Let's Talk About Delusional Stories
Our thought patterns directly shape our experiences of the outside world. How we think is related to how we see the world. Some might consider this perspective as delusional, and indeed, it is.
Think about when you enter a theater and watch a captivating movie. The film takes over your senses and becomes what your mind thinks about and your heart feels. For this brief period, the movie becomes the entirety of your experience. This is the power of the mind.
What we often fail to realize is that our mind takes us to our own cinema all the time. The yoga tradition believes we are not living in this world. Instead, our mind creates a story that we experience as our life.
The story of our mind does not stop, unlike a movie in a theater that eventually comes to an end. The mind is very creative and makes up an entire life with a story line that contains a past, present, and future.
Our mind comes up with plot lines with motives, ideas, and judgments about who we are and who everyone else is. It’s created themes about who we should be, who this person should be, and how the world should be. The mind also forms opinions about people, places, and things without having much knowledge about them.
The mind is very clever and likes to come up with evidence to support each of these story lines. If someone or something does not help to build the story, then the mind will often come up with evidence to support why these things are bad and should be avoided.
Luckily, we can interject our mind’s never-ending story lines and create a new picture. The secret to creating the story of the life we wish to experience is to first look inside our inner world and become aware of our state of delusion.
We Are Already Delusional
Delusion is referred to as “avidya” in yogic philosophy. We don’t have to resort to the use of mind-altering drugs or receive a formal diagnosis of a mental health disorder or neurological condition to enter into a state of delusion. Believing we are immune to avidya, is a manifestation of avidya itself. According to the yoga tradition, all that’s necessary to experience persistent false beliefs is a human brain.
The yoga tradition believes that our state of avidya is the root cause of all our suffering. We believe our stories without question and become a victim of our mind rather than a master of it.
If we take a moment to pause and closely examine the incessant stream of our thoughts, we’ll notice that we’ve created our own weird, and incredibly complicated stories for the entire universe within our minds. Then, we attempt to enforce these stories and often take offense when someone or something deviates from them.
Consider, for instance, the viewpoint of Kara Loewentheil, a lawyer and master-certified coach, as she discusses how we all have a certain level of delusion. She states we have rules about how we are supposed to be, how others are supposed to act, and rules about life. “We are this way, but not that way. We are good at this, but bad at that. Someone should text us when they get home, and if they don’t, once is okay but three times means they don’t love us.”
When the external world does not match our internal stories, we experience a disconnect. This disconnect can lead to frustration, anxiety, anger, shame, and loneliness. And in this way, we suffer.
Design Your Delusional Story
If our delusions create our outside experience (Or maybe that’s just another delusion?), then it may be a good idea for us to take a look inside our internal movie and observe its plot line.
My mind has created stories regarding my income expectations, the permissible level of rainfall for a given day, the duration I should spend with my spouse, the acceptable amount in our bank account, my child’s expected behavior, my self-image criteria, individuals with whom I feel comfortable being myself around, my dietary preferences, the extent of physical activity I aim to engage in, the tasks I must accomplish to consider myself productive, how I expect others to treat me, my definition of being a good friend, the ideal persona I aspire to embody, and my perceived strengths and limitations.
The list of these self-imposed stories is extensive and ever-expanding.
Yoga Meets Delusion
The yoga tradition offers different practices like meditation, self-reflection, and mindfulness, that can help us gain awareness of the narratives, regulations, and beliefs we’ve constructed within ourselves.
Awareness is the initial step toward effecting change. Once we’ve become aware of our current state of delusion, we possess the autonomy to decide whether we wish to persist in this state or chart a different course.
We can decide if we wish to create a story with less judgment and more acceptance, less jealousy and more inspiration, less anger and more curiosity, less victimization and more empowerment, or less fear and more courage.
Imagine how differently we could think, act, feel, and experience the world just by creating a different plotline for ourselves. Rather than assume that the rules of our internal stories are just how things have to be, we can decide to take a step back and recognize that we are the ones creating all of it.
Contemplation Points:
Here are some questions to ask yourself. Make sure not to judge yourself for whatever you discover. Remember the mind is an incredibly creative storyteller. Don’t be surprised if you don’t believe some of the things your mind has come up with.
What are your thoughts about money, relationships, your professional life, and physical health? What do you believe about yourself and specific people in your life? What limits do you place on yourself and others? What do you consider your strengths? How do you think about the world and what ideas do you possess for how you think it should be?
Notice how the way you think about areas of your life creates your experience of them.
Action Points:
Pick an area you wish to improve or change. Your task is to rewrite the story to help you move toward whatever it is you wish to change. What can you believe about this area of your life that may be more constructive and lead you toward fulfilling your desired result? PRACTICE that new storyline and see where it leads you. In other words, pick a different thought to help you achieve a different result.
For example, I used to have the story “I don’t have enough time.” And this thought STILL pops up. But I am now more aware when I have this thought and instead choose to think, “I always find time to do the things I want to do.” I feel much more focused, rather than scattered when I think about this new thought. When I feel focused, I usually can get done everything I want to get done.
Now, go examine your inner movie and creatively design the one you want to watch. See you on the other side!
