Achieving and Maintaining Internal Equilibrium

(Homeostasis, Finding Internal Satisfaction, Internal Peace)

If talk to westerners about this topic, often you will find they bring up meditation as a method. I strongly believe this can be done through understanding, and being conscious of this understanding. This understanding is achieved by employing multiple strategies, many of which are described by following the given hyperlinks:

This is mental mastery through understanding.

How does one come to equilibrium
Modifying habitual or undesirable behavior
Focus on recognizing the thoughts that naturally arise within
What separates the uncommon from the common?
Controlling self
Recognizing to control
Control to become stronger
Being Shaped by Your Memories
Plateaus
Reinforcing
Misc
Searching for Something We Feel Is Missing
Influence of Triggers Upon the Mind
Release and Control
Reasons not to think sexual thoughts
The Attachment Must Not Be There
Envision what it would be like to become more than human
Acceptance Shall Help Lead to Peace of Mind
Watch the Feelings Pass On By
Think About Time
Seeking Without Attachment
True Satisfaction is Found From Within
The Existence of a Want is Not Reason for Its Satisfaction
Desires
Getting to the Root of Desire
Who you truly want to be
Your Two Halves
Waters in a Dam Analogy
A Visualization Exercise
Visualization Exercise
Ridding a Desire, An Analogy
The Vortex Analogy
Responsible Parent and Demanding Child Analogy

Introduction

The following topics are included in this article:
Achieving Internal Equilibrium, A Visualization Exercise
Another visualization exercise in mental self reconfiguration, i.e. achieving internal equilibrium
A visualization and action exercise for achieving internal equilibrium
An examination into the difficulty of maintaining mental equilibrium by only working within the mind
How does one come to equilibrium
Distractions
Where I Want to Find Myself

Related: Controlling Oneself, Mental Self-Reconfiguration and Wants and Desires

How to achieve a permanent state of internal equilibrium
•Remove external factors that tend to negatively act upon the mind
•Mentally block negative external factors
•Create picturing or visualization strategies in mind, repeat over and over, for example, see things leaving, like the waters out of a dam or like a ball of energy, just let go.
•Meditate
•Practice
•Focus

Equilibrium means that there are no forces acting on you to tend to cause you to sway in any one emotional direction

You do not need to give in to anger, frustration to achieve equilibrium
You do not need to give in to temptations or addictions to achieve equilibrium
You do not need to give in to peer pressure to achieve equilibrium
You do not need to give in to sexual desires and thoughts to achieve equilibrium
You do not need to experience physical or mental pain or anquish to achieve equilibrium
You do not need to experience sadness, remorse, or regret to achieve equilibrium

You do not need to engage in corrective thoughts, actions, or behaviors to bring yourself to equilibrium.

The reason you should choose to eat should be to live, not because of an uncomfortable feeling you experience.

You must guide your mind
How to direct the flow of your mind

The things that you want vary with respect to time. There is variance in the things that you want to accomplish over time. In other words, your mind automatically prioritizes wants and desires over time. The prioritization changes over time automatically.

There is what your body chemically desires.

Then there is what you truly want.

What you truly want, this type of want, it is not inherent in animals.

Therefore, they do not have this problem.

For example, I doubt an animal thinks, “I want to lead a successful life”.

Animals follow their natural desires without mental conflict. In humans, sometimes natural desires get in the way of other things we wish to achieve, or accomplish.

Question is: how to make thoughts pertaining to natural desires obsolete, completely obsolete.

But we still face the problem of having these undesired distractions that enter our mind. These must be made obsolete, permanently obsolete, at least with respect to achieving the goals of true importance and significance.

Mental (visualization) and physical exercises (involving motion) can help solve the problem of undesired thoughts.

Say to yourself, “If I don’t want it, I get rid of it. And if I get rid of it, I don’t have it.”

Removing undesired wants and desires involves time, practice, exercises, visualization exercises, focus.

Ask yourself what you want at certain times, but at other times don’t want.
Then ask yourself things that you want all the time, no matter the condition.

The things that you always want are the things that you truly want, the things that your core desires.

The things that you sometimes want, and at other times do not want, are things that do not truly reflect what you want. These things are not true wants, and must not be pursued when your mind calls upon you to do so.

Waters in a Dam Analogy

One often contains thoughts of anger, regret, doubt, etc. Sometimes those thoughts can accumulate, grow, and as they do they become harder to contain. You struggle holding those thoughts back and prevent them from translating into actions.

Those thoughts are like the waters in a dam. And you are the dam, and you are the dam walls trying to hold the waters back. But the water’s level keeps getting higher, and it requires more and more energy to hold these waters back. When the waters become so high, you are using so much energy to hold the waters back. The dam walls are using so much energy to restrain the waters.

When instead of using so much energy to hold these waters back, you could just make a hole in the bottom of the dam, and just let all the waters flow out, and release. It only takes the energy to make that little hole, to solve the whole problem, in contrast to continually expending greater and greater amounts of energy to hold all that water back. Instead you make a hole, let all the water drain out, release. Instead of expending so much energy to keep back, and fight, all those negative feelings and emotions that hold you back, you release them. You let them flow out. You release them from your mind. You watch them flow out, and the dam becomes empty, and you are at peace with yourself, and you have peace within, you have eternal peace.

You do keep holding back everything until the dam walls eventually break, and you erupt in a rush of emotions. This is what you don’t want. You want to watch them gently flow out of you.

The key is that you visualize this, and you watch the negative feelings and emotions flow out of you, so that you may come to equilibrium within yourself, and have peace, internal peace.

Dam visualization exercise 2

Think about it this way. There is a big dam. There is a small hole at the bottom with water coming out. You can stop it up right away by putting a small cork in it. But if you continue to let the waters flow, the cork will become bigger and bigger. Eventually, a cork won’t work anymore. You have to block it off and reseal it with concrete. If you let it go too far, eventually, nothing will work, and the dam will break, releasing all the waters.

The waters are your undesired thoughts: anger, fears, depression, and addictive thoughts such as thinking about food, alcohol, drugs, sexual thoughts, playing games.
All you need is a cork. Use the cork to keep the waters stopped up. What is the cork?

The cork is this:
1. Tell yourself, “What I want is a clean, clear, pure mind.”
2. Tell yourself, “Do not even take yourself there.”

Also, part of the cork is realizing that everything originates from the mind, and in order to stop certain behaviors, you must go to the root of the problem, which lies within your mind – your thoughts.

Another part of the cork is coming to the realization and acknowledging that you do have the power to control your thoughts.

Finally, realize that your long-term wants are more important than your short-term wants and furthermore, that your short-term wants are irrelevant.

A mind like concrete.
A mind that never wavers.
A mind that is rock solid.

A Visualization Exercise

I need for my mind to be streamlined
I need for my movements to be coordinated with my environment
I need to do things correct the first time

Why does it seem that I have the tendency to do something wrong the first time every first time?
Why does it seem that on a 50/50 basis I get it wrong the first time every time?

How do I redefine my mindset?

How do I reconfigure my mind?

How do I control my actions?
How do I control my thoughts?

How do I ensure that my movements become more coordinated with my environment?

How do I reduce error?

How do I increase efficiency?

How do I streamline my life?

You experience things in life that become imprinted into your memory.
Certain memories recur later in life.
These recurrent memories may bring about anxiety, stress, tension, fear, or any other negative association. These memories must be abandoned, discarded, removed, expelled. Unconsciously they may enter your mind. Consciously, they must be removed from your mind. Consciously you must remove the negative feelings associated with that memory. And, consciously, you must bring back the positive aspects back into your mind.

To reconfigure your mind, you must consciously focus. Reconfiguration of the mind will not happen without focus.

You must consciously remove the negative, by telling yourself you are removing the negative. You must take in the positive, by telling yourself you are doing so.

For many people, it is easy to let negative influences enter our minds, and for us to let those negative influences circulate within our minds over time. Over time, these negative influences may prove detrimental to our daily life. These negative influences in essence, will control us.

To reconfigure your mind, to come to equilibrium within yourself, you must consciously direct your focus inward, upon your mind, and upon your mental state of being. You must consciously understand what you are experiencing and the effect it is having upon you.

You must then consciously tell yourself:

You need to take certain things of your mind, and get rid of them.
You need to find other things, and bring them into your mind.

Worries – get rid of
Fears – get rid of
Anxieties – get rid of
Desires – get rid of
Insecurity – get rid of
Temptations – get rid of
Anger – get rid of
Pressures – get rid of
Stress – get rid of
Tension – get rid of
Dark visions – get rid of

(as you say each one, experience the feeling, then feel yourself letting each one go)

Release.
Release.
Release.

Peace – bring into your mind
Clarity – bring into your mind
Vision – bring into your mind
Self awareness – bring into your mind
Self consciousness – bring into your mind
Calmness – bring into your mind
Fluidity – bring into your mind

(as you say each one, experience the feeling, and let it stay there)

And continuously repeat this in your mind, over, and over, and over, as long as it takes.

It also helps greatly if you are in solitude, and interferences to any of your five senses are limited.

Go to the garbage can, grab the anger out of your mind with your hand, throw it into the garbage can, as you do this say, “I’m taking my anger out of my mind” and as you throw it into the garbage can say, “I’m throwing it away”. Do this for every thought or desire you do not want in your mind. Grab the sexual thought out of your mind with your hand. Throw it into the garbage can. Grab your insecurities with your hand, throw them into the garbage can. Grab the nervousness, tension, stress, throw them away.

An examination into the difficulty of maintaining mental equilibrium by only working within the mind

Psychologically, your mind tends towards different desires, feelings, and emotions, depending on your internal and external environment. There are internal and external stimuli that tend to influence what is preoccupying your mind at any given time. There are numerous internal and external stimuli acting on you at any given time – so long as your senses are switched on. Perhaps one is able to sleep because the mind is turned down. Perhaps the mind is turned down because when one tries to go to sleep, one tries to minimize external stimuli. Your senses absorb and take in external stimuli. When you go to sleep, the lights are off, there is no visual stimulation. There is no sound – no sound stimulation. You tend not to move very much, therefore the stimulation due to touch is minimized. You are not putting anything in your mouth, so taste sense is minimized. Also lets assume that there are not strong aromas while you are trying to go to sleep, so your smell sense is minimized. In this way, all 5 senses are turned down by minimizing exposure to external stimuli.

A problem of interest is that even though it may be easy for one to control external stimuli, it may provide quite a challenge in controlling internal stimuli. For, it is a chemical (and electrical) process that is occurring in your body and in your brain. Different chemicals are reacting together in different ways to produce effects upon your mind and to influence what you are thinking about. Let’s assume that you can easily control external stimuli, but now let’s look at internal stimuli.

Some things that affect internal stimuli are: how much sleep you have gotten, the level of food in your body, the amount of sperm in your body (for men of course), the amount of liquid and solid waste in your body, how much exercise you have gotten, what kind of food you eat, how clean your body is, whether you are suffering any diseases. These are internal based factors that tend to have influence upon your mind and your mental state of equilibrium. Some of these factors can be controlled or regulated through interaction with the external, less so through interaction with the internal – through the mind. In other words, it can be hard to keep the mind in a state of mental equilibrium solely by working within your mind. Usually, it requires giving in to these factors as they gradually act upon you with a progressively greater impetus.

Some examples… Sperm gradually builds within the body. Chemically reacts within your body so as to produce a corresponding effect within the mind. An effect that makes the mind gradually more restless, as it is thinking more and more about sexual-oriented thoughts. Eventually, one must take physical action of one means or another in order to bring the situation back to equilibrium. Let’s look at hunger. The longer one goes without eating, the hungrier one becomes. The hungrier one becomes, the thought of eating becomes proportionally stronger. Eventually, one becomes hungry enough that one physically gives in to the act of eating, in order to bring oneself back to equilibrium. It is hard for one to mentally remain at mental equilibrium while withholding food, or for that matter, withholding giving in to sexual action, or withholding defecating and urinating, or withholding the act of doing something about the effect of constant physical pain upon the body.

This writing does not imply that one should try to abstain from giving in to these forces, but rather examines the difficulty of trying to remain in mental equilibrium, solely by working from within the mind, and not giving in to physical action in order extinguish these forces.

The problem with sex and other psychological and physiological urges is that they tend to create an uneasiness or dissatisfaction within the mind. They tend to keep the mind from finding peace and contentedness.

How does one come to equilibrium

How do I come to peace within myself?

People find themselves engaging in purely animalistic desires.

How do I come to equilibrium within myself?

The same pattern is repeated every day.

You must remove the old ways.

You must remove the old ways of doing, feeling, etc.

If one does not experience frustration, then one is content, or satisfied.

Flow with life, let it flow

Accept who you are, accept your past, accept everything you know

Calm your mind

Remember with life in general, from relationships to friendships, to family to work; let it flow naturally, relax

Distractions

How does one become master of one's mind my with so much external noise surrounding oneself? How does one truly come to internal peace, filtering out all of the constant distractions being bombarded upon oneself by this western culture?

Where I Want to Find Myself

Negative and forceful
o Anger
o Annoyance
o Contempt
o Disgust
o Irritation
Negative and not in control
o Anxiety
o Embarrassment
o Fear
o Helplessness
o Lonely
o Powerlessness
o Worry
Negative thoughts
o Doubt
o Envy
o Frustration
o Guilt
o Shame

Negative and passive
o Boredom
o Despair
o Disappointment
o Hurt
o Sadness
Agitation
o Stress
o Shock
o Tension
Positive and lively
o Amusement
o Delight
o Elation
o Excitement
o Happiness
o Joy
o Pleasure
Caring
o Affection
o Empathy
o Friendliness
o Love

Positive thoughts
o Courage
o Hope
o Pride
o Satisfaction
o Trust
Quiet positive
o Calm
o Content
o Relaxed
o Relieved
o Serene
Reactive
o Interest
o Politeness
o Surprised

Emotion Table

Primary emotion	Secondary emotion/feelings	Tertiary feelings/emotions
love	affection	adoration, fondness, liking, attractiveness, caring, tenderness, compassion, sentimentality
	lust/sexual desire	arousal, desire, passion, infatuation
	longing	longing
joy	cheerfulness	amusement, bliss, gaiety, glee, jolliness, joviality, joy, delight, enjoyment, gladness, happiness, jubilation, elation, satisfaction, ecstasy, euphoria
	zest	enthusiasm, zeal, excitement, thrill, exhilaration
	contentment	pleasure
	pride	triumph
	optimism	eagerness, hope
	enthrallment	enthrallment, rapture
	relief	relief
surprise	surprise	amazement, astonishment
anger	irritability	aggravation, agitation, annoyance, grouchy, grumpy, crosspatch
	exasperation	frustration
	rage	anger, outrage, fury, wrath, hostility, ferocity, bitter, hatred, scorn, spite, vengefulness, dislike, resentment
	disgust	revulsion, contempt, loathing
	envy	jealousy
	torment	torment
sadness	suffering	agony, anguish, hurt
	sadness	depression, despair, gloom, glumness, unhappy, grief, sorrow, woe, misery, melancholy
	disappointment	dismay, displeasure
	shame	guilt, regret, remorse
	neglect	alienation, defeatism, dejection, embarrassment, homesickness, humiliation, insecurity, insult, isolation, loneliness, rejection
	sympathy	pity
fear	horror	alarm, shock, fear, fright, horror, terror, panic, hysteria, mortification
fear	nervousness	anxiety, suspense, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, distress, dread