So what is the human mind ? Similar to the myth , the human mind is in its own right a Pandora’s box. Nobody knows for sure how it works. It can bring both happiness and pain through a cocktail of chemical reactions. This is the vanguard of your body , the captain . What the brain tells the body , the body does. If you wish to move your arm , your desire is processed by neurons located in a certain area of the brain , then an electrical impulse is sent to the muscles in the arm telling them to contract and a feedback mechanism reports progress . When you feel your arm has moved enough you wish to stop and your brain sends a signal to your muscles to stop contracting.

And all this happens in but one second.

And that’s just moving an arm . Now think about something more complex like digestion. Your body has to release specific chemicals , and direct the organs like the liver or bowl to work in harmony with the intestines . This however is not a matter of instinct but a matter of subconscious directing the body .

The only part of the human body that works out of instinct are breathing and circulation. These functions are preformed by the encephalitis .

So it’s technically a simple metaphor . Your cells are crewmen ,your organs are engines and such , your body is the hull of the ship and your conscious mind is the captain . The subconscious mind is the first officer who takes over while the captain isn’t there.

However our first officer is blind , if he is told to steer into a cliff he will do so without regard . That’s why we have a captain. Our mind can produce both thoughts of peace and harmony , or thoughts of fear and pain . It is not necessarily a random process but rather an influence of external factors. Similar to primates our mind seeks to copy that which it sees : “Monkey see , monkey do “.

Therefore it’s best to watch your surroundings and see their consequences . Do not let them influence you if you do not approve . If you were to see death every day you would see it as normal , yet most of us shield ourselves from it , maybe because we fear it , maybe because we know it can be damaging for us to see it.

Also , there is the matter of perspective , how someone sees the world . You could be paranoid and feel as if everyone to meet is trying to kill you , or you could be naïve and trust anyone without regard to your personal safety. However the majority of people fall in between.

We all have fears and loves but the way they influence us is unique. That’s what makes our mind a Pandora’s box .

Just think that out of 8 billion people , no two are identical . This makes everyone’s perception unique.

There are two primal emotions in the world: love and fear. In my opinion these are metaphorically expressed by yin and yang in Chinese philosophy.

Don’t believe me ?

Here’s a clue. Greed: love for the possessions of others and fear you will not obtain them.

That’s just one of many examples.

However love and fear complement each other, and each has part of the other. For example if you love something you fear to lose it. If you fear something you love the world without that something.

The idea is not to see the world black and white, but to balance your emotions. However the balance should slightly tilt towards love rather than fear.

It’s a simple principle:

“Creation tends to infinity, destruction is limited to what has already been created”

If you remember anything from this book it’s the line above.

Do we need love and fear ?

Well you need fear to protect yourself, you need love to co-exist with members of your species. There is the theory that you could abandon emotions to achieve enlightment.

This is a somewhat dangerous theory, if you abandon all morals and emotions you could psychologically reach the next level. This has not been proven and over the years many writers and philosophers warned that this kind of attitude could cost you your sanity.

It does sow the seeds of anarchy to some extent but I can’t tell anything about it. I haven’t experienced it so far.

The balance, the duality seems a better option for the moment, as it can be found all around us. Just look at the natural world. There are two genders each with its own unique, physical and mental attributes , but they are EQUAL. Men aren’t superior to women, women aren’t superior to men. Any activity can be mastered by both sexes, it’s just a matter of a few differences of perception. Men are prone to develop muscle mass more easily because traditionally they have been the provider: hunter, fisher, forager. Women are prone to develop empathy as it helps considering they raise the young and need to offer comfort in times of need to their “cubs”.

In a couple both man and woman complement their abilities to succeed in their biological function of raising their young and providing for them. This is the idea of a successful couple.

To get the most out of this technique you will have to satisfy only two criteria. Fist you have to keep a positive attitude and always dwell on the thought of succeeding in what you wish to achieve. Second, and most important, don’t forget to work.

The idea is not to get stuck up on wishful thinking. The idea is to work, but aid that work with a positive attitude directly linked to the subconscious. Do you think it’s hard getting used to? Nope.

Use an alarm clock to get up at 8 am every day, and in a month you can wake up at 8 am without the aid of the alarm clock. These techniques have to be your alarm clock until you succeed.

Why this works? Well it can’t be proven scientifically yet, so technically all I’m saying here could be a lie, but I have tried this technique on myself and it does work. Try these methods yourself and you’ll get results. Some may work for you , others not.

What’s the idea? a very simple one.

When you are relaxed, breathe in and out for 5 min an don’t think about anything, this relaxes your body and mind even further. Now it’s easy to visualize and think positively.

Let’s say you want to loose weight and lack motivation. This is the perfect time to get an idea stuck in your head. It’s just like planting a seed. The relaxation made the “soil” of the mind prepared.

Okay, so I want to be thin. What would I look like if I was thin? Visualize yourself in a bathing suit in front of a mirror at the weight you want. Feel the joy of having achieved your objective. This is it.

Now this is a form o faith, but it has nothing to do with religion or a god. Faith is believing in something that isn’t there. What isn’t there is that which you wish to achieve. However don’t forget, a seed needs to be looked after to grow into a flower. So you have to constantly repeat your affirmations on a daily basis and support them with hard labor.

The idea seems nice on paper but it does require work. This isn’t an instant fix. It’s more of a way of life, something that stays with you. You must always apply this technique and master it.

There are two pitfalls and they come from lacking balance. First off you could lack belief in yourself and your abilities because of past failures and skepticism. Don’t let this attitude overwhelm you, it can lead to dangerous states like depression. Second is the idea not to believe blindly. If you believe blindly you are naïve, and this is a pitfall. Don’t trust anything just like that.

The main idea is to keep balance. Be optimistic enough to succeed but skeptic enough to admit failure and try another technique.