Most people are familiar with the movie metaphor. It is commonly used to describe human perception. In the metaphor a person is sitting in a theatre and is either totally absorbed by the movie (the movie corresponds to us humans being 100 % involved with our thinking and feeling) or watching the movie knowing it is a movie.

These are to be considered as our modes of operation and they come with two very different outlooks and perceptions. These outlooks are usually named “illusion” or “reality”.

In my line of work and of course being a witness in my own life I have noticed some things that most people can testify to.

• Everyone recognize and acknowledge these two modes of operation.
• We can only be in one mode at the same time.
• We have no conscious control over the fluctuation between the modes.
• The shift between the modes happens by itself.
• Both ways of percieving feels both real and accurate from their corresponding mode of operation.

When reading or listening people on the subject of self or the “I” there is to some degree a common agreement that one of the modes is an illusion while the other one is not. The notion is that the illusion is fake while reality is real.

I wont make an argument trying to prove that there is anything wrong with this because I feel that everything is exactly as it should be. Therefor there cannot be a right or wrong when it comes to a teachings, a point of view etc.

There is however a point which I would like to make and that is that if we are going to call one mode “illusion” and the other “reality” we might want to take a look at what evidence we have for such a statement. The only evidence we have available on the matter at hand is our own experience of this phenomenon.

I think that we have absolutely no evidence for one of the modes being more real than the other. Even if you say you have “seen” reality you are on thin ice. How can you be sure of that what you saw or experienced was ”THE reality”? So why do we insist on calling one of them illusion? The mere belief itself creates a seperation in our mind.

Why I think this is important is because calling one of them an illusion can give us the impression that one of them are wrong and therefor we must undertake the job of trying to remove or move away from the one that is fake. Both from ourselves as well from all the others…(this has a familiar ring to it huh?) But there is no fake perception to begin with – how could there be? All humans have the ability of being in both. Calling one of them fake would be the equivalence of accusing a predators hunting instincts for fake. Or to think that the apple flavor of an apple is fake.

The only thing worth calling an illusion here is our IDEA that one way of perception is more real than the other.

I can totally see that having the worlds population mostly absorbed in thinking and feeling seems to be causing much suffering both on a personal level as well as on a larger scale but then again, this might be exactly according to plan. Just because it is so right now doesn’t necessary mean that it will stay the same the next day, or in the next moment.

If anything should be claimed as REAL, the current situation as we know it, in this very moment most certainly qualifies.

Thank you for reading this article. It is inspired by my own life and what I have observed.
Feel free to leave a comment or share it with others.

About the author: Patrik Rowinski believes in cooperation and he enjoys to support anyone who has a sincere will to change. He works as a Mental Health Consultant and Three Principles Facilitator and supports personal and organisational growth through conversations, lectures and in his writing.

Get in touch or learn more through patrikrowinski.se.  

One way to empty your mind is to let go of all preconceived ideas and concepts.

For most people on the planet this is a lot easier said than done.

But let us begin by examine our idea of existence. How we perceive things is deeply rooted in our general idea of existence. Most people feel that what they see and hear exists.

But the point is we normally don’t see the difference from what exists on the outside from what exists on the inside. We can say that something exists out there, we can even feel this, but it is not true. When we say ”there is the river” the river already exists in our mind. And if we are too quick we say the the river is over there but if we slow down and think about it we might discover that the river is already in our mind, as a thought.

Our mind is like a copying machine which takes everything it finds on the outside and then makes a copy out of it. Then it takes the copy and present it to us on the inside, through our thoughts.

Understanding that we are dealing with copies and not the true stuff is alone awfully helpful. But if we take a closer look at the ’copies’ we might notice something else. For instance we might discover that our ’copies’ of the same thing rarely are the same. One day we can fill up with joy over a bird or some lovely flowers on our way to work and even though the bird and the flowers are the same we feel completely differently when we pass them the next day. We might not even notice them at all.

Every thought may in the absolute sense be considered as something of a burden. Think about it. When something feels heavy, where does the weight come from?

Existence rises from emptiness and returns to emptiness. This way to look at existence is hard to dress in words.

True existence doesn’t come and go. True existence is in the now, ready to be experienced in this very moment. In every moment.

The perfect path

As long as we have an idea of the future, how we think it should be, we cannot be really serious with this moment.

Whatever we think the future will hold if we follow a certain path doesn’t exist in the true sense. In fact, there is no path. Our path is created in every moment and if we can let go of our ideas of a perfect path, we will see it. It is formless by nature but we can sense it.

But be cautious. An idea of not having a perfect path can also become an idea of a perfect path.

A path that has been created in our mind is of no use. The perfect path is already there, before your mind has given it any form.

If you remain still, you will know what I am talking about.

Thank you for reading this article. It is inspired by my own life and what I have observed.
Feel free to leave a comment or share it with others.

About the author: Patrik Rowinski believes in cooperation and he enjoys to support anyone who has a sincere will to change. He works as a Mental Health Consultant and Three Principles Facilitator and supports personal and organisational growth through conversations, lectures and in his writing.

Get in touch or learn more through patrikrowinski.se.  

A while ago I was working with a female client. After a few sessions together my view over how she saw her life and how she dealt with her thoughts about it got more and more clear. It was obvious that she easily got stuck in old patterns. Patterns which caused her great discomfort. It was also clear that she wanted to feel different but she wasn’t that willing to let go of her way of thinking although she suspected that that was the real source of discomfort.

How was I going to help her out of her suffering?

On a level of pure logic and compassion the best thing to do would be to do everything within my power to help her out of her misery, which I normally do that by showing clients how thought works and how it affects our lives.

But how can I possibly know that this is what this person needs right now?

What if she wants to stay in her misery? How could anyone ever want to suffer you might wonder. That is a relevant question but the point here is what is appropriate in this moment.

Who says that suffering is wrong?

What if more suffering is exactly what this person needs to break free from destructive patterns of thinking? How can we ever put ourselves in the position of knowing and be sure of what the person on the other side needs?

I said: ”If you want to hold on to how you think it implies that you want to keep suffering. Is that really what you want?”

My question opened up our conversation to a completely different level which really made a difference for her.

Did I know what my question would lead to? No, to be completely honest, I had no idea. And this was exactly what made the difference. That I didn’t assume that I somewhat knew what would be good for her to learn or realize but that I in a neutral way just made it clear on how thinking affects our emotions and how that creates our experience of life.

During my training I discovered the value of something that can be described as deep listening and when I meet other people, professionally or in private, I always try to meet them with this attitude.

About deep listening

To me deep listening means:

• To listen with an open mind. Another way to say this is to listen with your heart.
• The other thing is to try to avoid to jump into any conclusions about what we hear. That is, don’t let your mind touch any of the universal norms and morals that usually permeates our societies. For instance, when someone tells you that they have just broken up with their spouse, should we tell them that we are sorry or should we congratulate? I call this assume nothing.

To help someone we first need to understand. Once we understand we can move to be understood.

To remain still and keep our mind from reacting to anything when we listen to someone else’s story is one of the most difficult things for a human being.

Recently I met with someone who learned that I was finished with writing my first book. This person started to ask me about the process.

”Doesn’t it feel good now that you have finished it?”, the person asked.
”Well, I don’t feel anything particularly. I re-wrote it a couple of times and it was interesting to watch it change form” I answered.
”That must have been hard.”, the other person noted.
”Well, not really. It found it interesting. A couple of days ago I sent the manuscript to an professional reader to get an objective assessment on the literary quality.”, I replied.
”You must be nervous letting someone else evaluate your life’s work”, the person said.
”No, it doesn’t feel that at all. But I am curious to see what they will make of it.”, was my reply.

How this conversation was carried out doesn’t really say anything about the person I was talking to but it does point to that in our conversation the person I was having it with seemed to be more interested in their own thinking than of mine.

The point I want to make is that the more we let our attention focus on our own thinking the harder it is for us to get closer to other people.

What is before right nor wrong?

Helping other people is a difficult task if we assume an attitude of knowing. What is helpful is to keep neutral and let go of what we think is right for them. It is also helpful to let go of what helped us and others.

In nature there is no right and wrong but nevertheless people are having the most difficult time seeing that there is no such thing as right and wrong. Are we different/apart from nature? Right and wrong exists only in our heads, in our minds.

To draw this a little bit further there cannot be right thoughts or wrong thoughts. There are however as many thoughts about right or wrong thoughts as there are people on the planet. To be free we need to let go of this notion of right and wrong thoughts and realize that before we show up and make ”right” or ”wrong” there is only thought.

Thought wants many things, but who is there to let thought get what it wants?

What if it is that simple.

What if thought is just thought. Nothing more.

And what if we really don’t have to believe or act on any thought at all?

Thank you for reading this article. It is inspired by my own life and what I have observed.
Feel free to leave a comment or share it with others.

About the author: Patrik Rowinski is a specialist of State Of Mind and mindset change. He is a certified Transformative Coach and Three Principles Practitioner. For personal coaching or inspiration please visit patrikrowinski.se.

Through StateOfMind Institute and the non-profit organisation 3P Center Stockholm he is helping organisations, leaders, teams and individuals to bring breakthroughs in performance, results and well being.

In the tale of Hans and Gretchen the children use breadcrumbs to be able to find their way back home but in tale birds find and eat the crumbs and the children gets lost in the forest. One of my teachers compared the inner journey to finding breadcrumbs. I like this metaphor but I would like to point out how important it is to leave ones traces behind without looking back.

To those who have embarked on an inner journey they will soon discover that the ’road’ is everything but straight. One will also learn that it is full of contradictions. For example, we can have an amazing insight which really opens up but in order to take further steps we might be forced to let go of that very same insight that helped us a while ago. Sometimes the next step forward can be disguised as ’a step back’ and it is not until we dare to take that step ’back’ we come to realize that ’back’ as well as ’forward’ doesn’t really exist.

We are sometimes told that realizing thought and thinking and how we relate to our thinking helps us use our thinking in a more useful way. We are also told that before we realize this, we are bound to misuse our thinking. In a sense this is a good pointer and it can serve us well but I think it can also send us straight into a trap which will keep us in yet another deluded state.

There is no misuse of thinking. There is just thinking.
Between birth and death, we all are in motion one way or another.

We think, we feel, we move.

If we think bad thoughts, we feel bad. If we think good thoughts, we feel good. There is no confusion here. Up to this point this way of how things work is known to most people.

In order for us to give a label to our level of understanding of how things work as ‘misuse’, we need to contrast it to something. What I am pointing to is simply: So what is ‘correct’ usage of thought?

One could easily argue that thinking that leads to doing things that generally are considered as nice, loving and kind would apply as correct use of thinking and doing. But how could we really know.

Now think about this. What is nice, loving and kind? In a state of confusion, how would one know (for sure) how those would look like. Like everything else; being nice, loving and kind is generally a matter of perspective and personal preference, which like everything else is constantly changing in a way that is beyond our personal comprehension.

Not so long ago I heard the following line; “Loving kindness doesn’t always have to be affectionate” and this seems more true because as long as we have a fixed idea of what is loving or caring or etc. we cannot be really serious with this moment.

The Zen way

Like the stories of the Zen masters who sometimes smack their disciples over the head to help them in their progression to attain satori (enlightenment). How should we think of their actions? Are they an act of kindness or anger?

I am not sure that a genuine master seeks to help his disciple to reach enlightenment. A genuine master simply is with the moment. I don’t think that his or hers movements or the sounds he or she makes comes with a particular intention. They rarely know why the act in a certain way.

In Zen they sometimes talk about the gateless gate.
Be cautious. Remember that enlightenment also is an idea, a concept.

I think that we all already are ‘enlightened’ and the only thing that stands in our way is that we need to recognize this fact. To recognize this fact is one of the simplest tasks. All in all it is a matter of time. You see when you see, and there is nothing you can do about it. If we know where to look we all have a decent chance to unconfuse ourselves during our lifetime.

But insights or mystical experiences are not to be confused with enlightenment. They are glimpses of for lack of a better word, reality. And as you probably already noticed, they don’t stick around for so long.

Now enter – the ultimate über coach

Even if you hire a super über coach/mentor and you are dancing the most delicious dance in which you are getting multiple insights into the nature of your being, reality and so on there is really no certainty to ”get it” to rely on. The same thing can be said about the next course, the next training, the next retreat, the next …. you are planning to attend to.

A coach who is in touch with his or hers being can certainly help you. But what he or she ever can do is to help you find the gate. The walking through the gate is completely up to you. If you are ready you will step right in. Funny enough, once we have gone through that ’gate’ we see that there are gates all over the place. In our garden, when cutting a tomato, in a drop of water, in the sound of the wind, or in the sound of silence.

We are all begging for water without realizing that we are already standing in the clearest of waters. You cannot quench your thirst by the act of begging, you simply need to reclaim your bearings and look directly to where you are. Freedom is at your feet.

Open your eyes and see for yourself.

Thank you for reading this article. It is inspired by my own life and what I have observed.
Feel free to leave a comment or share it with others.

About the author: Patrik Rowinski believes in cooperation and he enjoys to support anyone who has a sincere will to change. He works as a Mental Health Consultant and Three Principles Facilitator and supports personal and organisational growth through conversations, lectures and in his writing.

Get in touch or learn more through patrikrowinski.se.  

If just for a moment, discard everything you know.
Like cleaning out a room of everything occupying its space. Even the stuff that you actually like. Don’t throw it away, just put it outside the room for a while.

Now answer the question. What do you use to navigate through life?

Do you navigate through logical reasoning?
Or do you use your emotions?
Do you follow your gut? Or your heart?

They are all different aspects of your being.

Now pay attention to the feeling.
How does it feel to listen to your own logical reasoning?
To emotions?
To the heart?
To the gut?

Is there a difference? If yes, can you tell what the difference is? And maybe even more important, can you drive any conclusions of what you find?

Have you ever noticed an underlying knowing that powers all other knowing? It is a knowing beyond words, or maybe before words. It doesn’t even need words and it is therefor not particularly interested in getting involved proving itself with words. Have you ever had one of these moments where you just know that you are 100 % sure? You know that you know and you cannot even put what you know into words? This is the knowing before your mind have tried to grasp it and make something out of it. This is sometimes referred to a feeling without content.

With regards to life I think that whatever we mean when we say ”life” navigates best by itself.

And it doesn’t make lots of sense trying to steer something that drives itself. We might just end up breaking something.

Thank you for reading this article. It is inspired by my own life and what I have observed.
Feel free to leave a comment or share it with others.

About the author: Patrik Rowinski believes in cooperation and he enjoys to support anyone who has a sincere will to change. He works as a Mental Health Consultant and Three Principles Facilitator and supports personal and organisational growth through conversations, lectures and in his writing.

Get in touch or learn more through patrikrowinski.se.