Navigating Truth & Fear in the Mind’s Landscape
I find it interesting that in Italian, the same word that designates “mind” also designates “lie”… Someone brought it to my attention recently: “la mente mente” (literally “the mind lies”).
And so it does sometimes…
Do we believe most, if not all, of what we think?
Most of us probably do. We create whole realities in our heads (some of them honestly not that great)… We assume, presume, infer, fill in the gaps… And often act on fabrications.
The most useful gift of a dedicated yoga practice is the ability to get out of the quagmire our minds sometimes create, to gain perspective on things.
One of my favourite parts of the Yoga Sutras (400 B.C.), one of the main texts yogis study, is Sutra 1.7, where we are encouraged to check what we believe to be “facts” and “truths”. Patanjali, the author, speaks of “right knowledge”, a concept that is simple, powerful, yet challenging to apply.
“The sources of right knowledge are direct perception, inference, and authoritative testimony.”
We’ll discuss the first of the three, “direct perception”.
“Direct perception” asks us to double-check what we base our reality on. It nudges us to, first and foremost, look at our own direct experience, at the information we actually have about a situation or a person, before forming an idea.
Think of the last time you met a person that a friend had had an unpleasant experience with: your first impression of that person was probably filtered by what your friend told you beforehand; perhaps you even acted based on that filter, instead of truly responding to who you had in front.
The example just given can result in a harmless misperception… But the inconvenient truth is: we make life choices – even important ones – based on someone else’s account of an experience or a person. Or even worse, based on someone else’s fear of an experience or person. And this is where applying the teachings of this sutra can be a game-changer: when it comes to fear.
Fear can be extremely contagious and can wreak havoc in our lives, ensuring we live a much smaller, less rewarding life than we would otherwise.
From my mother, I inherited the fear of lakes and the fear of driving. The first has impacted my ability to enjoy a good swim in a lake. Alas, I can do without that. But had I given in to my inherited fear of driving, my life would have been very different.
Ask yourself: what do you fear?
What fears are based on your actual experience?
And most importantly, what fears that do not belong to you have made their way into your mind and impacted your choices? Think of what you would do, who you would be without those fears.
Of course, we cannot base our decisions solely on direct experience, but I truly believe that the scale is tipped off in an unhealthy way towards basing our choices on other people’s experiences and fears.
Remember…”la mente, mente”.
And not just yours, the other ones too!
Examine your thoughts and beliefs & make sure they are truly yours.
Main – Photo by Belinda Fewings on Unsplash
