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The mind-made prison_ radical self help and personal transformation PDF

136 Pages·2012·1.1 MB·English
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The Mind-Made Prison http://www.mateo-t.com Copyright Copyright © 2011-2013 by Mateo Tabatabaiy Cover and internal design © Mateo Tabatabaiy All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from it's publisher, Mateo Tabatabaiy. All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. We are not associated with any product or vendor in this book. Table Of Contents Contents The Mind-Made Prison Copyright Table Of Contents Chapter 1-The Mind-Made Prison The Ultimate Consequence of the Mind-Made Prison Chapter 2-This is Who you Are What are Beliefs Meta-Belief=Belief The Model How are beliefs created? Beliefs always start with a single thought/interpretation of the world Chapter 3-What are you focusing on? Principles of Reinforcement Playing with Meaning Typical objections the mind will make The Rules of the Game Exploration of your rules Your Power as A Meaning Maker Chapter 4-Becoming Aware of your Limiting Beliefs The Methods What makes the Awareness Method so Powerful? Full Acceptance of Whatever Comes Up The Awareness Method Practical Terms Self-Enquiry Some pointers to doing Self-Enquiry The Belief Changer A summary of the methods: Chapter 5-Habits that Ruin Lives Blame Responsibility The Magic Pill/Law of Attraction Responsibility for Yourself VS Others Self Esteem VS Self Confidence Comparisons Not learning from the lessons you get….. Chapter 6-Time to Question Things The Life Quiz Self-Image Money Attractiveness Success Love Trust Anger Gratitude Failure Honesty Sex Happiness Friendship Spirituality Guilt Self-improvement Inner Peace Responsibility Time Career Health Relationships Fear Food People Chapter 7-Going Your Own Way Who were you born to be? The 3-Step Process to Reconnecting with Your Inner Knowing Common obstacles when it comes to starting the activity you have chosen Chapter 8-Where do you go from here? References About The Author Chapter 1-The Mind-Made Prison Once you start awakening from the mind-made prison, you will inevitably start wondering whether you have become insane or whether you have just started seeing how crazy your interpretations of the world have always been. It is a deeply surreal thing to start realizing that you have been living in a huge illusion and it is very fascinating how quickly you forget about the sleeping person you used to be. I was 6 years old when I first realized that something just wasn't right. I couldn't yet put words on what it was that I felt; I just had this inner knowing that I never wanted to live life like everyone else did when I grew up. Life for grown-ups seemed so serious and, unlike most other children, I was in no hurry to grow up and become an adult. As I became older, I slowly forgot about the insight I had felt when I was 6 years old. I jumped right into the mind-made prison just like most other people tend to do.I started believing that my worth as a human being was based on my achievements, that people had to like me and that life was unfair. Of course, I didn't realize that I actually believed these things until much later. I was so caught in the mind-made prison that I no longer understood I was a prisoner. It took some rather dramatic events for me to wake up to my true nature again and remember the vow I had taken when I was just 6 years old. I once again remembered that a life of captivity and suffering was not an option for me in this lifetime. As I am writing this book I am sitting on a balcony on the second story and watching the Mediterranean Sea. Right now it has a beautiful turquoise color to it and as the sun casts its reflection on the still water, I take a deep breath and look at the palm trees between the sea and me. My feet are resting on the edge of the balcony and, for a moment, I become aware of how relaxing it is to just let them surrender to gravity while the heat of the sun gently caresses them. There is a young shepherd dog sleeping in the grass beneath the balcony and, as I look to my left side, I notice a cat suddenly waking up, alerted by the sound of hammering in the distance. I take another deep breath and thank divine source for where I currently am. I not only thank him for where I am physically, I also thank him for the perspective from which I am viewing this moment. Today I realize that the question lies not in whether or not we are caught in the mind-made prison. The real question to ask is, ''To what degree am I a prisoner of my mind?'' We are all living an illusion and mistaking it to be real. This illusion is the cause of all our suffering in life. It is not the cause of some of our suffering or the majority of our suffering; it is the sole cause of all the accumulated suffering we have experienced since our first memory and up until this present moment. I know you think you have free will and that you are a conscious being acting exactly the way you want to act. I understand that you think you are logical and only go for the things you really want. I know this and still I am here to tell you that what you perceive as free will is nothing but an illusion designed to cover up that you are in constant reaction to whatever happens. What you perceive as conscious choice is nothing but an automated response. As you are reading this you are even reacting to it in a certain way without being aware of why you are doing so. You might be feeling frustrated, curious, shocked or, perhaps, you put aside this book because you don't like it. Your suffering doesn't come from having an opinion; the suffering comes from not realizing that everything you experience is nothing more than an interpretation you have made. One of the signs of being a prisoner of the mind is constantly having to label things and determine whether they are true or not. We have all these 'true' stories about who we are, what we can achieve, how our life is, how the world is and how people treat us. We have all these stories and yet we have no idea that we are prisoners of our minds. We are constantly mistaking our subjective interpretations of the world as truth and it is causing us immense suffering. We are so sure about who we are that we get offended when someone questions it. We are so sure about our beliefs that we defend them and have arguments over them. We are so sure of the correct way to live life that we look down on others who live differently. We like the people who support our beliefs and dislike the ones who don't. If someone doesn't like how we look, we will resent them. We seek and defend the truth because we think such a thing really exists! We argue, cry, get depressed, fight and kill for the truth! You want to know why we don't have peace here on earth? Because of people who "know" the truth and want to shove their reality down the throats of others. It is time to put down your weapon and shield because what you are trying to defend is not really the truth. No concept, theory or word can ever contain the whole truth. Everything is, and always will be, relative. "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.'' Marcus Aurelius I understand that you might feel you know the truth and that I am just the idiot claiming to know better. But, what if you just let go of your knowing for a short while? What if you could forget everything you know to be true about yourself and started exploring parts of you that you had never explored before? You can't explore what you already know and most people think they know everything about themselves. Since you are reading this book, there must be something you want to improve in your life. The only way you can find what you are looking for is to stop knowing so much.  When was the last time your mind wasn't controlling you?  When was the last time you just listened to someone instead of thinking about what you were going to reply or whether or not they were right?  When was the last time you did what you truly wanted to, without letting what others thoughts of you affect you? I want you to come back to these 3 questions after reading this book and answer them again. When you realize that everything is nothing but a perspective, you become free for the first time in your life. It gives you peace and it removes the burden of having to act according to who you "are". It removes the burden of having to constantly defend what you believe in and you no longer have to get defensive when someone doesn't agree with your perspective. I know your perspective on life seems so real, but it is simply made up by your imagination. Soon you will see that there is no good or bad, only an interpretation of what is. You will realize that your whole experience is based solely on your interpretation of external events that are completely neutral. You will understand that you have nothing figured out and that all the things you thought you knew are nothing but imaginary constructs of the mind. You have so much talent and potential inside you that is not coming through because your mind has imprisoned you. You have an incredible opportunity here and it is up to you to let go of your existing truths in order to seize it. Empty your cup and become free or continue what you have always been doing and see where it takes you. The Ultimate Consequence of the Mind-Made Prison You are lying on your deathbed and you know that you are going to leave this wonderful place soon. You have had many experiences in life, but what keeps popping up in your mind are all the things you didn't do. Somehow, your failures and times of being ridiculed really don't matter that much anymore and you think more about your true successes, your deep moments of love, your passions and your times of letting go and flowing with life. You smell the lavender incense by your bed and take a trip down memory lane to the first love of your life. You remember this person in great detail and this memory turns into a big smile on your face. Suddenly, a nagging feeling interrupts this beautiful moment. At first it is a feeling of not being comfortable, but it quickly starts building and turns into a deeply rooted pain. You feel the pain in your chest and stomach, but it is like no physical or emotional pain you have ever felt. You wonder to yourself whether this is what physical death feels like, a thought that you quickly dismiss because you know you are still alive. You suddenly see shadows standing around your deathbed. These shadows don't look evil and it just seems like they have a message for you. This calms you down a bit and you become curious about what they have to say. However their expressions slowly start changing and you start feeling uneasy again when you see their condemning eyes. You start panicking and your whole life flashes before your eyes in what seems to be just a couple of seconds. They are still not saying anything and the energy of the room starts getting gloomy and you feel an icy feeling in your bones. This feels nothing like what you had imagined your last moments on earth would be like. You are now so caught up in the meaning of these shadows that you forget that most of your family is still with you in the room. All you can focus on are these shadows and you see that they look jaded and disappointed. You start getting mad at them for ruining your last moments on earth and you yell, ''What do you want??? Leave me alone!!'' After a long pause, one of the shadows finally speaks up and asks you ''Why? Why did you just squander us away when we were always ready to serve you?''The shadows start crying and you can see that they are absolutely heartbroken. Their tears are so heartfelt that even you get affected. You ask them who they are. Everything gets completely quiet for what seems to be an eternity and they finally reply, ''We are your talents, abilities and unlimited potential. We were always here for you, but now we are going to leave earth forever and we never got a chance to make a difference; not because you or we couldn't, but because you never allowed yourself to embrace your true light''. The saddest tear you have ever felt in your life starts running down your cheek and your eyes start closing. Your last thought before leaving earth is, ''If only I could have another chance''. My dear friend, you have been asleep. Most of Humanity has been asleep, but we are waking up. One by one we are waking up and we are shaking life into everyone who is still a prisoner of their mind. I invite you to wake up and join the rest of us in the experience of heaven on earth. When you are no longer a captive of your mind, you can be, do or have anything. It is time to wake up and realize this. Chapter 2-This is Who you Are Who are we? We are creators of our own experience. We are expert creators who are constantly shaping, molding and creating meaning. One of the great tragedies in life is that most people never truly get to realize the sheer power and potential of this innate ability. It is not wrong to create meanings and representations of things; in fact, it is our very nature to do so. You are going to interpret the world whether you like it or not. You are never truly seeing ''reality'' exactly as it is, even at times when you are absolutely sure of something. If there was any one skill in life that could give you infinite happiness, wealth, connection and self- esteem, it is your ability to create meaning. Whenever I write meaning, thought, interpretation, representation, rules or belief in this book, I am always referring to the same thing; don't get confused by the terminology. Life is an internal experience, mistaken for an external one. You never truly see what is going on in the external world, all you are seeing is the meaning and interpretation you choose to give an external event. There is no such thing as a negative or positive external event. Whether something is negative or positive depends solely on the meaning you are creating and how you choose to represent an external experience in your mind. Growing up in a Western culture it is weird for us how someone could ever eat dog meat and we think that people who eat dogs are evil or twisted in some way. We don't have to look any further than the early 20th century however to find that dog meat was sold in butcher shops and consumed during times of food shortages in the United States. In Germany, dog meat was eaten all the way up to the 1920's, in the Netherlands dog meat sausages were commonly consumed up to the 1940's and, as you already know, it is still pretty common in some Asian countries. The only reason why we think something is negative or positive, is because of the internal interpretations we make. As of writing this, a new law has just been signed in the United States that makes horse slaughter plants legal. This means that it is now legal to kill and consume horses! Wouldn't you call it pretty weird if you heard of some ''barbaric'' country where it was legal to kill horses and eat them? Well, there are a lot of slaughterhouse owners that are ecstatic about this new law and there are many animal activists who are absolutely shattered, it all depends on the perspective! I want you to remember a scenario where someone insulted you and really got to you. Really

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.