Karl R. Wolfe

The Mind is a Tool

The mind is a powerful tool. Like any tool, you can set aside, it is not the only tool. A phenomena of our culture is that most are addicted to negative thinking. They get a "perverse" pleasure from this. Negative thinking is like doing drugs. We become addicted to adrenaline, our own body chemistry. If you can’t stop thinking you are addicted to suffering. I invite you to just stop!

Each story that we repeat to ourselves, over and over, creates an inner terror. "I don’t know what to do, I am stuck, I am stupid, I am unlovable, I have a problem." Obsessing over stories, like these, dumps massive amounts of adrenaline into the blood stream. The ensuing flight or fight response is like pushing the accelerator to the floorboards with all the strength you can muster, while stepping on the brake at the same time. This generates massive inner stress.

You yell out for help. Please someone make me stop. That adds fuel to the fire and ups the anti, adding more guilt to the process, which in turn generates more adrenaline. Anyone attempting a rescue is manipulated and drawn into the game. They become a victim of the victim, and help sustain the rush.

The answer is not outside. The answer is not in the mind. The answer to all the questions are inside, in the expansive inner silence of "authentic-self." Set the constant noise of the mind aside and there is direct access to a different mind, a timeless wisdom, a functional intelligence, a mind that lives in "inner silence".

You have choice. You choose what you think. No one makes you choose the meaning you give to events, not even your past experiences or parents or your genetic makeup. No one has that kind of power over you. It is up to you to focus your attention on your inner nature rather than the noise generated by your thoughts. Clear the intellectual noise, get amnesia about all the stories, and you will be fine!

The present moment comes alive with beauty, sensation, and the awareness of the loving intelligence that we inhabit. The stopped mind is pure "consciousness." In this silence is your true nature, happiness, peace, joy and wisdom. It is your choice to ignore the truth of who you are and instead suffer. The mind is not you. The thoughts are not you. The stories are not you. Desire is not you. Nothing outside self can make you happy. You already are happiness. You were born happy, it is innate.

Allow yourself to observe the denial and all of the grasping actions of the mind, the longing for approval, accomplishment, validation, the need to win at all cost. Beyond this mind-noise is a place of truth, of inner silence. This place of silence is the seat of all true action. With choice comes accountability and responsibility. In silence you are no longer a victim of your mind, or thoughts, or your circumstances. You have all the power—true power. You are no longer a victim of your past or anything outside self. You experience your true power and true nature. From that present moment, you consciously direct your future.