What is the mind?

Open Mind/ Accepting Heart
Principles of Mind Clearing

by Charles Berner

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Mastery of the mind occurs as a result of finding:
    1) the root of the mind,  
    2) the energy of which the mind is made and
    3) why the mind exists in the first place.

Mind Clearing automatically resolves the influences of the mind by:
    1)  Uncovering the states of being or personality traits that you identify with and get  stuck in;
    2)  Unsticking the rigid states through meditation or pondering on its opposite;
    3)  Becoming aware of what your vested interest is in being in those fixed states and what  you're trying to tell others by being in those states;
    4)  And by increasing your ability to communicate the actual message to others.

The theory behind this approach to mastery of the mind is that the mind is made up of all the acceptances and denials by every individual of every other individual.

It is up to each individual to determine whether or not other individuals, are an individual with the power to choose, like yourself. If one chooses to deny that another individual can also make choices, one is denying that the other is an individual.   Thus, the other is, instead, just a thing that can't make choices and is simply an object to be manipulated.

The result is a network of relations between all individuals of denials and acceptances of each other.  (see diagram)

Each letter represents an individual, and each arrow represents an acceptance by the individual from which the arrow originates to the individual at which the arrow terminates.

The network is the collective mind of all the individuals; whereas, the individual mind is experienced by each individual for itself from where each individual is in the network. That is to say, one's own mind is how the collective mind looks from one's own place in the collective mind. This network of denials (the nonexistent arrows) and acceptances (the arrows) is that of which one's mind is made.

The arrows are arranged in such a way as to store ideas and images.  Each
time an event occurs that involves an ordinary acceptance or denial in life, by oneself or someone else, that one doesn't like, the ideas and images of that event are stored in one's mind network. These ideas and images of ordinary acceptances and denials are confused with one's actual acceptances and denials of specific individuals and thus inhibit one's ability to accept and deny. Because one resisted the event, one also then resists exercising the ability to accept or deny.

By inspecting and communicating about the ideas and images in one's mind of denying and accepting, one's ability to deny and accept becomes separated from those ideas and images stored in one's mind. This liberation of one's ability to choose to deny or not deny another returns one's capacity to disconnect from any part of the mind because those connections consist of choices to deny or not deny other individuals. This non-mental ability to choose to deny or not other individuals is then free of any mental influences. This means that one can then connect or disconnect from any part of one's mind by simply choosing to accept or deny one other individual, that is, by creating or vanishing an arrow from one's self to some other.

The aim of the Mind Clearing technique is not to get you to accept everyone else; this would violate the your goals in life. The aim is only to restore your freedom of choice to deny or to accept other individuals, its up to you to choose whatever you wish.

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The Mind Clearing Technique

The technique has four instructions that are given one after the other.
    1.     "Tell me an example of another accepting you."
    2.     "Tell me an example of another denying you."
    3.     "Tell me an example of you denying another."
    4.     "Tell me an example of you accepting another."

By finding and describing examples of you being accepted and denied and examples of you accepting and denying other, you gradually separate the ideas and images in your mind of being accepted and denied from the ability to accept and deny.

To the degree that this is accomplished for you, you are free of those compulsive influences, conscious or subconscious, in your mind.

The process of living gives many opportunities to test your ability to disconnect from your mind.  If you find that you've  overestimated your ability to disconnect, which often happens, simply continue the Mind Clearing Program.  Keep repeating the process until you find that regardless of the circumstances you are always able to disconnect from the influences of your mind.

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The Mind Clearing technique does not dissolve one's mind.  It gives one control over one's mind. The reason it takes up to a few seconds to disconnect is that one is trying to find the exact individual (letter, in the network diagram) to accept or deny in order to turn the mind off from reacting.

To dissolve the mind out of existence, one would need to accept every individual other than oneself. This would directly connect one to everyone and thereby liberate one from the illusion of the existence of the mind. There is no wilful technique for doing this, it involves giving up all of one's desires and surrendering to the way things actually are.