Transform Powerful Addictive Communications

Tony Samara, world-renowned spiritual teacher, delivers a compelling talk and guided practice on what addiction looks like and how we can learn to escape the power inherent in addictions. Addiction is natural and part of our evolution that needn’t be judged or worried about, rather we can transform it with meditation and find meaning in the noise of difficult activities.

Transcript

Today, I'd like to go a little bit deeper into certain addictions that happen, Certain ways of looking at life or communicating to life that creates, That creates an addictive sort of behaviour. And of course this is very subtle for most people. The power of addiction is not really as obvious as an addiction to alcohol or sugar or food. The power of addiction is in the attitude. And so today I'd like to share with you a meditation that uses the power of silence to transform addiction. It doesn't mean using silence as a means of being quiet, But silencing the addiction and the power that addiction creates within, Within the way that we think about things, Within the way that we feel about things, Within the way that we communicate and react and understand things around us and within us. So the first step is understanding that addiction is quite natural and actually part of our evolution and the way that the brain functions because of evolution. So we don't need to judge addiction or we don't need to give ourselves a hard time because we do certain things and realise later that we've wasted a lot of time because of thoughts that we've had. We can be addicted to the way that the mind thinks or thinking about certain things or going through the same circle and reacting to certain things through worry thoughts or through negative thoughts or through thoughts that just create a lot of noise and don't allow for each of us to find meaning, Each of us as unique individuals to find meaning in the activity that is so very difficult to understand when you are in the process of addiction. So the first step is to just understand that this is quite natural and that there is a very powerful and easy way to transform this addiction that you are now putting into practice, Which is meditation. Because meditation highlights different parts of the brain that when you are sitting in meditation you are actually transforming the way that the brain functions and this has been recognised through neuroscience today when looking at MRI scans the brain lights up in different places that are very different from those places that light up when in the process of addiction. So through the power of silence, Through meditation, What you are doing is finding meaning in the noise and making friends with the noise of addiction and you are not really doing this in such a way that is obvious, It's not that you have an aha moment and all of a sudden you realise okay this is my addiction and now I know how to transform it and I'll do this A B C, Take those steps A B C steps and everything will change. The brain activity doesn't change in that way through your mental perception or through the mind's activities. The change happens when you make friends with an aspect of yourself that is invisible to thinking that is only highlighted when your mind is in a state of stillness. So as you breathe in and breathe out just allowing for this wonderful stillness, Your meditational attitude to be present in your experience of this transmission. So if there is a noise around you, There is distraction around you, Just allowing yourself to be present not to the noise but to the space of stillness that's within the noise or within the activity. We know that the brain processes sounds and information around sounds in a very specific way but we can find or determine a space where there is meaningfulness within the sound. So it doesn't mean trying to ignore the sound but rather allowing for the brain to change its perception or process changes the way that it processes the information. So you don't need to get in tune with the noise as such, You can just allow for the space of stillness to create a different attitude towards the sound. It's very difficult to understand just through the mind but it's in the same way as you can if there is a lot of people speaking and you're listening to one person you can focus your perception so that you hear in the conversation of many people speaking the one person communicating to you. This is perhaps more easily understood through imagery. So you can imagine the space rather than just get caught by the sounds that are in the background, Whether those sounds be your mind speaking to you, Saying something such as oh this is not good enough or you're not good enough or you're so addicted to this situation, You're so caught up in whichever experience that you're having you can't actually understand what is meaningful in the experience. So when you use imagery you are actually moving the processing of the information to a part of your brain that is much more able to discern what is important and let go of just the random noise that judgment or parts of yourself create when irritated and reacting to the situations that are creating stress. So it's almost as if you look at and focus at the person that's speaking to you. So you can look and focus at the space that is speaking to you in the same way as looking at a person whilst there is a whole conversation happening and listening to the words that that person is saying you can do the same within your meditation. You can imagine this space of stillness communicating to you. Deep breath and just imagining this beautiful space communicating to you. So what you are doing is training your brain to focus upon that which is important rather than just all the noise in the conversation you're focusing upon the communication that's happening. This communication that's happening is not so very easy to perceive. You need to come back to a state of presence. So you're present to yourself rather than the reaction to the situation. It's very easy to get irritated at other people if they're interrupting the communication that needs to happen. Say someone is speaking too loudly or someone is speaking with an irritating tone. It's very difficult to silence their noise and focus upon someone who's perhaps communicating to you in a more gentle manner. But you can do this as you come back to the present moment. So what you're doing is allowing for the power within you. The brain is very powerful. The brain when activated in the correct way through meditation rather than through irritation or stress can be very helpful and empower you to transform your perception of what most of us have to struggle with and that is the noise of the brain. The noise of the mind functioning within the brain. As you let this go, As you come back to just this beautiful picture within this present moment, Within the present perception, Whatever that picture may be. So you may be focusing on a picture of tranquility within yourself. You're just relaxing your body and you're imagining the space around you is tranquil. Even if there is noise, Even if there is irritation, Even if there is a situation that distracts you, Focus through your imagination upon this beautiful tranquil space. Letting your mind, Your brain now begin to connect to the quality of this space in a way that you will not realize until much later. So even if it seems like things are not working, Even if it seems like the challenges within you, Your feelings perhaps challenging you or your thoughts challenging you in a certain way and that doesn't change in your meditation, Even if that is your perception, Realize that there is so much more going on deep within the structure of your brain that is transforming your experience in a way that only becomes obvious much later on. So you're finding calm amidst the chaos of your thoughts or your feelings if they are chaotic because they're being triggered by situations, Your thoughts about yourself or your communications about yourself or other people. Even so, You're finding calm. This calm becomes obvious with time. So empower it through your imaginary focus. Even if your mind is still disturbed by thoughts or upset about a situation, Imagine a different situation so that your brain can restructure and the neurons can restructure, Which they do when you're sitting in meditation. They are, As we know from neuroscience, The brain is restructuring and so the information that it processes is very different. So empower this experience by constantly coming back to a mantra or a visual sound of the mantra. So this means that you imagine the mantra vibrating at a frequency that makes sense to the calmness of the picture. So say you are imagining a space full of light and you're visualizing this and focusing upon this even though there is darkness in your thoughts, Say you're upset or angry at a situation, You're focusing your attention just like when listening to a conversation and focusing on one person speaking, You're focusing upon this beautiful light and visualizing this within yourself, Visualizing the frequency of this picture that you see within yourself, This lightness. So the frequency could be felt in your body so your body can sense the lightness, The vibration of the lightness makes sense to your body directly. You can sense this communication happening right now in the present moment. If you get caught in the thought, Of course your communication channel isn't so obvious. Simply come back to the frequency of light within your body. You may sense this as an emotional response, So you're sensing this lightness and this allows you to breathe a little bit better, Allows you to connect to your feelings in a more conscious way. So the lightness, The frequency of this lightness that you're visualizing now speaks to your emotional body in a very different way than the chaos of the noise that the mind so very often likes to focus upon. And so what you're doing is focusing on one thing at a time because that is what it means to be present. You're working through a transformational process that makes sense to the structure of your brain. And you're comfortable and relaxed and you're visualizing the frequency of this lightness or whatever your mantra is as a sound but also as a picture. Just continue this exercise for a few more moments and you will begin to feel not only very comfortable and very relaxed but also very present to the empowering space that meditation creates within you. You'll feel empowered by being closer and more in touch with your body communication. You will feel empowered because you are closer and more in touch with your emotional body communication, A nervous system communication. So you will be connected and this is what meditation means. You are in a state of connection or oneness with your experience. You're not judging your experience. You're not getting upset because the conversation is difficult to hear or you can't hear. Those qualities that you're embracing within meditation in a very obvious way. You can't hear your heart speak of love or you can't hear your mind connect to your heart speaking or connecting to love in a very specific way. It doesn't matter. Let that go and focus just on one thing at a time. And now in this present moment all you need to do is focus on the vibration of the picture that you are connecting to, Whether that be the beautiful light or perhaps something more specific. You could imagine the beautiful forests, The beautiful trees, An aspect of nature or a situation that brings you back to this present moment. The vibration of the picture that you're imagining brings you back to a connection to this moment through your body, Through your nervous system, Through your emotional body and through your mental body. A wholeness in your experience becomes more clear so that the mind, The way that the mind is thinking becomes less chaotic and there is a coherence within the way that you are now communicating to this moment. You're breathing in and breathing out, Letting go, Letting go of the stress or the anxiety of the chaos and coming back to a state of coherence that perhaps is happening to start with on a very deep level so you may not notice it in a very clear way right now. But as you let go of the structure that maintains the chaos, Everything begins to change. Of course here is where you need to trust. As you trust the experience of lightness or the beautiful forest that you're visualizing or the beautiful frequency of the forest that you're visualizing, Everything changes. The chaos transforms to a state of coherence and the mind begins to function within the structure of the brain in a very different way. You will notice this as you breathe in and breathe out, You'll notice that the brain is transforming in its structure so it no longer needs to hold on to the addictive state that the mind is very happy to exist within this addictive state of being irritated or reactive because of the noise, Because of the situations that we are facing in today's world. Rather you are building up a structure that I call coherence within your meditation that allows you to focus very clearly, Focus on the mantra very clearly so you're breathing in and breathing out and the mantra which is a visual energetic mantra that has a frequency that you can sense now begins to expand within you, Expand within your state of perception, Coherence within the way that you're communicating to the world and within yourself. So every time you find yourself in a noisy reactive sort of state, Someone upsets you or a situation is truly upsetting, Remember you have a choice, You have the choice to energise that chaotic mode of thinking or behaviour or you have the choice to transform the space so that your focus, Even though your experience is chaos, Your focus is coherence, Your focus is coming back to the focus which allows you to connect to the coherence that is being created because the brain is so very powerful, The coherence that's being created within this state of presence, Within the focus that allows you to let go of the chaos and come back to this empowering state that everyone has access to because everyone has a structure within their brain that has the capability to connect fire and wire the neurons in a way that is part of a universal meditational experience. So everyone has this possibility, You cannot say to yourself that this is difficult or doesn't work for me, Simply a matter of practice. So as you breathe in and breathe out, Letting go of the noise, Letting go of the chaos, Keep coming back to the mantra and the frequency of the mantra, Breathing in, Breathing out, Letting go, Relaxing. So very interesting as you do this, Even the noise in the background now stops. You manifest a wonderful sense of coherence in the ways that things develop around you. So very important to keep coming back to this beautiful vibration within the mantra that you're focused upon, Connecting to the vibration. The structure of the sound is within the vibration, Making sure that the mind doesn't slip into a reactive state, Thinking about something that's negative, Just coming back every time that your mind does this, Coming back to, I'm here, Present. I'm present to the frequency of this beautiful mantra, The light that now expands beyond just my thinking, Expands into the space, Expands into all aspects of my experience, Whatever the experience may be, Even if it's irritating or noisy, This beautiful light expands, The frequency of this light expands into this experience, Transforming the way that we process the information. So as you breathe in and breathe out, Trust that your practice brings you back to the state of coherence, Brings you back to this state of calmness within the chaos. Deep breath as you let go, Breathing in, Breathing out, Connecting to the frequency of the mantra. The mantra in sound, The mantra as a vision, Connecting to the frequency of light, The frequency of the beautiful forest, The frequency of a beautiful mountain, The frequency of a beautiful connection to the natural aspect of this life force that we all share together. Deep breath. You may wish to continue for a few more moments, Coming back to calmness, Coming back to stillness, Coming back to this beautiful state of awareness where your focus is to create coherence rather than fall into a reactive state, Fall into an agitated or nervous or anxious state, Coming back to this beautiful calmness within the chaos. Deep breath. Thank you.

Reviews

Mind changing

Thank you Tony so powerful and empowering..this is really inspiring I was working with Anahata my heart chakra and the palest of green soothing and calming me in transformation and coherence as I came out of this meditation I looked out to see a rainbow on the headlands of course the soft green appeared I am so looking forward to this practice again..in huge gratitude..Jacquelin.

Empowering message! 🙏