The mind is constantly agitated
The mind is constantly being bombarded with many stumuli that comes from external and interal sources. Internally, th body my be feeling hungry or needing some nutrients and signals this need to the brain which in turn agitates the mind into some action to attempt to alleviate or to remove the irritation. If one is hungry or thirsty then one just looks for food or something to drink. There are countless external stimuli which can cause the mind to be restless and agitated.It could be the weather, the neighbor's cat or dog causing a racket, a dripping sink. It could be the television or the newspaper bringing bad news that make you feel helpless and alone.
Ordnarily, we just tune out these stimuli but it does not really prevent them from affecting us sub-cosciously. They do wreak their havoc on our subconscious and this type of agitation is much more insidious and much more difficult to detect and guard against because it is stealthy and secret in nature. We find manifestations of this type of agitation in dreams and feelings of listlessness or nervousness. Psychologists and psychiatrists recognize these as symptoms of a much deeper significance. There are many theories which are proposed to try and correct this situation.
The ancient texts speak of meditation and in some cultures, dream-control, rhythmic dancing and prayer. There is a common thread that runs through these different methods and that involves using the mind in a very specific way. In Mantra Meditation, the mind is made to repeat a particular sound or Mantra and to get the mind to focus on that sound while ideating on the meaning of that sound. This is largely practised by Yogis and Buddhista and Taoists with different techniques coupled with physical exercises to bring the body's state in parallel to the mind's state. Asanas are prescribed in yoga to allow the body to become more subtle and enable it to attune to the subtle vibrations brought about by deep meditation. It is well-known that the body loses its parallelism with the miind and spirit when neglected and may cause serious injury.
The whirling Dervishes which are famous for their dancing and whirling where they go into trances has similarities in the practices of African and Native American rituals which serve similar purposes. Rhythmic dancing with drums and gongs being played can be found in many religious activities of different cultures. These can be found in Jamaican and Caribbean communities that practice a type of ritual that has African origins merged with Christian ideas. The basic theme which can be observed in these practices is in losing the consciousness and giving in to deeper layers of the mind in much the same way that meditation is a way to dive deep into the subtle layers of the mind through the use of the mantra.
Prayer is a very common way of dealing with external life. It involves invoking a superior, divine entity and surrendering to the will of this Sublime Entity while imploring and pleading for mercy and blessings for oneself and one's family. There is a perverse form of prayer practised in order to bring sicknes, suffering to another in retaliation for some insult or harm being done to the implorer. In this case, one prays to a dark and evil entity to wreak its havoc on the intended victim.
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posted by underdog at 11:52 PM
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