How Do We Purify the Mind?
Energy Flow's Impact on the Mind
Our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health directly impacts our energy systems and vice versa. For example, not drinking enough water can cause tension in the sacral energy center. This center is associated with the water element and fluidity of the gross physical body. Tension in the sacral energy center can limit vyana (water) life force energy (prana) from circulating throughout our energy systems. This blockage can impact our bladders, other organs, and our overall systemic balance, leading to the psychological manifestation of thirst and the physical manifestation of dehydration.
Let’s not forget about mental trauma. Mental trauma is often defined by the intense emotional and physiological energy it generates, like fear, shock, and anger. If mental trauma is not fully processed — transformed into an object of love and understanding — it can become stuck or frozen in the energy centers and nadis (Law of One, 46:8-14). This can create blockages that stop the natural flow of life force energy, leading to physical symptoms like muscle tension and anxiety disorders. Negative emotions can also act like a spiritual vacuum. How so? They can attract misaligned, lower vibrational energy which can be leveraged by those with nefarious intentions to gain influence and power.
We mention all of this to suggest that our state of mind is intimately linked to our life force energy flow. Ergo, when the mind is clear, calm, and focused it can direct the energy system (energy centers, nadis, energy fields, etc.) so that life force energy will flow optimally through nadis and energy centers. And as our energy systems and nadis become clearer and function more optimally, our minds will become more purified, creating a sort of optimal energy cycle that puts us in a more conducive state for spiritual evolution.
This is why it’s suggested we become more mindful about how our energy systems function and their influences. There are even methodical approaches devoted to this like astrology, Human Design, and fixed energy constitution codes.
Meditation to Purify the Mind
Once we better understand our energy systems, what practices can we use to purify the mind? First, let’s consider the mental practices and methods we can use which can impact the mind more directly. For us, this includes meditation and mindfulness. Meditation is a proven, ancient practice that helps us focus and/or quiet the mind. Or as Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guru, Yogi & Humanitarian) explains, it is a journey from sound to silence, movement to stillness, and limited identity to unlimited space. Aside from purifying the mind, meditation can also be used to achieve inner peace, mental clarity, increased energy, spiritual connectedness, better sleep, and decreased anxiety to name a few.
We won’t dive into the plethora of meditation techniques and types out there, but there are three types that resonate with us. Controversial associations aside, one type could be considered transcendental meditation (TM) or sahaj samadhi mediation. These types of scientifically-proven techniques focus on a more natural, effortless expansion of awareness using personalized mantras or charged sounds. According to both Tony Nader (MD, PhD) and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar these types of techniques allow our active thinking minds to naturally settle down to quieter levels of thought until we experience greater inner peace and calm. TM is said to produce an elevated state of consciousness or a state of restful alertness that’s different from waking, sleeping, and dreaming states.
The second type of meditation focuses more on fixating our attention or concentration (focused attention), like vipassana and Qigong. This is more inline with the Bhagavad Gita (6:10-15), which devotes an entire chapter to meditation. The gist is that we should focus the mind in mediation with one-pointed concentration, controlling all thoughts and activities. It also suggests we hold the body, neck, and head firmly in a straight line, and gaze at the tip of the nose without allowing our eyes to wander. Then with a serene, fearless, and unwavering mind, we should focus solely on Source. Ergo, the more we meditate, the more our gaze will become faultless, as explained in Autobiography of a Yogi (36:297). Check out our Zen Den for a few of our favorite meditations and techniques.
The third is practicing mindfulness (open monitoring). We hear this word a lot. The most basic definition of mindfulness is being fully present in the moment, paying attention to the things that we experience, leaving the past in the past, and choosing peacefulness in every action, thought, feeling and response. Baba Ram Dass (Guru, Yogi, Psychologist, 1931- 2019) explains that mindfulness is one of the practices for slowing down our lives. It helps us find a way inside and concentrate on awareness. Easier said than done, right?
Conscious Thinking to Purify the Mind
Another way to purify the mind which resonates with us is to consistently have the right thoughts. BK Shivani (Spiritual Teacher) is one of our favorite resources for practical advice on conscious thinking. Essentially, she suggests that we train the mind to respond with positivity rather than react with negativity. This is corroborated in the Bhagavad Gita (17:16) which encourages us to cultivate the mind with rich and noble thoughts, while weeding out the negative and debilitating thoughts. The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) also explained the importance of having the right thoughts in the eightfold path which focuses on avoiding extremes (desires and aversions) and looking within.
Weeding out negative thoughts also serves another purpose. It helps to ensure that those with nefarious intentions don’t gain power from the negative energy produced by our distress.
The Law of One (5:1-2) also offers practical advice for dealing with negative emotions and destructive thoughts like anger. Like BK Shivani, the Law of One stresses the importance of responding with love and understanding versus fear and anger. The Kybalion (C15:215) further explains that we can transmute undesirable energy by concentrating on the opposite polarity, like transforming fear into courage. But when that doesn’t happen, the next best thing is to process our negative thoughts and emotions. The Law of One suggests we should perceive, understand, and accept these thoughts instead of controlling or repressing them — except when they may result in actions inconsistent with the Law of One (52:7). Buddhist traditions even suggest changing our physical environment immediately after a reaction since our brain can associate emotional states with physical spaces.
What if accepting negativity means transforming it into positivity? Whereas, controlling negativity means leveraging it as a means to manipulate others. Christina Lopes (DPT, MPH, Heart Alchemist) offers great advice on processing, circulating, and transforming (transmuting) energy. This is essential for lightworkers or energy alchemists. Christina stresses the importance of ensuring energy doesn’t become stagnant. She also suggests transforming negative, lower vibrational energy into positive, higher vibrational energy — as opposed to simply eliminating, reflecting, or blocking the negative energy. This ensures we’re never wasting energy.
Not wasting energy or allowing it to become stagnant is consistent with Buddhist traditions which stress that we should develop the discernment and mindfulness to know when to allow energy to pass through us rather than block, return, or retain it — making a distinction between carrying what is ours versus someone else’s.
Holistic Practices to Purify the Mind
Let’s not forget that our energy systems and gross physical bodies can also impact the mind. So maintaining an optimal energy system and gross physical body can also help to purify the mind. This is why holistic approaches resonate with us. Ayurveda is considered one of the world’s oldest holistic healing systems and is said to be at least 5,000 years old. It focuses on treating the root causes of imbalances that lead to mental and physical diseases. This is consistent with Edgar Cayce’s (Clairvoyant & Healer, 1877-1945) holism approach. Edgar saw total health as the coordination between the physical, mental, and spiritual components of life.
In terms of holistic practices, Ayurveda and Edgar Cayce both suggest focusing on proper diet, exercise, and sleep. The Bhagavad Gita (18:51-53) offers similar suggestions, including relishing solitude, controlling body, mind, and speech, engaging in daily sadhana (meditation, prayer, or yoga), practicing dispassion, and living a balanced life.
There are also specific methods that consists of breathwork (pranayama), body discipline, and mental control through meditation. For example, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guru, Yogi & Humanitarian) offers the Art of Living Sudarshan Kriya course which, through 100+ independent studies, has been shown to lower stress levels, improve mental clarity, and provide a greater sense of inner peace. Another method is kriya yoga. According to Autobiography of a Yogi (26:207-210), kriya yoga can help us control life force energy as well as neutralize decay and mutations in the body. Ergo, it can be used as a shortcut for quickening human evolution. Consider this fellow souls. One-half minute of kriya yoga is said to equal one year of natural spiritual progression. Wow, right?
Sadhguru (Guru, Yogi & Mystic) also offers Inner Engineering. Inner Engineering provides an array of meditation, chanting, and yoga tools that can help us experience greater emotional balance, focus, stability, and improved health. It helps us establish a solid foundation of exuberance and a chemistry of blissfulness within, leading to a more joyful, fulfilling life.
The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) offers the eightfold path (middle way) which focuses on avoiding extremes (desires and aversions) and looking within to stop suffering (stress) (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, SN 56:11). The eightfold path has been divided into three groups of practice: morality or good conduct (shila), meditation or mental development (samadhi), and wisdom or insight (prajna). The eight steps of the path are right speech, action, and livelihood, which are associated with good conduct; right effort, mindfulness, and concentration, which are associated with mental development; and right understanding and thought, which are associated with wisdom.
Other practices that resonate with us include performing energy cleansings, chanting and singing (kirtans), hiking in nature, smudging with sage, visualizing, using crystals (Law of One, 2:3), sound therapy, saying affirmations, expressing gratitude, and sending out positive energy and blessings! See what floats your boat fellow souls!