Lorraine at Powerfull Living tagged me to participate in a meme regarding the mind, or a part of it. First, a meme (rhymes with theme) is a unit of cultural information that can be transferred from one individual to another and can be subjected to adaptation, crossover or mutation. Like genes for the body, memes help cultures evolve. In this meme we’re talking of the subconscious mind and what’s good about it. The subconscious gets a bad rep because it’s habitual and drives all our dysfunctions. However, if it wasn’t needed, it wouldn’t be there. It’s one part of a three-part mind, which can be modeled as: subconscious; conscious; superconscious. Each has its role. Simply put, the superconscious is Divine mind; the conscious is human mind; the subconscious…well that’s our subject.

This part of the mind has many analogies. The one I like the best is that of a garden. Think of an untended garden. It’s overgrown, its beauty gone, all manner of weeds have taken over and there’s not much to enjoy there. You can’t even walk through it, it’s so full of obstacles. This can happen to any garden, but it’s reversible.

Like gardens, the subconscious mind is without discrimination. Given the right environment anything grows there. If a seed falls into it unchecked, it will develop. The conscious mind is the gardener. But in the womb, as a newborn, toddler, young child, or even teen our gardener hasn’t yet learned its craft. So seeds are planted and the tangle starts.

We grow up believing things about ourselves and life that are simply not true, don’t belong to us and would’ve been best kept in others’ mind gardens. Alas, the human is a talkative creature and so seeds are carried in the wind of authoritative voices and our impressionable garden is invaded. Then watered and fertilized through the years. After some time we take over this task in the form of negative self-talk.

It’s pretty obvious why the subconscious mind has a bad rep. Despite it’s many sophisticated functions, its lack of discrimination becomes its downfall. It has a powerful influence on us because of its infinite memory. Yet, it’s a pliable part of the mind. This means the garden:

  1. Isn’t dead
  2. It can be weeded
  3. Good plants can have a chance to grow
  4. The soil can be turned over
  5. Fresh top soil can be added
  6. It can be reseeded
  7. It can be daily watered and fertilized by choice

The three minds work together. In the Huna teachings of Hawaii prayers are only successful if all three are in agreement. In Reiki I teach Nentatsu-ho; method for sending a thought or wish. So there’s the capacity of the mind and inner being to actually send a new and healthy thought, and there’s the plasticity of the mind to receive and transform to it.

When I first started meditating it was pretty much impossible for me. What did work was using affirmations to transform old mind grooves and synapses. Eventually meditation mind was born. I continued affirmations for several years, cutting through all the undergrowth. Now my Gardener is awake, the shed fully equipped, the fence around my mind nicely maintained. Visit and tend your garden. There’s a great and bountiful harvest waiting for you!

Read the original meme The Good Side of the Limited Mind by Lola Fayemi.