Monitoring the influences on your thoughts is central to the practice of Raja Yoga. The three enemies of a clear mind are:
1. Over-identification with your body/mind
Don’t forget your consciousness! Consciousness or awareness doesn’t exist in the same way that your body and thoughts do; rather, it’s the aspect of you that witnesses those physical and mental parts. Without consciousness, your mind and body would still function, but you wouldn’t realize what you were sensing, thinking or doing!
2. Ego
Ego is a symptom of over-identifying with your body/mind. When your body/mind is sick or hurt your ego thinks “I am” sick or hurt – and the closer the identification, the deeper the sense of distress. Ego reacts like a magnet, either attracted to or repelled by the focus of its attention.
3. Fear of dying
Fear of dying is instinctive. The good news is that there’s an aspect of you that doesn’t die in a physical or mental sense because it doesn’t exist in a physical or mental manner: your consciousness. That said, until you can completely subdue your mind, you can’t experience consciousness – you can only verify its existence because without it, you wouldn’t know you’re reading this!
