Understanding your mind is the prerequisite towards aligning with it. Everything physical has limited dimensions – the “mind” (the brain in your body) is physical and hence has limited dimensions/aspects to it.
Anyone who has some awareness can easily see all the aspects of their mind quite clearly, and can also understand/know the aspects of any human mind that they observe. I’ve explained the dimensions present in a mind in this post – the 6 dimensions of a mind.
Each human mind has one dimension that’s most dominant in it and the dimension which is most dominant in your mind defines the type of mind you possess. So basically there are 6 types of human minds – joy oriented mind, love oriented mind, hate oriented mind, fear oriented mind, boredom oriented mind and sex oriented mind. With some amount of observation/awareness you can easily find out what type of mind you possess.
Another aspect of physicality is “negativity”. There are basically 12 types of negativity –
Suppression, Neediness, Over-sensitivity, Greed, Exploitation, Meekness, Cynicism, Unworthiness, Self-pity, Arrogance, Jealousy and Dullness.
The presence of any one of these negativities in you is enough to attract a negative reflection in your external reality. You need to take the time to identify the types of negativity that you carry within, and start working on dissolving it, through your awareness of it, to attract a congruent reality.
There is a definite co-relation between the type of mind you possess and the type of negativity you are likely be carrying within – each type of mind has capacity for only certain types of negativity, for example a love-oriented mind has no capacity for “arrogance” as a negativity.
The benefit of understanding the types of minds, and the types of negativities, is that it helps you easily identify the resistances in you and thus let go of it, allowing for quicker alignment.
It’s my understanding that the reason why people have a hard time letting go of their negativity is mostly because they are not able to differentiate between the natural makeup of their mind (the type of their mind) and the negativity that’s present in it – instead of letting go of the negativity most people start trying to change their mind’s natural makeup which is not possible, and hence becomes a futile endeavor, and also leads to a misaligned/confused life.
Once you free yourself of a negativity within you, you also free yourself of its reflection in your external reality.
The types of negativity
As I mentioned before, physical realm is a realm of boundaries and limitations, and hence everything physical is quantifiable. There are basically 12 types of negativity that’s capable of being present in a mind/brain (be it human, animals, birds or any living organism with a brain) and once you understand them you will have a clarity about the negativity in yourself and in other humans.
Below is a brief description of each of the negativity:
1.) Suppression
We, as humans, indulge in the practice of suppression in many ways and sometimes even associate the word “noble” with it. We like to suppress our natural drives, our natural movement, our thoughts and our emotions, in a bid to feel more in “control” of our life.
However, suppression of any form is not natural and hence always has a negative repercussion.
Once you have a stability in your awareness, you stop trying to suppress the physical aspects in you and allow them to play out in the presence of the wisdom of your awareness. The only reason we ever try to suppress something is out of fear, it’s not “noble” or holy, it’s just fear.
Anyone who is free of identification with fear, does not indulge in suppression tactics or techniques – and thus becomes more “natural” in his/her behavior.
2.) Neediness
When we feel a sense of lack in us we look to the outside for giving us a sense of “completeness”. If you ever feel that you can’t live without something/someone, you know you’ve become needy.
You can be needy for approval, love, physical gratification and entertainment (material or spiritual). Desire is natural, but to be intrinsically needy towards it is a movement of negativity.
There is a big difference between neediness and a desire for a certain experience.
For example, you can desire the experience of an intimate relationship and that’s totally natural, but when you are needy of a relationship the equation is one of negativity. When there is a lack of inner worth, neediness is inevitable.
3.) Over-sensitivity
It’s one thing to be sensitive towards life and another thing to be imbalanced in your sensitivity to the point where it becomes a source of suffering for you.
People who are over-sensitive are easy targets for victimization because of their tendency towards the notion of “self sacrifice” (which seems noble but is just an imbalance). People who are over-sensitive are definitely “nice” but can easily become repulsive due to their suffering-orientation.
4.) Greed
The mindset of over-indulgence is also a reflection of inner lack where we try to use some outside experience to compensate for the emptiness we feel within. Greed always has negative repercussions because it stems from the vibration of lack.
5.) Exploitation
When we lack a sensitivity towards life, we start perpetrating unnecessary abuse and exploitation towards others. There are some humans who even exploit/abuse as means of entertainment, which is quite boggling to contemplate but it’s still the truth of human consciousness.
6.) Meekness
The inability to stand up for oneself, and thus stay in a place of servitude, out of fear, is what meekness is all about. Meekness attracts exploitation in the form of getting bullied, victimized, patronized and cheated. A lot of people misunderstand meekness as humility – true humility is just a state of balance, and it’s free of meekness.
7.) Cynicism
The mindset of being cynical (having a critical outlook) is the one which lacks sensitivity and love. Cynical people are always trying to put others down, usually out of their need for a sense of superiority (which is indicative of an inner lack).
8.) Unworthiness
The mindset of having self-hatred where you intrinsically feel that you don’t deserve good things in your life.
9.) Self-pity
The mindset of wallowing in a sense of “why me” or harboring thoughts like “I am so good but others are so bad to me”. People who wallow in self-pity are prone towards blaming the outside for their miseries and always consider themselves as the victims of life. They sometimes even purposely attract some form of abuse in order to feel more pity for themselves.
10.) Arrogance
The mindset of “I am the best around” or “I am kind of a big deal”, the narcissistic behavior. Arrogant people genuinely feel superior about themselves but their lack of sensitivity towards life causes them to stay disconnected with several aspects of well-being.
11.) Jealousy
The mindset of comparison where you feel bad about the well-being, or abundance, of others.
12.) Dullness
This negativity arises when you develop a feeling of hopelessness towards life where you just become insensitive to its aliveness.
The different types of minds and their negativity
Here’s a brief description of the types of minds and the negativity each type is usually prone to.
1.) Joy-oriented mind
Such minds have a capacity for exuberance, excitement, passionate outlook and a child-like playfulness (which is not the same as holding on a child-identity).
These minds are more oriented towards work that feels playful and creative, rather than work that requires a high level of organization, meticulousness and structure. They like working in relaxed environments rather than pressure oriented ones. When you subject a joy oriented mind to a monotonous or aggressive work-situation, it can feel burnt out and irritated.
The various negativities that a joy oriented mind can be prone to (based on its outlook and conditioning) are – Greed, suppression, neediness, jealousy, meekness and arrogance.
2.) Love oriented mind
The eternal romantic, this type of mind is mostly poetic in its outlook to life. A love oriented mind has a deep capacity for being caring and affectionate. It has a desire for constant romance in all aspects of its life be it career or relationship – not suited for aggressive or pressure-oriented jobs.
The various negativities that such mind can be prone to are – neediness, over-sensitivity, meekness, jealousy, unworthiness, suppression and self-pity.
3.) Hate oriented mind
These types of minds are mostly serious, have a low sense of humor, tough, exuding an aura of aggressiveness. Such minds lack the aspect of sensitivity, to a large extent, which gives it the capacity to be brutally competent and goal driven. They easily fit into work that requires aggressiveness, leadership and ability to handle pressure.
The various negativities that can creep into such a mind are – arrogance, exploitation, greed, jealousy and cynicism.
4.) Fear oriented mind
People with this type of mind are highly sincere, loyal, committed and serious. They mostly lack a good sense of humor and most of them are highly organized as a bid to keep their life as structured as possible. They are suited for jobs that require meticulousness, and even monotonous jobs (which suits their serious mindset).
The various negativities that can be present in a fear oriented mind are – neediness, meekness, jealousy, unworthiness, self-pity and suppression.
5.) Boredom oriented mind
People with this type of mind are mostly laid back, they talk with a drawl and usually come across as being “sleepy”. Some of them actually have a high intellect level and they fit into monotonous jobs as well as strategy based jobs which require a lot of discernment and tact. They exhibit a lot of “alpha” characteristics because they are usually slow in their movements, serious and not easy to impress.
The various negativities that they are prone to are – dullness, suppression, cynicism and unworthiness.
6.) Sex oriented mind
All minds have a sexual nature, but certain minds are totally dominated by this dimension. You can sense the aura of sexuality in these people is so strong that it just shines like a neon light.
They are highly connected with their own body and have a deep capacity for sensual appreciation. They do well in jobs that require people management (most of them have a strong charisma), leadership and creativity. They also fit into monotonous jobs depending on their intellect level.
The various negativities they are prone to are – dullness, greed, suppression, unworthiness, arrogance, cynicism and exploitation.
Awareness brings the aspect of wisdom
All these types of minds can get imbalanced in their dominant dimension as well as in other dimensions in the absence of awareness (which brings wisdom and balance). The various negativities are just signs of imbalance stemming from a place of disconnection with an inner wisdom and wholeness. In the presence of awareness, you can align with the natural makeup of your mind while also bringing a field of wisdom to its expression.
To try to change the natural makeup of your mind is totally futile, because it’s hard-wired, it’s your natural conditioning coming from the intention in which you were born. You need to let go of fighting your natural makeup and move towards aligning with it consciously.
What’s required is to release the negativity, because it’s only the negativity that attracts a misaligned reality for you. When you align with the natural makeup of your mind, and release the negativity, you are now in a place to attract a highly congruent reality for yourself.
Sen
When one reaches that point of awakening, is there very few thoughts flowing through ones brain? From what i have understood when one is enlightened there is huge gaps between any two thoughts you have.
I ask you this because even though I have been doing your practices and have been feeling way way better my mind still tends to have racing thoughts from the moment I wake up until I fall asleep. What can I do to fix this
Robert, when the momentum of negativity ebbs away in the mind it basically becomes free of resistance. In this place the mind is free to think at the pace it wants, as per the need of the moment – sometimes there can be less thoughts and sometimes the pace can be high, it totally depends on the mind’s requirement, need and natural makeup. The only difference is that there is no intensity of negativity in the mind. This whole myth about the pace of thinking slowing down after enlightenment is just another misguided teaching (given by teachers who don’t have a deep understanding of human minds) which has been a source of huge confusion in the seekers.
Brains with high IQ which are involved in creative thinking, would have high pace of thought and whereas a brain that’s naturally slow would have a slow pace of thought – enlightenment has nothing to do with changing the pace of your thinking, it only removes the resistances from the mind, so it’s very possible that your mind becomes capable of faster thinking in a state of alignment. The problem is not with the pace of your mind, the problem is if there is negativity in it or if there is a resistance in you towards the mind’s movement. When you are free of resistance, your being feels spacious and the movement of the mind is no longer a source of disturbance, no matter how much the pace of the thoughts be.
Perfect, makes so much sense. But when is it that we feel that spaciousness in our being . I know that is what I’m lacking I feel cluttered
I’m loving your website. I see my racing brain as both stimulating when I’m balanced, and fearful when I’m not! (Right now, I’m frustrated, blocked in my process. Angry too. I am Aquarian and love the idea of freedom from fear.
On a scale of 10 = extreme negativity to1 = free from negativity, I see that suppression of my Personal Power happens as a result of fear, over- sensativity. (at that point, unworthiness and neediness can raise their ugly heads)
Interestingly, My mind type is almost a split between Fear and Love! (Does this make me bipolar. The website above is the result of my passion, driven by fear and love for adventure and humanity. Two psychiatrists say I’m neither bipolar or ADHD. My need for freedom, to live in a mentally healthy and aware community has inspired this Local Free Economy concept as well.
(I am lonely for lack of real kindred spirits but avoid groups because of the herd mentality I often witness. Meyers-Briggs personality Profile says that I am INFJ (said to be approximately 3% of the population) … but I don’t really understand why and would love your explanation to this INFJ 3% thing.
Than you so much for all you are doing here, Robert.
Sen-
when you say don’t mind the mind. Does this mean the emotions as well? Or are you referring to just thoughts?
ralph, during the phase of letting go, you just allow the mind to have its free movement and also allow the emotions in the body’s energy space – just stay open to whatever arises and soon its intensity will start ebbing away. So, when I say don’t mind the mind, I am referring to thoughts and emotions.
I would love to learn more about this subject and would love to know what foundation you base the informations you write about? I am not budhist but I am curious to know if it comes from Budhism or any other religion. Love reading all of them. I would like to read more from other sources. Thanks
Nari, I mostly write from my awareness of my own mind and the sense I get of the human consciousness as a whole. I’ve not studied any tradition like Buddhism or zen, neither am I into any religion per se. I was able to grow in my awareness through the insights in the book “the power of now” by eckhart tolle. Beyond that I’ve just allowed my own awareness to be my guidance towards understanding what feels congruent and what feels off.
How do the different types of minds manifest in us as children as well as adults? Is it easier to see the type of mind you have based on looking at your behaviors as a child? Thank you kindly in advance for your response.
Seva, if you look at kids with some awareness you can easily sense their “mind type”, their mind’s core personality becomes very evident, this core personality is what remains for a life-time (its’ hard wired) except that one gets more mature with age. A lot of people try to suppress this core personality due to some false conditioning or in an attempt to fit-in, which causes them to feel disconnected within and also causes them to attract some disconnected realities. It’s true that its easier to see the mind type in a child (almost uptil the age of 10-12), because the child has very little “pretense”, but beyond this age the child can start taking up pretenses, or fake personas, in a bid to fit in.
Sen, I think I realise that I feel a need for approval from my parents, which might not be forthcoming in so many words. Does this come from a lack of self-worth? The funny thing is, sometimes I sense their need for approval from their kids(me and sibling) too. Please guide
The need for approval stems from a lack of self-acceptance or self-love, thus a lack of inner wholeness. To have an awareness of this pattern in the mind is the first step towards releasing it. Once you become keenly aware of this patter in your mind, and you see it operating/acting out under certain situations, you can start seeing the energy of inner lack that precedes it. Once you see this energy of inner lack, and its momentum in you, it’s about dis-identifying from it by no longer buying into its pull. It will take a while before this energy loses momentum depending on how stable you are in your dis-identification, but eventually it does. The basic fear of the mind that without outside approval you are “nobody”, or you are not good enough, however this assumption comes in out of a false belief that your identity depends on the outside approval (created as a child when you were dependent on the elders for your survival). Once you see through this lackful belief, you can start letting go of it and sense that your sense of being is not dependent on any outside factor. Your being is unique in its expression and once you align with yourself it becomes the means to attract the reality that’s congruent with you.
Many thanks Sen
Thanx 4ur presentation.Bt how about Superconscious Mind,Normal conscious Mind and Subconscious Mind?thanx in advance
Super conscious is a term used to indicate the intelligence of our inner being from where intuitions arise (or intelligence coming from streams of guiding consciousness in the non-physical), sub-conscious is simply the “habitual patterns” in our mind created through conditioning (including beliefs), training and behavioral habits. Conscious mind is the our capacity to think through a free awareness, when we are not lost to our subconscious mind’s pull. As you grow in your capacity for awareness (your conscious observation/thinking) you can see through all the pattern of your subconscious mind, and let go of patterns which are acting as resistance in your being, this release of resistance gives you smoother access to the super-conscious mind (or the intelligence of your life-stream, as I call it)