Mind Storms

Meditation teacher Sylvia Boorstein in her book "It’s Easier tha
You Think” tells of the Eastern concept of "Mind Hindrances." These are five energies that are identified as blockages to the clear perception of life events. In Western culture we often speak of them as neediness, anger, low energy, fear, and demoralization. As occasionally encountered experiences, Mind Hindrances can make life problematic, but these occasional and normal Hindrances can intensify into something more lasting. Doing so, they change from simple Hindrances into "Mind States."

A "Mind State" is a Hindrance that is not transient. It comes to stay. A Mind State can become a habitual outlook and response pattern, so that all life experiences are filtered through it, making life more fretful or tedious than needed. Because Mind States just seem to be “the reality,” they are hard to recognize and harder still to give up.

The Mind State of Neediness looks at everything through the lens of want and desire. Something is missing, and life is not satisfactory. The Angry Mind State is always on the verge of irritation and frustration and fills the air with tension. As a Mind State, Habitual Lethargy robs life of the energy required for day-to-day tasks and leaves none left over for new adventures. The Fearful Mind spreads anxiety into all areas of life. The Mind State of Doubt creates an insecure world of low self-esteem.

A danger of Mind States is that they can suddenly swirl up into "Mind Storms." A Mind Storm is a Mind State out of control. Mind Storms blow in due to some real or imagined occurrence and can wreak havoc while present. Comments are made and actions are taken that are later regretted.

With a Mind Storm in control, clear vision is lost and judgement is clouded. Just as the storms of weather come and go, so do the storms of the Mind. They blow in, and they blow out, leaving the damage to be surveyed.

Mind Storms always give warning signals. They often begin with the small Voice of Conscience that is talking to you. You might recognize this Voice as the positive one that says, "Gee, you look good." And, "That was a terrific job." Or, in its negative tones, when it says, "That was really stupid. How could you be so dumb?" In a Mind Storm, this Voice is usually negative, critical, and unreasonable in its comments and can talk you into some bad spots.

The challenge of being caught up in a Mind Storm is learning to just let it go and not to react by feeding it more energy through negative thinking and impulsive deeds. Learn to observe your Voice of Conscience and to talk sense to yourself so that when a Storm does show up, you can just let it pass. If you don’t overreact, things will return to normal. The weather always changes.

A Mind Storm is temporary. Mind States come and go. The five energies of Mind Hindrances are always whirling around, but you can resist them with a Peaceful Mind. The Peaceful Mind is centered in itself and firmly holds to the intention of living in the present moment. The Peaceful Mind is not pulled into worries about a fearful future or locked into a past of remembered regret.

Do your best to stay centered in your Peaceful Mind as much as you can and see if life begins to go better.