Mind tricks

The human brain and its formidable resident, the human mind, are incredible entities. Their complexity is so immense and their capabilities so extreme that one often doubts whether everything that one experiences might not be a figment of one's imagination. 

I experienced first hand today what the term 'mental gymnastics' means. I had a concious desire to go to class today, but unfortunately, I was unable to coax my body out of bed in the morning. To minimize the guilt from this situation my mind manufactured a dream, a dream in which I was sitting in class just like I wanted to. It's only when the lecturer started teaching English that I realized it was a dream (we don't have English in our syllabus.)

I believe that all living organisms operate on one basic goal, to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. Guilt is a painful emotion, and naturally, the mind wants to minimize it. This it proceeds to do with whatever resources it has at its disposal. If the body is not willing to take action, the mind creates a virtual scenario to achieve its purpose. Extrapolating this concept can lead to the situation that is painted vividly in the movie "The Matrix." If you haven't seen it, do so now. The concept is very believable and the action is delicious.

So now that I know how proficient my mind is in cheating me, I am going to gain control over it. Meditation seems to be the right way of going about it and this is what I am going to try.