Emotions and intentions are well and good to have under control. But what about the parts of the Mind that you directly control? These next two pieces will be about Values and Forces of the Mind.
First up is Values. Values are the pieces of the Mind you decide to incorporate into your life. A value is something you stand for and therefore determines the quality of your character. If you do not have strong values, your moral compass will be skewed.
For example, someone who does not have a strong value of responsibility will quickly shift blame from themselves onto others. They do not have the integrity to accept the outcomes of their behaviors.
I described values before as the compass of a ship. And that still holds accurate because when you align to different values you understand the direction your life needs to go. Even in times of turmoil or stress, values help you to stay on a course that is true for you. You find solid footing no matter what blows against you.
Values hold you accountable to yourself. You consciously decide what values to hold onto and then explore their meanings. I already outlined in a previous post what Harmony was. Harmony is a value that when focused on will remind you how everything you do impacts the world around you. This is because Harmony as a value reminds you that you are a part of not apart from.
Earlier I spoke about how in some religious settings rules and dogmas are given more importance than spirit. If meditation is the gateway from the Body to the Mind and “being silly” is the gateway of the Body to the Spirit, then Values are the Mind’s gateway to the Spirit. In all honesty, a great example of this is the Bible.
In the Bible’s Old Testament, there were the 10 Commandments and then books and books of laws detailing everything. What people could eat or even wear, specifically the kinds of fabric that were acceptable. The 10 Commandments are more like affirmations that we can involve in our lives to simply be decent people. The laws on the other hand were strict and pretty unforgiving. In the dichotomy of the New Testament, we see Jesus. Not once did he hold any person he met accountable to the laws of the Old Testament. Instead, he held people accountable to the values of the 10 Commandments. He showed that by following those rather than the laws we could all be more caring and kind individuals to each other. He, very clearly stated the greatest of the 10 Commandments was to love your neighbor as yourself. The law of the Old Testament though requires us to judge others.
All of this is later expanded on in the books of Romans and Galatians which both reiterate that to be a follower of Christ we have to turn from the Law and live as Christ lived in acceptance and kindness to all. The example of Jesus was to show that values were stronger and more important than rules and dogmas.
I mentioned that the 10 Commandments are affirmations. I also outlined my core affirmations in my post on meditation. Affirmations are a statement or series of statements that detail your values and what you will or will not stand for. I strongly encourage anyone on a spiritual path to sit with their values and craft their set of personal affirmations. When you do this it has a way of forcing you to evaluate the things you hold dear in life. You realize how different things are connected and the strings that hold them together.
A quick Google search on personal values can yield numerous options. I already discussed Harmony, Acceptance, and to a lesser degree Temperance in the post about Rituals. There are two more values I want to cover more in-depth as well. These are core values that when integrated into our lives open us to more possibilities and freedom from damaging beliefs and behaviors. They are Wisdom and Responsibility.
Wisdom
This is the easier of the two to explain. We have all heard knowledge is power. Yeah, but the more you learn the more you realize how little you know. And in the end what good is knowledge if it is never applied? Wisdom is the application of knowledge AND the application of experience. Knowledge is simply a collection of facts that you accumulate. Experience comes from the events in your life. When you are present and in control of your life you can evaluate the events of your life and assimilate the memories; you become aware of things that you do or do not like.
When a situation arises, you draw on the knowledge or experiences to be more discerning of what is going on. You can then decide on the best course of action to take from there. This is wisdom at work. I can read a recipe and “know” how to cook that dish. Until I experience making the dish that knowledge is useless. I can experience anger but if I do not know the triggers behind it then I will never be able to avoid it or express those triggers. Knowledge and experience together are what form wisdom.
As you grow in a spiritual lifestyle, wisdom is one of the fundamental of all fundamental values. I keep saying that spiritual lifestyles are hard lives and we need wisdom to get through all the hurdles that we face. That is how we grow though. We encounter experiences and obstacles that we honor as lessons to help us become stronger better versions of ourselves. With wisdom, we navigate these moments quicker and it gets easier the longer we go.
One powerful phrase to sum up wisdom is, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” -Theodore Roosevelt
Responsibility
Ok, this one. This is a very widely misunderstood value. Before I dive in let me say it simply first. Duty is what we have to do, responsibility is what comes after we have taken an action.
When we act there is an equal reaction. Responsibility is not the actions we have to take. Can responsibility lead to actions we need to take? Sure. Those are the duties that we earned from our previous actions. If I get a woman pregnant and have a child then my child is my responsibility. That child is my reward/consequence (depending on the perspective) and now I have duties to perform towards that responsibility.
Having the value of Responsibility gives us the foresight to think through our behaviors and actions before we do them. Again, proactivity versus reactivity. In a spiritual lifestyle, we learn to take account of everything we do. Every tiny action matters to us. Every word we say has weight. We evaluate each thing because we want the best outcome from our actions. We desire to have rewards over consequences, that’s just a part of being human. When we do have consequences though we do not dwell or ask for pity from others. We usually say, “Well…that just happened. I know better for next time.” We move on and take in the lesson and go on to become stronger from it.
Again, with a quick Google search, there are a ton of personal values to incorporate. They will help to direct you and keep you in check. In the examples I gave for intentions, we can see values that were missing. The pastor was missing the values of confidence, leadership, and compassion. The saboteur had loyalty but needed kindness, integrity, and respect. The meditation group leader needed authenticity and honesty.
I purposely threw in that the saboteur had a value before stating the ones they were missing. I wanted to show that having one value in your life is not enough. Having a broad range of values not only helps you direct your actions but also helps you to be in balance with other values. If you are directed only by Harmony you can easily fall into the trap of saying, “I did my part.” An excess of Harmony can lead to a shifting of blame and a lack of Responsibility. Excess of Responsibility can cause you to take on blame for things you have no control over which is, oddly, a lack of Acceptance, because sometimes acceptance is realizing what we need to let go of. Values are what help you to become well-rounded and multi-faceted.
Values you can focus on from a foundational level are:
Harmony
Being a part of not apart from
Acceptance
Determining what needs to stay or go
Wisdom
Application of knowledge and experiences
Responsibility
Accountability of outcomes from our actions
These are a good start to values if you do not have a framework already because they create a balance among themselves. This is a good point to go into a meditation state and reflect on your life. What values have you utilized or embodied? What do you believe in the core of your being? What directs your choices and actions? What do you wish to exude and embody for others? What example do you want to be? What do you have an excess of and what can balance that?
Thank you for reading as always. I hope you have a fantastic day as always. I look forward to seeing you take direction in your lives. See you next time!
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