What is our mind? My thoughts on Pure O & psychosis

I’m John Glanvill, author of The Calmness in Mind Process for Overcoming Anxiety, OCD and Depression.

I’ve called this video “dreaming a new dream” because undoubtedly, we all dream one dream or another!

I’m dreaming my dream of life, and you are dreaming yours.

We share a common objective world out there, but we each have our own subjective experience in here. (Head)

This unique inner experience is our interpretation of life formed through the lens of our conditioned experiences, our thoughts, feelings, the chemical soup that flows around us, and our values, beliefs, actions and (of course) our inactions.

And if your life is not how you want it to be, how might you become the dreamer of a new dream? One based on love, self-esteem, courage, action, gratitude, self-worth, trust, optimism and calmness – regardless of what is happening around you, to you or within your mind and inside your body.

Evolving as the calm rider of an unruly (and easily startled) horse who is going through the process of being cleverly and lovingly reprogrammed.

And though the little horsey thinks his thoughts and stories to be true, we (as the observer) can easily watch those old patterns – safe in the knowledge that thoughts have no meaning, except for the meaning that we give them? And we can stop giving thoughts any meaning!

And, perhaps we can look at those around us who are living calmly and happily – and explore what their minds are doing well – that ours is not?

How can we copy their view of reality?

Whilst acknowledging that who we learn from needs to reside outside the family environment we were initially programmed by, so these different learnings can append to those we already have – and we might call this process personal growth or expanding our skill set, or value to the world.

And as we adopt new perspectives – there will be some emotional disturbance, but we no longer use ‘trigger’ words like fear or anxiety, we call it what it is – it’s just some biological discomfort – because we are doing new things – and that’s OK, it’ll pass – our desire to expand our lives now trumps the old stories and emotions that endeavour to shrink and imprison us.

The mind can be calm – even if the body isn’t.

This is a skill we learn through the process of repeatedly (and lovingly) exposing ourselves to the obstacles which prevent our dreams from becoming a reality.

And to help ourselves we think bigger by using metaphors like jumping in the deep end, letting go, cutting the rope or faking it until we make it.

We practise the ability to keep our attention on one thing, the task at hand – regardless of what the mind’s thoughts or the body’s emotions are doing – because this is what courageous people do.

Imagine how productive we might be if we put as much thought, energy and action into achieving our goals as we do into worrying about stuff and procrastination.

So, can we make dreaming a new dream, our mind dreaming a new dream, one of our intentions?

And can we make trying to live those intentions our art? Can living our life (in line with our new dream) become our art? Can we create something beautiful?

When I was young, I didn’t see myself as an artist. I couldn’t draw, paint or sculpt – however, having said that (if I’m honest), I never adequately tried, I didn’t take any lessons, and I wasn’t spending hours a day practising.

I just had one quick attempt and then believed my mind, which told me, “you’re rubbish at that!” And so I stopped trying and unconsciously adopted that belief.

Funny, really, as when I became an engineer, I became a very skilled draughtsman and subsequently worked for CAD software companies designing

and demonstrating 3D modelling and visualisation software – and yet, I still didn’t see myself as an artist.

I guess the point I am trying to make is…

I had (at a very young age) associated the word “artist” with paintings, and because I couldn’t draw, I couldn’t be an artist.

When there I was – producing technical drawings that were subsequently used to manufacture and assemble complex power stations that provided energy across the world.

If we take that analogy even further, I can now see that I have learned the art of becoming a good communicator, developed the art of becoming a good teacher and acquired the art of becoming a calm person.

It’s taken a lot of effort, and I’ve changed my career four times, and I have an intention for one more career change, of which I have no skills (yet) but a huge desire to learn.

And working on that dream of my life and following that dream (to the best of my abilities) is my art – regardless of the outcomes.

This is why I keep asking you – who do you want to be, and what do you want to do with your life? What is your dream? Can you make living your dream your art?

Will your art become – the best parent, plumber, writer, teacher, health care worker, cleaner, spouse, gardener – the best you can be in whatever you choose to do?

And that might not mean you are the best person in the world at what you do – just the best you, you can be at doing it.

Who could ask for more?

Or will your art be achieved through who you become – calm, happy, loving, inspirational, a leader, a facilitator, a carer?

A wise man was once asked, “What is the meaning of life? And he replied, “Life itself has no meaning, life is the opportunity to create a meaning…” Now, I really like that perspective.

Let’s look at it another way – could you be content, just being in this world, selfishly doing whatever you wish – hedonistically doing whatever you desire – why not?

There are plenty of people out there surfing, travelling, exploring, racing cars, climbing mountains, playing guitars, riding bikes and experiencing all they can – if they can, why not you?

What do they have that you don’t? Well, I’ll tell you, a really compelling dream – a desire to go and do something, change something, or experience something.

Plus, if you are selfishly passionate about what you are doing, your happiness about doing it will positively influence those around you.

For your life to become an expression of your art? What would need to change? What would you need to learn? And how can you keep practising until you master the many new skills you’ll require?

But (and this is so important) develop those new skills chasing your dream, rather than waiting till you have those skills to start your journey!

When I first became a therapist, I only had five sessions of good material, but I had a client who came every week for two years because she loved my work. This forced me to learn something new and creative each week for them.

This resulted in me developing one hundred sessions of good material within two years, which is now morphing into this course. I didn’t wait until the course was finished before I released it, I publish it as I create it.

Where is this course going and what will happen to it – I don’t know? I just keep creating content and we’ll see!

Can you begin to realise that you only need to be one step ahead of the game to succeed, though your mind may tell you a completely different story?

Now, I know it is all well and good, me going on about all these positive things – when you may be facing crippling anxiety or are so depressed you can’t get out of bed – these statements may seem like pie in the sky!

But if not now, when? There is only now. It’s what you do now that will change all your future nows. Get out there and live life, otherwise, life will pass you by.

In truth, it’s having a new dream that will get you out of bed – it’s by changing that old story that keeps running in your mind.

Can you turn anxiety into excitement? – As I have often said, excitement is just anxiety with an “Oh yeah” story rather than an “Oh no” one!

So, in this video, I want to explore what are the stories of the mind which stop you from living your new dream now?

Are you unconsciously talking yourself out of doing what is good for you through fear and pessimism – or consciously talking yourself into doing what might be good for you with love, optimism and trust?

Therefore, now might be a good time for us to explore what the mind might be!

Because people say, “I won’t change my mind.” Or, I can’t make up my mind.” Or, “My mind won’t stop racing.”

So, a serious question might be – what is this mind that we keep referring to?

Is your mind part of you (the Observer), part of your body (the horsey), or part of your brain?

In just one throw-away comment, like, “I changed my mind.” – Who is the I, and what is the mind that needed to be changed?

Now I know I am being pedantic – but this is essential knowledge – What is your mind? What is its job? And what is its relationship to you, the Observer, the rider, the immortal, infinite Soul (should that be your perspective)?

And even if you don’t think you have a soul and are just having this one-off life experience, what’s your relationship with the mind?

Well, to me, it looks like this – but, as ever, it’s not the truth; nobody knows what the mind is. But here is the model I used to find calmness within my head, thus subsequently within my body.

I imagine the mind to be part of the brain (neither of which are me) they are functions of the body.

I see the mind as being a screen that thoughts are projected onto.

To me, the mind doesn’t do anything. It’s just a screen – a blank space where thoughts, ideas, concepts, words and images can be created, displayed, presented, developed, explored and played around with in silence, (meaning, the screen is silent) even though the brain is adding lots of commentaries and stories.

In my model, I call it the mind screen, like a chalkboard, whiteboard or computer screen.

A good analogy might be – to liken it to the cinema screen that the movie is projected onto. The screen is not the movie, but without that screen – we cannot watch the movie.

It’s the same with thoughts – the mind screen is where the thoughts are projected onto, and without it, how would we be able to see them?

In the simplest form of my model, the mind screen has two sources of input – thoughts may arise from the unconscious brain, just suddenly appearing out of nowhere, or from the conscious brain which knowingly decides to consider a thought. Thus it appears on the mind screen, ready for the process of thinking and analysis.

You could say you are holding that thought in mind – or more accurately, on mind. On mind screen.

Of course, these two sources often interact, like when you are consciously (or deliberately) considering a problem, then all of a sudden, an answer just appears (coming up) from your unconscious brain.

As we know from my early videos, your body responds to what’s ‘on your mind’ – scary thoughts scare the body, and happy ones make it feel happy.

But no thoughts (or a clear mind screen) send the body into its most favoured mode, the silent, rest digest and repair mode – where your emotional battery gets its best rapid charge.

So, the next question might be, who (or what) is looking at those thoughts, images and stories being displayed on the mind screen before their manipulation and analysis – which we might call thinking, problem-solving or creativity?

As I see it, we have five main aspects of ourselves that look at (and interact with) the mind screen.

Firstly, our conscious logical thinking brain (as well as adding thoughts) will be looking at the screen to see what the unconscious brain might be adding.

Equally, the unconscious brain will also be looking at the mind screen from time to time, though much less often – as so many of its decisions come from

automated programs that fire off before you even have a chance to consciously intercept them.

Examples might include:

• Getting angry.
• Criticising another person.
• Sticking your nose in the fridge.
• Feeling embarrassed.
• Lashing out.
• Trying to please others.
• Apologising for things you haven’t done.
• Or whatever your unwanted responses may be.

These things just unconsciously happen, and then you consciously try to analyse where they came from and why. And I am asking you to ban the word why!

Just see them as old, outdated, unconscious programs that need to be consciously replaced with new optimistic (and more positive) stories via intense repetition of your new dream.

The third aspect (or watcher) of the mind screen is the ego – your protective personality – your little eight-year-old – who wants you to be safe and do well, to not look stupid, to fit in, be the best – or however your ego is wired up.

Then, fourthly, we sub-divide the ego into smaller fragments who watch the mind screen – these are our personality traits and characters. The introvert, the extrovert, the Settler, Nomad, Warrior, the pleaser, the judge, the victim, the princess, the wounded child, the hero, the fixer, the rescuer and all those learned behaviours and thought patterns.

Then finally, the last part of you watching the mind screen is your Observer – but this is the only one who is (for the most part silent) he just watches – whereas all the others are noisy, opinionated, and squabbling with each other.

I hope this is making some sense? 

So, the next concept I want to share with you is profoundly important – but it is only a metaphor, a concept or a tool you can use to understand yourself better.

There is no such thing as the mind!
Let me repeat that. There is no such thing as the mind!

It’s just a word, a label, a catch-all term – that describes all aspects of the brain interfacing with each other, and each has different needs, perspectives, contexts and contents.

And all these many thoughts, ideas, concepts, memories, learning and triggers – are projected onto the mind screen.

But, the screen is just a screen – a place where we can see our thoughts, explore them, play around with them – or ignore them.

You don’t have to look at the mind screen. You can place your attention elsewhere! Like on your toes or completing a task like washing the dishes.

The screen is inanimate – it doesn’t make any decisions. It can’t find answers or stop you from doing anything. Those behaviours come from all the different aspects of your brain – each with differing perspectives, needs and opinions.

You can’t ask the cinema screen if it liked the movie – because it is just an inanimate screen.

So, if we are saying “I can’t make up my mind”, or “my mind is racing”, or “my mind won’t let me do that” – we are blaming something that is not real for our thoughts, decisions and behaviours!

This means we do not own our problems. We are not taking responsibility for our decisions by blaming the mind (which is only a screen).

Let me give you an example.

You might say, “I can’t make up my mind.” Which implies you are blaming the mind for its inability to give you an answer.

But, can you see that you’re not taking responsibility? You are deferring to the mind, which is only a screen – upon which all the many parts of you are quarrelling and squabbling and (within themselves) unable to find a resolution.

And rather than saying, “I don’t know what to do in this situation because the many opposing facets of my personality are in mental disagreement.” We say, “My mind won’t let me find an answer!”

We are unknowingly deferring responsibility to something that cannot be responsible!

Let me show you how deeply ingrained all of this is…
If I said, “What I have just proposed might be hard for you to get your mind

around.” You’d say, “Yes, it is.”

But you can’t get your mind around it – as we don’t have a mind!!!

It’s a trap, a trick. We only have a mind screen that we blame for our inability to make decisions – because we haven’t yet mastered the brain skill of thinking from one perspective, in one context and on the appropriate content, one at a time.

An example of this type of single perspective thinking might be.

I may choose to solve a certain problem from the Warrior’s perspective? Therefore I must be forthright, honest, ignore my emotions and take action.

As such, I can accept that my Settler will probably feel uncomfortable and a little embarrassed.

So, let me just jump across to another single perspective – that of the Settler, to see how he may advise me.

And the Settler might say, “OK, I am uncomfortable, but I know we need to do this. I accept we need to be more forceful than usual; otherwise, nothing will change. But please (Warrior) don’t swear or get angry.

Then we switch back to that previous Warrior single perspective, and, perhaps, the Warrior replies, “I can see your perspective; I respect it and will factor that into my actions as best I can.

Can you see how powerful this can be – rather than having all the characters talking simultaneously? The screen gets too busy, and the body gets too overwhelmed.

What I like to do on my mind screen is imagine a large table, a bit like King Arthur’s round table, where all the many aspects of me sit.

My primary me’s are my Warrior, Settler and Nomad, but there are also my introvert, extrovert, judge, victim, pleaser, rebel, creative part, practical part, my scared child – and if you’ve been doing the work, you’ll be aware of your inner characters, like in that Disney film Inside Out.

And whoever you think is best to chair the meeting places a proposal on the table and says, “OK, team, here is the problem we are facing. Let’s discuss what we are going to do.”

In the previous example, I used the Warrior. Could you imagine him explaining the problem from his perspective? Then you go around the table, jumping into each of your characters and looking at that problem from each single and unique perspective.

You are using the mind screen as an arena where you can orchestrate the thoughts and ideas of your brain in a beautiful, creative and respectful new way.

So, can you see why I keep asking you to find clarity about who you want to be and what you want to do and to explore all facets of yourself more deeply?

I am challenging you to expand your range of behaviours.

Now, for a calm person, (usually) the mind screen is pretty empty, meaning the conscious part of your brain looks down onto the mind screen, and it’s blank. Nothing is happening.

You might say the many aspects of the brain are quiet as not much is being projected on the mind screen.

It’s very easy to sleep when this happens, and the body is usually very calm. You might say this is the default state we are looking to be in most of the day, thus allowing us to be continuously recharging our emotional battery.

Not wasting that precious emotional energy thinking unnecessary thoughts. Or another way of saying that is – stop worrying! Please, stop worrying about the virtual reality future that hasn’t yet and may never happen – and let go of all your past stories and leave them behind you – take them off the mind screen!

Now, beneath the mind screen, many things are happening in the unconscious part of the brain.

Millions of calculations keep you balanced, breathing, digesting, repairing, growing and processing the reams of data from your senses which inform your unconscious brain of what is happening inside and outside of you – and it is automatically considering what actions may be in your best interest.

In this unconscious brain realm is where all the automated programs I keep talking about reside. The unconscious brain automates everything it can to save you thinking time, thus allowing you to respond rapidly for your safety.

In our early evolution, before we developed the conscious brain (our prefrontal cortex), the unconscious brain would give us commands via our emotions, the agitations of our organs, a pleasant feeling means yes, a bad feeling means no, instructing us to move towards good things and away from the bad – as I discussed way back in video two.

This ‘feelings’ process is still in operation, in the background, and we might call that instinct or intuition.

However, these days, since we developed the thinking brain, which facilitated us moving from emotional creatures to emotional creatures who now could think.

We seem to have become overly attached to this logical and rational part of the brain – when perhaps, we don’t need to be so identified with it.

Einstein said that the intellect is a wonderful servant but a very poor master – and I agree with him!

Every other animal on the planet survives pretty well without using language, without thinking deeply or using an advanced logical intellect!

Dogs don’t think “my paws are dirty, and my owner will get mad if I jump in the river or roll in that mud.”

They just do what feels right to them at that moment. They (luckily) don’t have the ability to think as we do, which means they don’t have the same capacity to catastrophise, worry or turn themselves inside out worrying about things that needn’t be thought about!

What is, is just what is.

We don’t need to know why things happened, why people did what they did, or why we did what we did.

If we could have done better, we would have done better, but we couldn’t, and we didn’t! It just was, so now we let it go.

Remember, we are just advanced animals trying to live up to an unrealistic and romantic concept of what it is to be a perfect human!

In life, whatever happens, is just what happens – we don’t have to give it any meaning.

Animals don’t. They act on a whim, a scent, an instinct, a vibe, an emotion, an energy field – and nothing is post-datedly analysed.

I think our early ancestors (though having tough lives) may have been far calmer than us – like we see in many animals.

Their pure innocence and lack of inner self-judgement allows them to live in the now. They don’t add stories to events or compare themselves to others – I think we can learn a lot from them.

It’s like the joke – “Who is mans best friend, wife or dog?” Well, lock them both in the trunk of your car for an hour and see which one is happy to see you when you let them out!

Harsh – but an interesting perspective. Which of them were running the most stories on their mind screen, resulting in them having overwhelming emotions and judgements? (pause)

How can we limit the stories played out on the mind screen or see those stories in new ways?

OK, so – let me continue expanding my metaphor.

When a brain is operating well, helpful information will be passed up from the unconscious brain and displayed on the mind screen for the conscious mind to observe and then decide whether to take action or not.

Let me give you an example; if a friend said to you, “Who starred in that film with the big ship and the iceberg?”

Your unconscious brain would rummage around in the records until it found the answer. It then projects it onto the mind screen, where it just appears to your conscious awareness, and subsequently, the automated voice response tells your friend the answer.

Now, if you are able to step back far enough, you’ll see that – this is an automated process, the brain just does it! – But your ego steps in and claims credit for finding that answer and telling that friend!

But your ego was not part of getting that answer, though it took credit for the result! It says, “I did that? How cool am I?”

It’s so obvious, but few people see things this way. For the most part, you are not thinking; you are the Observer of what is being thought within you.

It’s likely that your brain answered that question about who was in the film, gave you an answer, projected something onto your mind screen – and perhaps your ego might have had a little smile?

But nobody was asking you to answer that question! It just happened in your brain – because that is what the brain does, you have a brain, but the brain is not you.

Now, we can laugh at our ego when we catch it doing this; however, this egoic propensity has an enormous downside.

Because if the ego believes it is he who is really doing it, then if the answer is wrong, or the information can’t be retrieved, then it is also he who is stupid or has a bad memory.

When, in truth, he had nothing to do with the process at all, even so, that story of being stupid or having a bad memory can escalate into a belief system.

I know this is complex – but I hope you can (at least) begin to grasp what I am pointing to. It took me fifteen years to understand this.

I was trying to get my mind around it, but it was only when I realised there is no such thing as the mind that I was able to comprehend this new perspective or paradigm shift.

And until you can see this too, your little ego will be failing left, right and centre – because the brain’s automated memory retrieval system is not very good.

How can it be? All those cells, neurons, synapses, thoughts, images, experiences and memories are squished into our grey matter. It’s lucky we can even remember our names!

So, a common error that anxious people fall foul of is – they try to force the brain to find answers, they strain to consciously find that information, and say things like, “Oh what was that word? I know it; it’s on the tip of my tongue; this is silly; it’s so simple; what is wrong with me?”

But, this style of trying to conscious force thinking does not work, it takes processing power away from the unconscious brain and it clutters up the mind screen.

So, even if the unconscious brain found the answer and posted it to the mind screen – it may be challenging for the conscious brain to quickly identify that information amongst all that chaos on the screen!

We’ve all experienced trying hard to consciously remember something, only for it to appear on the mind screen quickly once we stopped trying.

As I keep saying, the unconscious brain is a million times faster and a million times more powerful than our intellectual brain.

And we must learn to trust it, accept its flaws, marvel at its creativity and consciously get out of its way!

OK, —- I hope you are still with me — as I further expand my mind screen metaphor – based on my experiences over the last two decades?

I would like you to consider that – nothing can experience itself from itself, a thought is just a thought until it is viewed from a new perspective.

Let me give you an example – if a thought is projected up from the unconscious brain onto the mind-screen, like, “What’s that noise downstairs?”

That thought (or question) is now available to be viewed by all aspects of the brain – the judge, victim, pleaser, rebel, father, son, brother, friend, enemy, introvert, extrovert – and all the many stories you have about yourself.

Then one, or many of them, will start to offer (to the mind screen) their thoughts and opinions of what you should do.

One might say, lock the door. Another, go down and check it out. Perhaps another saying, “It’s just the cat.”

So onto the mind screen will be projected all the different aspects of yourself inputting all their varied ideas.

One part says be brave and check it out – whilst another says hide under the bed.

There is no right or wrong, just lots of differing brain opinions.

And remember, because our body thinks what is happening on the mind screen is true, it will respond emotionally to those thoughts.

Can you see how quickly the mind screen gets full?

Most people think it’s their mind that is thinking, but it’s not!

It’s is the many facets of the brain all projecting their individual stories onto the mind screen, making it busy and confusing, thus potentially overwhelming them mentally and physically.

And finally – above all those perspectives, we have the Observer – the immortal rider who always lives in the now and silently witnesses this soap opera playing out in the poor little horseys head.

Therefore, what I have been teaching since the beginning of this course is – how quickly can you jump directly to the Observer’s perspective, evaluate what needs to be done in that specific moment, act upon it, and stop all the ‘what if’ (future) and ‘if only’ (past) stories, clear the mind screen and return the body to calmness?

Anybody who has done a lot of meditation will know what I am talking about here – as you sit silently with your eyes closed, the Observer is just watching the mind screen with the goal of practising letting go of every thought, image or story as they arise.

The goal is not to stop the thoughts, just to detach from them, to not analyse them, to not ask why they are coming or what they mean.

You might say smart meditators are so focussed on the nothingness of the blank

mind screen, that thoughts are just peripheral happenings that are of no consequence.

People with anxiety, and especially OCD seem to be addicted to the mind screen – they think they need to think to be able to function and that all thoughts need to be considered as true, acted upon or analysed to find out why they are there and what they mean.

One of the biggest surprises I found as I escaped anxiety and OCD was that (for the most part) I don’t need to think – I just instinctively (or intuitively) know what to do.

Most of my old thinking was just running stories dwelling on the past or fearful stories about the future – or beating myself up for not being who I was conditioned to expect myself to be!

So the goal is to keep the mind screen as free and uncluttered as possible by focussing on the silent screen upon which the thoughts are projected, not the thoughts themself – unless you are in a situation where you do actually need to think like reading a map, doing some mathematics or planning something.

Let me share with you another of my theories about the mind screen.

Some complex thinkers or those with OCD seem to have a see-through mind screen.

What I mean is – not only can they see what thoughts are presented up from the unconscious mind to be displayed on the mind screen – they can also see through the screen (as if it was clear glass) into the workings of the unconscious brain – which is a place they shouldn’t have access to.

I think the unconscious brain works a little like this – a problem or situation arises like “What’s that noise downstairs,” then in a millisecond or two, the brain runs

through every scenario it possibly can whilst pattern matching to the safe and unsafe databases of the amygdala.

It might at one end of the scale, imagine a burglar coming in who might try to kill you, to the other side of the scale of the cat coming in the cat flap or noise from a dishwasher.

The unconscious brain then evaluates all those options and how you might best respond – then projects its well-considered conclusions to the mind screen.

Perhaps, it posts a thought that says “there is noise downstairs, but it is OK as it’s probably the cat. Why don’t you quickly check to see if moggy is OK?”

But what if you have an OCD mind screen that allows you to consciously observe and see all the unconscious brain’s workings?

You might be thinking, why did my brain think there was a person in my house? Why is my brain saying it is only my cat when it could be a murderer?

Can you see that you weren’t supposed to see all those workings of the brain? It was just the unconscious brain running every scenario it could (good and bad), trying to offer you the best and most likely solution.

I think this particular (brain pattern) perspective – points toward the source of psychosis or Schizophrenia, which is the inability to distinguish between reality and imagination, thus making a person unable to ground themselves.

A bit like in the movie Perception, where the characters had that little spinning top as their definitive link back to reality as they explored deeper and deeper down into the ‘pseudo-reality’ of their brain’s thoughts, memories, other dimensions or lifetimes.

I don’t see Schizophrenia as a disease – I see it as a condition that evolves over time, in the brains of clever individuals with potent imaginations who were never taught clever grounding concepts to manage all of their creativity and have no constructive outlet for all that energetic imagination.

To make it worse, they are given drugs to manage their fear thus further skewing the very reality they desperately seek to ground themselves with.

As you know I am not a psychologist (I am just sharing with you the ideas that surprisingly arise on my mind screen). My initial education was in engineering (maths and physics), but as I learned about the brain from psychologists, I saw many things from a slightly different perspective.

They were saying psychology was the scientific study of the brain which included conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings, but I could only ever see this as a pseudoscience.

How did they know what was going on in my head? How can you prove a dream? How can you prove what reality is when the thing doing the proving (the brain) sits in the darkness of the skull taking inputs from senses that are known to be fallible and trickable – as I discussed in video seventeen.

To me, we are all psychotic, but that is OK. We flip between our inner world which is real and the outer world which is different, but also real, and the degree to which we can flexibly handle this and feel comfortable being out of control, or not knowing – is the degree that we will be less psychotic – and we might call that calmness.

A person with complex anxiety or OCD tends to be chasing answers to fictitious questions (from the brain’s imagination, which they shouldn’t be seeing) which lead to doubt, fear and the inability to trust themselves or others.

Just knowing this can be so releasing!

As I said in an earlier video if you were Stephen King, the horror book writer and you had unrequested thoughts about rape, murder, clowns and evil demons, you’d say, “Wow, what a creative mind I have, let me turn my imagination into a book.” He wouldn’t believe any of it, he just has a creative brain — cool!

But a person with OCD might say, “What if I was to do those things, I must be a bad person, so I will stay away from other people!”

Two very differing perspectives – and which one do you think is most useful for a calm and happy life?

So, my advice (if you are an over-thinker) and are seemingly consciously peering into the workings of the unconscious mind through the mind screen, then trying to answer questions about content you weren’t supposed to see.

Can you imagine there is a button or lever that allows you to adjust the opaqueness of the screen to make it solid? You don’t need to see or analyse the inner workings of THE brain – it’s an automated process – begin to trust it, but don’t believe it!

Now, in the final part of this video, I would like to expand my mind screen metaphor one last time by adding two new concepts founded on my experiences.

The first is based on what happens to thoughts and memories that are not transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory as you sleep at night.

As I mentioned in videos 18 and 26, all day long, everything you see and do is stored as short-term memory in your prefrontal cortex.

Then, if you get enough sleep, that short-term memory data is passed either to your unconscious long-term memory (if it is in line with your beliefs) or discarded if not.

A good example of this might be someone who believes they are unloveable. During the day, they may have been told they were loved ten times and criticised twice.

Then, during sleep, when the short-term memory is transferred out – anything in line with the belief system is kept and stored in long-term memory, and everything else is sent to the bin.

Therefore, if his belief system was that he is unloveable, the memory of the criticism is sent to long-term memory, and the ten times he was told he was loved are sent to the bin.

Thus ensuring his story of himself and the evidence to back it up is kept in his brain.

This is why changing a belief system is so important – and why sleep is so critical to emptying the short-term memory, so it is empty the following day and not all blocked up and foggy.

Now in this expanded metaphor – all the short-term memories and life experiences that were sent to the bin – are, in fact, sent out of the brain into some sort of cloud storage.

Bear with me here, and remember this is a metaphor because nobody really knows what happens!

So, I imagine that there is a remote hard drive or a cloud hosting storage area outside of the body where everything you forget (or is discarded from memory) is stored.

I use this metaphor because so many times in my life, during deep meditation or as trauma was being released, long-forgotten memories would suddenly become available on my mind screen – seemingly retrieved from some distant storage source.

It’s as if every thought and memory is stored offline in the cloud, including those our ego has hidden from us as they were seemingly too horrible to remember.

The retrieval of these repressed memories and the subsequent processing out of any attached trauma is such a massive part of finding calmness, as I discussed in video 15 part two.

The second area of expansion is regarding some external power or source of knowledge that is available to us and can be input directly onto the mind screen.

Some might call this Spirit, Source, God, Higher self, or the Universe connecting with us in some way. The renowned psychologist Carl Jung called it the collective unconscious.

Now, if this concept closes you down, that’s OK, but remember Don Miguels Ruiz’s Fifth Agreement – “Be sceptical, but listen anyway!”

It took me many years to rise above my highly rational and logical intellect, who (back then) couldn’t conceive of such options as being true.

But once I made my intellect (my conscious thinking) a resource rather than thinking it was me (because, of course, I am the Observer) – a whole new world emerged.

Many of my realisations, ideas, metaphors and concepts were just made available to my mind screen from some external source that certainly wasn’t me – during times when my Mind Screen was deeply calm during meditation or contemplation.

Nobody is more surprised than me when these ideas come – like a download into me, and they happen mostly when I am not thinking and when the mind screen and body are calm.

I’ve heard many authors, inventors and musicians say, “The idea just came to me out of nowhere. I just copied it down and then figured out what to do with it.”

Nikola Tesler would keep a notepad by his bed as he would often wake up in the night having had blueprints for machines just downloaded into his brain – you might say, onto his mind screen.

He and many authors openly credit something (outside of them) for their ideas – or they’ll say, “the book just wrote itself. I just copied the words down as they appeared to me in my brain.” – On my mind screen.

So, can we tap into or make space available for this potential source of knowledge to become known to us?

During my meditation sessions – I clear my mind screen, like an etch-a-sketch – I shake it clean and ensure it is not see-through as I don’t need to be distracted by the workings of my unconscious brain.

I then propose questions or ask for inspiration from the universe and request that what it sends me to appear on my mind screen.

I might say, “I have this particular situation can you show me new ways to look at it?” Or, “Can you provide me with some new concepts? – “Can you help me to see this differently?”

That then becomes my meditation, to keep the mind screen clear from all the conscious and unconscious chatter the brain tries to hook my attention with.

Things like, this is boring, my back hurts, you haven’t cut the grass yet, I can’t believe it’s June, and it’s raining, wasn’t it sad when you were ten, and that thing happened, why are you such a bad meditator, why haven’t any ideas come up yet….. Blah, blah, blah.

I keep my awareness and attention on that blank canvas, the mind screen, and in those moments, I am learning not to be hooked by my brain’s characters and all their silly stories.

And often, good stuff comes up from somewhere.

Surely, if you believe you have a Soul, then wherever that Soul returns to is still attached to you in some way and therefore (potentially) can communicate with you?

Now, you don’t have to believe me about all this. In fact, I don’t want you to believe me. I just want for your awareness to be open to the possibility – enough for you to go and find out for yourself.

This is my story, which is very real to me; it’s my subjective experience of this objective world.

And as I said at the start of this video – we are all dreaming, and what is your dream? And can you make your dream pleasant and let it become your art?

So, in summary. The headlines I’d like you to consider are…

There is no such thing as the mind, it is the mind screen onto which thoughts, images and stories play out.

Stop referring to your mind as if it is real, like in “I can’t stop my mind from racing” – as that allows you to blame an inanimate part of your brain rather than taking responsibility for your addiction to the brain’s thinking.

Recognise that the ego tries to take credit when the brain works well, but also thinks it is responsible when the brain does not operate effectively. This is a trap as the ego is not a part of the brain’s operational system.

In some people, the mind screen is see-through, enabling the conscious brain to see into the workings of the unconscious brain. This is not supposed to happen and causes the individual to wonder why the unconscious brain is exploring such extreme scenarios.

And finally, can you open some space on the mind screen to allow old repressed memories to be pulled back in from the cloud or for the Universe to give you new ideas that can expand your sense of self and how you interact with life?

I know this is a lot to take in, be patient, watch this video a few times and just watch what slowly happens.