Your mind is not a physical organ that exists in your body like your lungs, your heart, your liver, etc. Your mind is not your brain. One of the defining characteristics of the mind is that it is not made up of physical matter. You can’t open up the body surgically and find the mind in any one physical location. Your mind contains thoughts, emotions, and memories among other things. And you can't find any of these in your body. So, where are they?
When we talk about the mind, we need to consider consciousness. I have suggested in a previous blog that consciousness exists throughout the body. It exists in each and every cell in your body. It exists within the atoms and molecules that make up the cells. It exists within the energy that the body both creates and consumes.
Cells come together to form tissues, bones, muscles, and organs. When the cells organize themselves into dedicated structures like organs, they create a new level of consciousness. They understand that they are part of something larger than themselves. And as you continue to create more complex structures within the body, for example structures made up of organs that form systems like the respiratory system, a new higher level of consciousness emerges. A body consciousness is created when we combine all the systems of the body.
Consciousness links our mind to all those levels of organization. When we move outside our individual bodies and think of ourselves as a component of a larger organism, let's call it humankind, consciousness links us to that higher level of organization. When we move beyond the physical dimension and consider our existence beyond this material world, it is consciousness again that connects us to that higher mind.
Let's bring our focus back to the human mind. Your mind exists within and outside of your body. Psychologists and researchers divide the mind into two parts, the conscious mind and the unconscious mind, or what is referred to by many as the subconscious mind. They also state that we humans spend 5 percent of the time in our conscious minds and 95 percent of the time in our unconscious minds or subconscious minds.
According to these same psychologists and researchers the unconscious mind contains our memories, our experiences, our acquired skills, and our training. The unconscious mind also contains our beliefs, our values, and our emotions. And perhaps most important our unconscious mind receives all of our sensory input. It also houses our habitual patterns or what is commonly referred to as habits.
Our unconscious mind connects us to our bodies. Our body collects all our sensory input. Think of what it means that the unconscious mind receives all of our sensory input. That input is not just received by our sensory organs like our eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It also includes our skin, our hair, and our hands and feet. We perceive reality through our sensory input.
Connection is very important. It is something that most of us seek throughout our entire lifetimes. In a previous blog about the body, I mentioned the illusion of separation. Separation is of course the opposite of connection. We can overcome the loss of physical connection created by birth by creating mental and emotional connections.
Just as the unconscious mind can move down through the levels of organization in the human body down to the basic levels of consciousness of molecules and atoms, it can move up through the levels of organization beyond this dimension and it can connect us to the greater mind. There are many names for that greater mind and you might feel comfortable calling it the mind of God or you might call it your higher self. Select a name that you feel comfortable with.
Our mind exists in each and every cell of our body. It exists throughout our entire body and beyond. We project it out from our physical body. It connects us with our higher self, our soul.
Most of us spend our time and our focus on our day to day lives. Living in the 21st century, our understanding of humankind, the earth, and the universe we live in is much more expanded than it was a mere 100 years ago. And we can expect that we will continue to expand our understanding of the physical world and hopefully of the non-physical world and the dimensions beyond.
When we embrace the notion that our unconscious mind connects us with consciousness that is beyond the limits of our current beliefs, we understand that we can open the door to that wisdom and knowledge that has been waiting for us to claim it.
I will be discussing how we can move pass those current limits that we have placed on our consciousness in future blogs.