There are different types of dungeons (prisons) that we can create for ourselves and fill with all sorts of dragons.
The Dungeon of the Mind
The mind ‘holds’ thoughts. The thoughts that we have about ourselves create the image that we hold of ourself. Then negative thoughts (dragons) or thoughts which waste our energy imprison our minds making them restless and peaceless.
There was a little monkey that found a pitcher filled with nuts. He put his hand into the pitcher intending to take out a handful, but he found that he couldn’t extract his fist when it was full of nuts. No matter how he tried to pull out his fistful of nuts he couldn’t, all he experienced was pain. To finish the pain he only had to let go of the nuts! This is how our minds can get stuck and trapped.
As a prisoner of our mind we find that it:
– wanders all over the place, galloping away with us at a fast pace. Negative and peaceless thoughts are always fast and out-of-control.
– is easily attracted/ pulled by a smell, something it hears or sees, by other people etc.
– becomes trapped or bound by in its’ own circle of negativity.
The Dungeon of the Heart
The heart ‘holds’ feelings. The mind and heart are closely connected as thoughts produce feelings, just as when you churn milk you produce cream so churned thoughts turn into feelings. If at the end of the day you feel bad or low it’s worth checking what kind of thoughts have been going round and round in your mind all day? Once we know what particular types of thoughts create what types of feelings we can begin to work to change our thoughts and so the contents of the heart.
Why is it that good feelings come and go but ill feelings tend to stay?
Ill feelings result in illness for the heart. In a spiritual context the greatest heart disease is disheartenment. If there are ill feelings in the heart my thoughts become bound to those feelings, producing more negative thoughts making the mind and the heart both become more deeply imprisoned. The more the heart becomes imprisoned the harder and/or more bitter it becomes. The more the mind churns on the feelings of the heart the more sensitive/merciless becomes.
The Dungeon of Relationships:
These are the ones that bind or gag you. As a prisoner of the mind (and its negativity) and of the heart (and its ill feelings) our relationships become filled with doubt, fear, distrust, suspicion, insecurity, dependency and the need for praise or appreciation.
The Dungeon of Work:
This is where the heart and the hand work together, but now the relationship with the task becomes robotic and monotonous.
To free ourselves…we need a new paradgim
