The mind-made prison_ radical self help and personal transformation

136 Pages·2012·1.1 MB·English

by  Mateo Tabatabai

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