soul by living in the present moment, in the now. And if your mind wanders, don’t take these thoughts too seriously. Just let them go, realize they are nothing more than feeling thoughts, and you will soon be on your way to finding the peace of mind you seek, with loving feelings for yourself and others bringing joy and contentment to your life.
(Originally published in “Handbook of the Soul”, by Richard Carlson & Benjamin Shield)