Issue #19, Feb.. 18th, 07

Mental Indigestion

I had a client in my office yesterday and I was explaining the concept of thought watching as outlined in my new book Awakening. Recently I have started to use the comparison of indigestion with the voice in our heads. I know it may not be pretty, but let's consider indigestion for a moment.

When we get indigestion it is an identifiable biological function. It has a cause and an effect. We won't get into all of that since it really doesn't relate to the issue at hand. Anyway, indigestion is a definite biological function. As such we certainly don't identify with it. For example, we don't immediately call our friends and announce proudly, "I have indigestion!" We don't preface our comments with our need to be the owner of our indigestion. We don't take a lot of pride in it, we don't identify with it, and we don't take ownership. We simply wait for it to pass, as it inevitably does.

Okay, that being said, let's turn our attention to the voice in our heads. The voice, like indigestion, is a function of biology. This raises a primary question, "What is the function of biology, anyway?"

Since we are animals, the primary goal of biology is survival. We need to stay alive. At least that is the imperative of our biological systems. Now let's turn to the voice in our heads. As a function of our biology, it is primarily concerned with survival. So the impetus behind everything the voice says must be driven at some level by the biological imperative to survive.

There are a couple of twists here. First, we are animals that use language. As such, we receive verbal instructions from our biology. And since we are animals that live in a society, most of our internal verbalizations have to do with those around us.

As a function of biology, the voice in our head serves to alter our state so that we are feeling better about ourselves. So we are constantly regurgitating old conversations to feel as if they had a better outcome, or we are rehearsing future conversations to insure a self-satisfying outcome.

Even though it sounds like us, feels like us, has our tone and timber, the voice in our head is not us. It is nothing more than a highly sophisticated biological mechanism designed for self-enhancement. As long as we identify it as us, the little "me" in the head, we never experience life beyond the concern for our own survival.

This was never intended to be our heritage. The exercises in Awakening are designed to set the reader free of the slavery of identification with biology. When we break free of mental indigestion, we immediately experience life beyond "me" and our true inheritance becomes possible.

Awakening is at the Bodhi Tree

The Bodhi Tree is one of the largest and best known independent book stores in the country. It is located at
8585 Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood, CA.

The Bodhi Tree is a treasure trove of books, spirituality and exploration.

Recently, I received word that the owners were so impressed with my new book, Awakening, that they decided to stock it on their shelves.

If you have ever tried to write, promote and sell your own books, you know how tough it is.

Getting a foot in the door of a bookstore like the Bodhi Tree is a feather in Awakening's cap.

Please let me know if you have a favorite bookstore. We will be happy to approach them about stocking my books.

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