"You are not your mind."
The title immediately captures your attention.
In the first chapter, he introduces what enlightenment is and how we already have it within us. The way that we unlock it is by controlling our minds. Our thoughts are what blocks us from being happy or enjoying life. We begin to over-analysis and overthink so many things. I am that person who is always overthinking so many things. It gets so out of control that I end up creating these problems that never existed. He then explains how to control your mind so that it's only used for problem-solving.
Photo credit: Free People
I loved chapter two! As human beings, we feel emotions and sometimes are sensitive to them. In chapter two, they talk about how you can’t live life without pain and sorrow. You have to learn to deal with it in a healthy way instead of the extreme. Another point he made was letting go of past pain. This is one that many of us have a problem with. For me, I have a lot of pain that I have held on to for many years that I can’t seem to let go of. He explains that when you hold on to that pain, your body not only feels it but it keeps you from being present. The last part of the chapter explains what fear is and how the ego plays a huge role in feeding the fear. After reading it everything kind of clicked in my mind. All these bad habits that I created have been working against me. For that, to change you do have to pause and take in the information. I don’t know about you but one thing that I liked about this book is that it gives you spots to pause. Putting down the book and think about what he shared helped a lot.
I can’t wait to start chapter 3 and 4 this weekend. On Tuesday I’ll post my thoughts on both chapters. If you are reading along with me, feel free to share your thoughts.