The Buddha said, "Even if one conquers thousands of men in thousands of battles, he who conquers himself is the greatest conqueror." He also said, "Heedfulness is the way to life, heedlessness is the way to death. The heedful never die, but the heedless are dead alreay, though living."
The Buddha is talking about methods to end our own suffering through evolving our mental processes and habits. When we stay stuck in the past and in our past reactions, we stay stagnant.
Neuroscience calls the process of evolving our brain and our reactions to our environment neuroplasticity. At one time it was thought that by the time we were adults our brains were hardwired and the way we viewed the world was firmly established. Neuroplasticity says that we can change our brains dramatically and that the brain is designed specifically for you to do exactly that. When our thinking changes, the outcomes of our lives change. We can be available for an endless amount of experiences. We just have to have the willingness to have them.
In order to change the mind and the way it works, it takes patience and practice. We have to take time each day doing something called "mental rehearsal." Mental rehearsal is used by NASA and is also used by many sports organizations. Participants mentally practice something that they have never experienced before. The premise is that mentally rehearsing something becomes as real to the person as the actual experience itself. In fact, the brain can't tell the difference between what it's remembering and what it has actually experienced. New neuro-nets are formed because of this and the brain evolves.
For example, in Superbowl XLIII, James Harrison set an all time record for his 100 yard return on an interception right before halftime changing the course of the game. This is a once in a lifetime experience and was never experienced before by James Harrison. What he had to do to arrive at this moment was accomplished during practice sessions, both mentally and physically. He had to understand how the Cardinals' offense worked and learn the tendencies of quarterback Kurt Warner. James Harrison had to put time in each week growing and changing his brain because each opponent's offense is different. His mind had to become greater and more available each week under the pressure of playing teams he has never played on the Steelers' weekly schedule. Practice comes first....but grace comes in, too. When something amazing happens, like the 100 yard return, it illustrates the magic of grace meeting effort in the natural world.
We can do the same thing by developing our ability to pay attention. By sitting each day for a few moments of mental rehearsal of our choosing, we develop a neuro-structure capable of contemplating new possibilities and experiences until they are made manifest. What we think about, we bring about. We get better experiences when we reach for better thoughts.
Practicing over and over commits our new neuronets to continue firing together. They get stronger until they become our new way of being. We become what we contemplate.
After Superbowl XL, Ben Roethlisberger contemplated having an even greater outcome the next time he played in such a game. Superbowl XLIII was a dramatic contrast to his Superbowl XL performance. This time Ben Roethlisberger was key to the Steelers' win because he was mentally wired for the experience. His last drive to Santonio Holmes was cool-headed and adaptive in the last two pressure-filled minutes of the game. The fruits of his mental practices can be seen now in Steelers' history, giving them the sixth of their Superbowl trophies. Superbowl XL was a template for Ben Roethlisberger to work from, but his conscious attention to improve his future outcome took effort and courage.
Courage and effort equals change, as opposed to stagnation and laziness, which keep us where we already are.
Ben's decision to have a greater outcome came also with the reward of being asked to appear on David Letterman, which is another new adventure that has come from the fruits of actions which started way back at each of his practice sessions. Everything starts by simply showing up to practice.
In the movie What the Bleep Do We Know, Dr. Joe Dispenza peaked the interest of every viewer who saw it with his "I Create My Day" interview. He said:
"I wake up in the morning, and I consciously create my day the way I want it to happen. Now, sometimes, because my mind is examining all the things that I need to get done, it takes me a little bit to settle down, and get to the point of where I'm actually intentionally creating my day. But here's the thing.
"When I create my day, and out of nowhere, little things happen that are so unexplainable, I know that they are the process or the result of my creation. And the more I do that, the more I build a neuro net in my brain, the more I accept that that's possible. It gives me the power and the incentive to do it the next day."
