Using Words During Conscious Mental Rest

by Pru Joy
(Albury, Australia)

A query has arisen in my mind in the last few days of practicing CMR & that is the use of specific words or concepts during the session - is this conducive or misleading as to true "rest"?

I ask this because I do find that there are just a very few words encapsulated into a concept that spring "bliss" on me just about whenever I put my consciousness on them - thus during my CMR session I find I occasionally like to introduce them to experience that feeling of "union" too - HOWEVER ... at the same time that I may feel attracted to do that I also feel that CMR is not about the use of any kind of mental constructs at all i.e. words or concepts & that I shouldn't really need them in that space.

One thing I know for sure is that ANY form of mental construct is a POWERFUL distractor from pure stillness.

So I vacillate a bit & am left with a bit of a "?" mark on it.

The Purpose Of Life Is The Expansion of Happiness

Gavin's Answer:

Pru, that is an interesting question. I am sure many people would love to have a word or two that they could use to invoke an experience of bliss whenever they desire to.

As I understand it, you have found that certain words or concepts enable you to experience bliss as soon as you think them, and that this has happened or does happen outside your Conscious Mental Rest sessions.

You are correct in saying that using those thoughts during a CMR session would not be conducive to the intention of allowing the mind to rest.

I think it is wonderful that you are able to experience bliss in day-to-day living. Whenever we feel good inside, be it happiness, joy, bliss, enthusiasm, and so on, that feeling is life-supporting and enhances our overall well-being, including our health.

When it comes to Conscious Mental Rest, however, our intention is not to want to experience bliss during the session, but rather to allow the mind to take some rest -- hence the name, Conscious Mental Rest.

Giving your attention to those word-concepts during CMR would tend to keep the mind at the surface level of thinking and feeling, and would not allow it to follow its natural tendency of settling down to quieter levels. It would then be something like contemplative meditation, which is not what CMR should be.

It is those quieter levels of mental activity -- where we don't deliberately think thoughts -- that allow the mind-body system to start to normalise its functioning. Some call this stress release.

This process is important for unfolding more of our inner potential and unlocking from within the creative consciousness that is the essence of our very 'being'. To deliberately give attention to some thoughts, ideas or physical feelings during CMR would arrest that natural process.

So, my recommendation is that you stick with the simple instructions for Conscious Mental Rest, including the ending-off procedure and moving easily back into normal activity.

Then, if you feel so inclined, at some other time during the day you could set time aside to give your attention to the bliss-invoking thoughts and ideas. But don't mix the two. Keep that separate from your Conscious Mental Rest period.

Thank you for an interesting question. I hope my answer is helpful to you, as well as to anyone else who has had similar thoughts to yours.

~ Gavin

This site is about happiness and how to be happy

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