How to overcome and break our patterns? | Mohanji
First of all, we need to recognize the patterns. How do we clear a disease? How do we overcome a disease, i.e. illness or sickness? What does the doctor do in the beginning? Diagnosis – understand what exactly the problem is or what exactly is the situation. The doctor needs to know what exactly is the problem with the body and the situation. Or if it’s mind related, what exactly is happening in the mind, and why it’s happening? What’s the cause?
Expressions
So, first of all, understand that we are a bundle of patterns. There are no people on earth. There are only expressions of patterns through bodies called people. We are all a bundle of patterns. Life after life after life, we came back in different bodies to experience almost similar patterns. Almost, I will never say 100 per cent because time changes, space changes, birth changes, and desires also can change. But mostly, inclinations and tendencies are connected to patterns.
First and foremost is to recognize those patterns. Some things repeatedly happen in our life. Look at it, but then again, what happens with patterns is that most of the time, we do not accept patterns. We got to accept patterns. This is existing; I have these patterns. If you do not accept patterns, what you’ll do is resist patterns.
Resistance
When you resist patterns, what happens? They become stronger. It’s like you go to the gym, and you work out; you push certain things. You pull certain things; you pedal a bicycle. All this is to strengthen your muscles. Similarly, when you resist something – in the gym, it’s all resistance practices, right? When we pull something or push something, we are fighting against resistance to develop our body. Similarly, when we resist patterns, patterns become stronger.
Acceptance and surrender are very much needed. The first is diagnosis. Understand there are patterns. We are all bundles of patterns. Nobody is better. I am the same as you, and all of us are a bundle of patterns. We are actually experiencing the play of patterns all our life. Nobody is immune to it. We are only experiencing the play of patterns all our life. We are not able to come out of it. And that’s why we keep coming back. The more we resist, the stronger the patterns become.
Vasanas and desires
Patterns are not just one thing. That’s a combination of many things. Some of them appear as our vasanas (inclinations). Some of them appear as desires. Some of them appear as our character, our constitution, and even the shape of the body. Some of them come as to where we are born, in which circumstance we are born, with what the circumstances are throughout our life. All the time we live, all these are coming out of patterns. So, we need to know that patterns are not just one thing. It’s a mixture of so many things.
Fears
Fears are connected to patterns. Love is connected to patterns; the ability to love is connected to patterns. Many people do not have the ability to love. Even if somebody loves you or even if you receive love, many people do not know how to handle love. Many people reject love because the pattern is such that they don’t have the capacity. Not that individuals don’t have the capacity. All of us have the same capacity, but patterns control those capacities.
Human birth
Patterns control everything. So, we sometimes don’t understand that we have tremendous capacities which can make us connect to supreme consciousness. Human birth is an amazing birth. This is the only birth which helps a species like us to connect to the supreme consciousness. We can experience supreme consciousness. This is the beauty of this birth – not to eat, drink, sleep, and experience things from the world. That’s part of it. That’s also part of our reason for birth, but connecting to the highest potential in one lifetime – that’s our real purpose, the real cause. This is eclipsed by patterns.
The highest potential of human birth is to be one with God, one with the supreme consciousness, and one with the supreme energy that sustains the universe – continuously sustains the universe. Everything that’s born has an expiry date; everything that’s born has to die.
God consciousness
So, what is unborn and what’ll never be dead; if you are not born, how will you die – that consciousness is available to be experienced. This is the God-consciousness, Christ consciousness. This is exactly what we are talking about. We have that potential. Human beings have that capacity. And this potential is completely eclipsed or hidden because of our patterns, our likes and dislikes, our fears, and our prejudices. So many factors of our life are all rooted in patterns.
How do you overcome patterns?
First of all, understanding that there are patterns. Secondly, accepting there are patterns. Thirdly, witnessing the patterns, but not interfering. If you are not affected by patterns, you’ll come out of it. If you are always affected by patterns, you’ll resist them, and you’ll maintain them. It’s important not to be affected by patterns through acceptance. Fundamentally, accept yourself. Accept your life and accept all situations of your life because all situations have provided only one thing for you – experiences.
Memories
And what’s your bank balance of life? Memories. You have the choice to have great memories from every experience. Some of the experiences might be traumatic; some are very pleasant. Both are experiences. Don’t discriminate against them. Everything that has come to you has strengthened you, given you understanding, given you certain stability, and also will go. Whatever has come will go. Nothing stays forever. “Even this shall pass.”
Understand this very clearly so that you can always watch and witness the pattern and have nothing to do with it. They come, they stay, and they go – past, present, future. This is how time exactly works in terrestrial life. It’s on a linear level. It’s a flow – yesterday, today and tomorrow; like that, it goes. But experience is connected only to the present. We cannot experience the past because, at that time, we had another experience. It’s finished. We cannot experience the future as yet because tomorrow has not happened today. It’ll come tomorrow.
So, experience is strictly connected to the present time. And while you are experiencing, if your mind is not there, you’ll not experience. The presence of the mind is very important. The mind is giving you that particular flavour for your experience, and it’s individualistic. Each person experiences each situation differently because it’s based on your mind, your moods, and your situations. This is exactly how it is.
So, patterns can be dissolved, provided you’ve accepted them and you recognize them first of all, i.e. diagnosis. Then you accepted them, and then you allowed them to come and allowed them to go while you’ve always watched all your life from a witnessing mode as if you’re watching a feature film on the screen. You are not acting. You’re not participating, but you are experiencing. Why do we go to movie theatres? To experience feature films, knowing fully well that it’s not affecting you because you’re not a participant. You’re not a participant. You are a witness. Similarly, if you are able to witness your life, it’ll give you a similar effect.
Life will come, experiences will come, experiences will go, and you’ll always remain stable. People come to your life to give you experiences. Situations come to your life to give you experiences. Everything comes to you, or you meet everything for the sake of experiences. That’s it. If you reject it, you lose it. Experiences will happen. But if you reject the experiences, you’ll lose them. This is important to understand. So, do not resist; accept and keep moving forward.
Transcribed by Ulla Bernholdt
Proofread by Yogesh Pandit