On Boredom

By George A. Boyd © 2003

In boredom, the mind seeks engagement. People sometimes attempt to fulfill this need through entertainment, becoming intoxicated, going to parties, or idle past times such as playing games or gambling. The mind seeks a meaningful goal to engage, it seeks to be productively engaged.

Boredom is the first step on the pathway to productive engagement of the mind. Here are the steps:

  1. Seeking something to do (boredom)
  2. Getting an idea (excitement)
  3. Strategizing how to make it successful
  4. Developing plans to operationalize the strategy
  5. Executing the plan, making decision to do it
  6. Sustaining action towards the plan completion (commitment)
  7. Adjusting course, making contingency plans or alternate plans to handle unforeseen issues that arise (adjustment)
  8. Completing the goal or meeting a benchmark on an ongoing series of goals (success)

To avoid wasting valuable time and to engage the mind in meaningful and productive activities, we suggest that you ask yourself questions like these to engage the creative, actualizing the power of your Subconscious mind:

  1. What can I do right now to move forward on my important goals?
  2. What questions do I have right now that I can answer through research and contemplation
  3. (If you have not set goals) What key things would I like to accomplish with my life? (Use this time to formulate goals).
  4. What personal shortcoming could I work on right now to see if I can eradicate it?
  5. What could I learn right now that would enhance my ability and knowledge?
  6. What can I meditate upon that will increase my understanding and help me make progress on the spiritual path?
  7. In what activity can I now engage that will be service to other people or to God?

Since people spend much time doing activities that do not advance and actualize their dreams, driving the Subconscious mind by this means will help people to lead much more fulfilling lives.

Ways People Complete Things

By George A. Boyd © 2013

As 2022 draws to a close, I wanted to share an article that discusses incompletion. As you review the goals and resolutions you set for 2022, you may notice that you may have not accomplished a certain percentage of what you intended at the beginning of the year. I wanted to share with you some ways you can do a better job of completing the goals you set for 2023—and to gain some insights into what may have been sabotaging you fulfilling your resolutions. I extend our best wishes for a better year in 2023.

One of the major issues many people have is completing or finishing issues that occur to them. These issues may take the form of:

  • A loss, which is not resolved, which leads to unfinished grief and regret
  • A betrayal or violation, which evokes rage, and a desire for revenge
  • A traumatic experience, such as incidents that occur in a relationship, through molestation, through crime, through a terrorist incident, through a natural catastrophe, or in a war
  • A failure or embarrassment experience, which makes a person not wish to try that endeavor again
  • A fearful experience, which leads a person to avoid the object or person that made him or her afraid
  • A goal left incomplete, which rankles for completion—for example, not completing a college degree
  • A creative project left unfinished, with a strong desire to finish it

People resolve these unfinished issues through several methods:

Enactment relies upon deliberation and decision to promote change. In this method, you identify what goals or actions have been left undone, and take purposive and intelligent actions to finish the goal; you persist until the goal is completed.

Understanding and communication employs dialog and listening to work with your issues. Those who adopt this approach listen to your pain, grief, rage, and shame, and acknowledge it. It uses understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness to allow you to process through the feelings, work through them, and release them. Counseling and psychotherapy use this method.

Finding solutions seeks to find an answer through reviewing potential solutions and options. This method identifies the problem, and attempts to find solutions for it. It may look at different options to solve the process, explore outcomes of those choices, and facilitate a decision to act on one of the choices. This is called the problem solving approach; work teams and inventors commonly exercise this strategy.

Mindfulness adopts observation and process to promote insight and release. This method simply allows the mind to become aware of each traumatic issue or painful feelings, to fully experience them, and let go of this. Forms of psychotherapy that teach clients mindfulness-based solutions make use of this method.

Active remembrance and release applies process meditation or free association to uncover deep issues hidden in the unconscious mind. This method focuses on a selected issue and keeps attention upon it—this may be elicited by a repetitive question, or an inquiry as to what is associated with a theme. The issue is processed or explored until its origin is located, and the person can release it, and re-create a new intention for that theme. Variations of this approach are found in Scientology™ or other “transformational trainings” that use process meditation; Psychoanalysis and its offshoots adopt the inquiry or free association method.

Invocation of spiritual assistance primarily utilizes prayer. This method invokes the Holy Spirit, or the intervention of an angel or a spiritual Master. This method calls upon the Light of etheric and emotional healing to minister to the wounds of the heart.

Transformation takes two forms: personal and spiritual transformation:

Personal transformation approaches use perspective shift, acting from another frame of reference, confronting fear or limiting beliefs, uprooting excuses and making a firm commitment to deal with the issue, facilitating realization or “aha moments,” experiencing breakthroughs or “personal wins,” or courageously doing that which is risky or scary.

Spiritual transformation uproots the karmic seeds that underlie these unfinished issues, using techniques that lead the spirit to open the inner channels of Light and Sound (the Nada), and/or to unfold the Soul and its vehicles of consciousness through methods like Bija mantra or Kriya Yoga, or through Light Immersion methods.

If people do nothing, or simply take medication to make the bad feelings go away temporarily, the issue will not resolve. If they put off dealing with the issue, it will not be finished. If they avoid the issue, it will not be ended. If they make excuses about the issue, or blame others, it will not be worked out. If they delude themselves about what the problem really is, they will not be freed from its continual rankling. If they continually think about the problem, but don’t take action, the issue will remain incomplete.

People don’t complete things because they don’t use the tools designed to help them complete things. If you use these tools effectively and resolutely, you will finish these issues and move forward in your life.

If you don’t use them, you will remain stuck in the past—in the morass of should have, would have, could have, I regret that, sorry that I didn’t, must not have been meant to be—and all of the other mental quagmires that impede your forward progress towards success and fulfillment.

Some of these methods you can learn to use and do for yourself; others may require the assistance of a professional counselor or therapist. Realize that if you do not take action on these issues and work to resolve them, however, they will continue to hound you until you finally resolve them and finish them for good. May you summon the courage and resolve to not be bound another day by these incomplete issues of your past.

Concretizing Imagination

Concretizing Imagination: Container, Structure, and Reality

By George A. Boyd ©2022

Q: I seem to be very good at getting ideas, but I don’t seem to follow through with them to produce anything practical. I have an active imagination, but I don’t seem to be able to move from the act of creating a vision of what I want to generate a product or service that expresses that inspiration I received. Any suggestions?

A: To concretize imagination, you need three things: (1) a container, (2) a structure, and (3) reality.

A container is a means of expression. If you have an artistic idea, you have a business as a professional artist that enables you to market your art to others. If you are a psychic, you have a business in which you perform readings or do channeling, for which people will pay you. If you are an entrepreneur, you have a business that enables to market your product(s) or service(s).

Structure is the way you package your products or services. As a writer, you write poems, essays, short stories, screenplays, or novels—you present it in an agreed upon format. If you are a scientist, you write your research papers in a format that scientific journals require. If you are a psychic, you deliver readings in an orderly way within a time parameter—you might do a half-hour in-depth tarot card reading for someone to explore and answer their questions. If you are a therapist, you utilize validated therapeutic modalities to treat a client-specified issue in a time-delineated session.

Reality involves first evaluating the viability of your product or service, actually delivering it, and then monitoring the results you get. For example, if you write an article, you might evaluate whether or not this article is suitable for publication, where you might publish it, and to whom you need to send it. Then you send the article, and you get the results of your query: the publisher will either accept it or not.

Reality has a number of benchmarks that you need to meet to determine whether you can offer your product or service—and make it real:

  1. Reality often requires education and training for you to deliver a service to others. You have to know how to do it correctly and effectively. You have to know what not to do to avoid your customer or client suing you—or to not harm or deceive them. You may have to learn additional skills to augment the delivery of your service, such as sales, marketing, or running a business to provide your service to the public.
  2. Reality means you have to make decisions as to whether anyone will want your product or service, what it will take to create this product or service—and then, if you decide to go ahead with producing your product or providing your service—you will test to see if it produces positive results for your clients or customers and is economically feasible to continue offering it.
  3. Reality demands that you actually enact your idea. It is not enough to simply dream a thing: you must actually do it.
  4. Reality necessitates that you look at results honestly and dispassionately. If you say you want to be a tarot card reader, and you actually start doing readings, you will notice if (a) people are buying them, (b) your customers are satisfied with the guidance they receive, and (c) your psychic reading enterprise is generating sufficient income to warrant you continuing it.
  5. Reality sometimes calls for letting go of non-viable or unworkable ideas. If they don’t solve a problem or provide a solution; if they don’t produce the results you promise; or if people are not buying the product or service you provide and you’re not making the income you expected—you might have to walk away from it.
  6. Reality sometimes compels you to change or transform to make your idea real. Your idea might be viable and has the potential for success, but you need to change to be the person who can deliver it.
  7. Reality obliges you to make a commitment—sometimes a long-term one—to see your idea to fruition. Dreams do not materialize miraculously out of thin air; you have to work at them to make them real.

Those of you who may wish to tap into your creative process may benefit from our webinar series, “On Creativity,” which is available in our Public webinar series. You can preview the webinars of this series in your member dashboard on our website, and purchase the entire series for a discount—or select individual webinars of your interest from that series.

The Personal Fulcrum of Creation

By George A. Boyd ©2022

Q: Why is it that certain people seem to achieve a lot with their lives, when others struggle? Does this have to do with karma? Does this have something to do with their psychological make up?

A: People operate out of mental platforms or mindsets. If they do not inhabit the mindset where they create their own destiny through their volition, they may not act on their goals and dreams, and so you will not see much achievement. These eight platforms are:

  1. Catatonia – In this mindset, you are frozen: you cannot move. You give up completely. At this stage, others must care for you.
  2. Delusion – At this level, you believe there are unseen, malevolent forces that sabotage your life. You feel that these unseen forces control you and command you to do things, even if you don’t want to do them. This is the stage of psychosis.
  3. Terror – At this stage, worry torments you, and you think about the catastrophic things that could go wrong with any choice you make. You envision frightening scenarios. If your worry and fear are compelling enough, you may be afraid to venture out of your home. At this stage, anxiety permeates your life, and any decision is terrifying.
  4. Narcissistic entitlement – When you operate from this platform, you believe that others exist only to satisfy your every wish and desire. They exist only to ensure your happiness. If they do not immediately satisfy your demands, you abandon or betray them—their utility only exists for them to serve you. If they fail to do that, you send them out of your life, and may revile them.
  5. Dissatisfaction – When you function in this mindset, you are unhappy with your life and the world around you. However, you don’t take responsibility to make the changes that will bring you greater happiness or will bring positive changes to the world. Instead, you blame others and act out your anger upon them.
  6. Fantasy – When you act from this level, you have hope and enthusiasm that your dreams could actually come true. But you resort to magical thinking at this level. You may pray to whatever Higher Power you believe in; use vision boards to visualize exactly what you desire; burn candles; and participate in rituals that are supposed to bring you luck, merit, and good fortune. You might gamble or play the lottery, believing this will bring you the money you desire. You invest in get rich schemes that are supposed to bring you quick wealth, only to be disappointed again and again. Those who are overweight may try a series of diets and get thin quick schemes. The issue here is that you don’t make it happen: you hope and believe it will appear magically.
  7. Planning – When you occupy this platform, you become obsessed with goal setting and making meticulous plans. The drawback with stage is that you may not enact your plans, and achieve little. Your challenge here is to find out what holds you back from taking action, and carrying out your plans.
  8. Choosing – Here you discover your Self, and experience that your volition actually carries out the plans you make and reaches the goals you set. At this stage you are empowered. You take full responsibility to make things happen. You don’t make excuses; you get results. In this mindset of self-awareness and personal empowerment, you create your destiny.

The breakthrough that is needed here is for people to discover their Self and operate from this empowered mindset. If people don’t go to the place where they can make things happen, things don’t change and they don’t achieve much on their lives.

In Mudrashram®, we teach you Centering Techniques in our intermediate meditation classes—the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program—to directly focus you on the Self to help you realize it, and in time, to act from this platform.

Psychotherapy aims to gradually rehabilitate your ability to function from this empowered core of your personality.

Coaching expects you to operate from this level, and holds you accountable to achieve the results that you can only do from this place of choice.

It may be that there is a karmic element that influences the mindset from which they operate. You may view this like a curtain of darkness that veils the Self. When you begin to focus on the Self, and allow it to work with the elements in this field of darkness that shroud it, you can begin to retract this covering. As more and more of the elements of this field of darkness fall away, you gain greater integration and personal effectiveness.

There is no magic in this process. There is not a pill you can take, an incantation or mantra you can say, or a special magic formula that will make these dark elements disappear. You need to work on each element in turn until you solve its riddle, and it finishes.

Operating as your empowered Self is your birthright. May you find your way to reclaim it!

Activating Will and Fulfilling Your Word

By George A. Boyd ©2022

Q: I often say I will do something, and then, when the time comes for me to carry it out, I don’t do what I say. How can I fulfill my word and not be such a flake?

A: This is a matter of connecting with your will, and then, ensuring you do what you say you would do. Many people intend to do something, but they don’t follow up on what they tell others, because they are not backing up what they have promised through will-empowered action.

The language that you tell yourself what you are going to do often gives a clue as to whether or not you are actually going to do it. For example, statements that don’t directly connect to action include:

“I’d like to do that. That sounds like fun.”

“I wish I could do that.”

“I want to do that.”

“I could do that.”

“I would do that if [some condition] is present.”

“I might do that.”

“I intend to do that.”

“I plan to do that [without specific time frame].”

“I resolve to do that.”

On the other hand, statements that link to the will include:

“I must do this and I will do it, whatever it takes.”

“I will do this, without fail.”

“I shall do this.”

“I have planned this for date and time certain, and I will ensure it is completed.”

“I am committed to carry out this action at the date and time specified.”

“It is a matter of honor… of keeping my integrity…to ensure this is done.”

“You can count on me that it will be done.”

You may have been surprised to find resolve on the disempowered list. Why is this? A resolution is a decision to take action, but volition must be sustained to ensure that the action you resolve is carried out for as long as is necessary to (a) turn it into a habit and made a regular part of your routine, or (b) perform the chain of actions required to achieve a goal is carried out and the objective is attained.

If you are having problems keeping your word, it is important that you learn to tap into your volition and act from this dynamic, change-creating force. One of the ways you can actively connect with your will is to change the language you use when you promise someone something. Examples of changing your internal dialog include:

Instead of saying, “Oh I’d like that… it sounds like fun,” you can say, “I will be there, without fail.”

Instead of saying, “I want this,” you can say “I will obtain this through [explain exactly what you will do] by [when you plan to achieve it].

Instead of saying, “I intend to do this,” you can say “I will do this, without fail.”

If you can reliably activate your will, you will change your life and achieve the realistic goals you set. Try this and see how this changes your life.