How do I deal with emotions and thoughts during daily spirituality?
Dylan: When the mind has forgotten about God, intense emotions and thoughts arise from valuing the voice that speaks against God. The voice that speaks against God is the voice of one that has no Author and is now its own god.
Through this seeming amnesia of God, one misidentifies with this voice, thinking it is them, thereby taking on false responsibility for the devil and its characteristics. The devil’s unloving thoughts, emotions, and perceptions are then misinterpreted as “my” thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. This is all part of the devil’s ploy to keep one invested in its sinful self. Yet, the devil needs the power of your mind to sustain and perpetuate its fruits in your awareness. Without your devotion or investment in it, it is nothing; substanceless.
To navigate this process, it can be initially helpful to engage in one of two practices:
Depending on your background, sharing these thoughts in a place of non-judgment with a priest in confession or like-minded friends, who will not reinforce the voice of the enemy, is initially helpful.
Then engaging in prayer with the Holy Spirit, so you do not keep falling into the temptations of the voice of the enemy, is where this voice, and one’s value in it, is experienced as false.
Here, one recognises that all that is required is a gentle observation of the voice of the enemy, along with its emotions and views of the world, with the Holy Spirit.. They are not to be personally judged, but seen as illusory or false through His Judgement, according to the Reality of God, and then overlooked.
Through this surrender of self to the Holy Spirit, one accepts one’s true Identity in God, which brings forth the Fruits of the Spirit.
Sit with these questions below
1) What is the perception of my upset?
2) What emotions am I noticing in regards to this perception?
3a) What thoughts are underneath this?
3b) What beliefs are underneath this?
4) Do these thoughts reflect the ego or the Spirit? (I can tell the difference by the way I feel)
5) If these are the ego’s thoughts, they are not my thoughts which are Loving in nature. This means I don’t have to believe or misidentify with them as if they are. I visualise myself giving them over or placing them in a fire to be dissolved in Love.
Therefore, I am grateful for the form or events of the world being the way it is so that it could raise the misidentification with these thoughts and beliefs in mind for me to see as false.
I want to be wrong about my split desire for something other than peace of mind, for something other than the Peace and Love of God. I now desire present peace, I now desire a singular focus towards God knowing nothing in perception could be different than how it is.
Example Dialogue with Dylan
1) What is the perception of my upset?
I am confused and have lack of peace around my blog and website.
2) What emotions am I noticing in regards to this perception?
I feel yucky, restlessness, confused and a lack of inspiration around writing.
3a) What thoughts are underneath this?
People wont understand what I am writing, people will judge me for what I am writing, I have to go back and reread and rewrite what I have written 100x for it to be perfect for others, my blog is not good enough, I have to over explain myself.
3b) What beliefs are underneath this?
I believe the form has to be perfect for me to have worth, peace, happiness and love. I believe I have to be understood by the world to be worthy or right in some way. I believe I will be judged and I am a victim of their judgement.
Ultimately, I believe I am doing something for a worldly outcome, for worldly approval, that the goals of the flesh are more important than my Peace and Fruits in Him.
4) Do these thoughts reflect the ego or the Spirit? (I can tell the difference by the way I feel)
These thoughts and beliefs reflect the ego to me because I am not at peace.
5) If these are the ego’s thoughts, then they are not my thoughts which are loving in nature. This means I don’t have to believe or misidentify with them as if they are. I visualize myself handing them over or placing them in a fire to be dissolved in Love.
Oh wow, they are not even my beliefs or thoughts and not even my feelings. These are just the ego’s thoughts and feelings and I was just misidentifying with them, giving them reality because I was thinking they were mine.
I can actually see that the ego’s purpose is to get approval from the world. My true approval comes from God. And if I know that, without a shred of doubt, then I would not even care about people misunderstanding me or not. Heck, Jesus was misunderstood all the time, and He was still able to give the Fruits of the Spirit.
I just have to know who I am in Him.
I can let the voice of the devil pass on by, without holding onto it and giving it validity, taking personal responsibility for it. I just want to surrender this voice and its thoughts to the Holy Spirit now, to show me more of who I am in Him. Thank you so much. So much gratitude.
Therefore, I am grateful for the form being the way it is so that it could raise the misidentification with these thoughts and beliefs in mind for me to see as false.
I want to be wrong about my split desire for something other than peace of mind. I now desire present peace knowing nothing in perception could be different than how it is.
Recognition of Truth: I now see that these thoughts are false, that they are not my thoughts. This means I am innocent and worthy just as I am, in Him, in Grace, and my peace and happiness are not dependent on the worth the world gives or doesn’t give. It is simply the acceptance of the approval and worth I already have in God, rather than placing that into a future goal of the world’s approval.
Re-framing the Goal: I can see now that the ego was saying I needed to write this blog for others, for other’s approval, and so that others would understand, otherwise I was wrong and guilty. Because I valued these thoughts, I experienced the resulting upsetting emotions of guilt and thought the upset was caused by the blog itself. Now I see the upset was the misidentification with the ego, valuing it thoughts and beliefs.
The Shift: I am grateful for the form (the blog) being the way it is so that it could bring up these thoughts and beliefs for me to see as false. I can drop the split desire for future approval by others and accept my worth in Him now. This is much easier than trying to find a solution in the world by changing the blog or pleasing other people.
The blog then is just for myself, teaching what I would learn, and not for a form outcome or external approval. The only problem was my split desire for something other than God. I can drop that and choose again for the singular desire for God’s Peace as the Self I am rooted in Christ. Amen.
One Silent Mind 