Silencing the mind

[Archaea]

In the series of books written by Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan continually stresses the importance of being able to silence the mind and stop the internal dialogue. Don Juan suggests the reason for this is that a person uses energy to maintain a continual internal narrative of their lives, thoughts and feelings, and this energy could be better used by the individual to gain their freedom.

Don Juan also says that from a state of silence it's possible to change perceptual modes through will. He explains to Castaneda that by saving the energy that would normally be used maintaining the internal dialogue and the subsequent false self-reflection which follows, the individual is able to move or shift the assemblage point, so called because that's where perception assembles.

While the assemblage point can move anywhere, provided the individual has saved enough energy, there are two main desired states. The first is the point of higher awareness, the second is the point of silent knowledge, where the individual is able to know things in a silent, and I believe objective manner.

So it really goes full circle, according to Don Juan by being able to achieve a little bit of silence and save a little bit of energy, it's possible to achieve greater amounts of silence, and through this gather knowledge and awareness.

I also think that Don Juan's model of silencing the mind is reflected in this snippet of the Ra material. Here Ra outlines some exercises which lead to an understanding of healing. From The Law of One, Book I, Session 5, January 23, 1981:

Questioner: We have decided to accept, if offered, the honor/duty of learning/teaching the healing process. I would ask as to the first step which we should accomplish in becoming effective healers.

Ra: I am Ra. We shall begin with the first of the three teachings/learnings. We begin with the mental learn/teaching necessary for contact with intelligent infinity. The prerequisite of mental work is the ability to retain silence of self at a steady state when required by the self. The mind must be opened like a door. The key is silence.

Within the door lies an hierarchical construction you may liken unto geography and in some ways geometry, for the hierarchy is quite regular, bearing inner relationships.

To begin to master the concept of mental disciplines it is necessary to examine the self. The polarity of your dimension must be internalized. Where you find patience within your mind you must consciously find the corresponding impatience and vice versa. Each thought a being has, has in its turn an antithesis. The disciplines of the mind involve, first of all, identifying both those things of which you approve and those things of which you disapprove within yourself, and then balancing each and every positive and negative charge with its equal. The mind contains all things. Therefore, you must discover this completeness within yourself.

The second mental discipline is acceptance of the completeness within your consciousness. It is not for a being of polarity in the physical consciousness to pick and choose among attributes, thus building the roles that cause blockages and confusions in the already distorted mind complex. Each acceptance smoothes part of the many distortions that the faculty you call judgment engenders.

The third discipline of the mind is a repetition of the first but with the gaze outward toward the fellow entities that it meets. In each entity there exists completeness. Thus, the ability to understand each balance is necessary. When you view patience, you are responsible for mirroring in your mental understandings, patience/impatience. When you view impatience, it is necessary for your mental configuration of understanding to be impatience/patience. We use this as a simple example. Most configurations of mind have many facets, and understanding of either self polarities, or what you would call other-self polarities, can and must be understood as subtle work.

The next step is the acceptance of the other-self polarities, which mirrors the second step. These are the first four steps of learning mental disciplines. The fifth step involves observing the geographical and geometrical relationships and ratios of the mind, the other mind, the mass mind, and the infinite mind.

The second area of learn/teaching is the study/understanding of the body complexes. It is necessary to know your body well. This is a matter of using the mind to examine how the feelings, the biases, what you would call the emotions, affect various portions of the body complex. It shall be necessary to both understand the bodily polarity and to accept them, repeating in a chemical/physical manifestation the work you have done upon the mind bethinking the consciousness.

The body is a creature of the mind’s creation. It has its biases. The biological bias must be first completely understood and then the opposite bias allowed to find full expression in understanding. Again, the process of acceptance of the body as a balanced, as well as polarized, individual may then be accomplished. It is then the task to extend this understanding to the bodies of the other-selves whom you will meet.

The simplest example of this is the understanding that each biological male is female; each biological female is male. This is a simple example. However, in almost every case wherein you are attempting the understanding of the body of self or other-self, you will again find that the most subtle discernment is necessary in order to fully grasp the polarity complexes involved.

In the above excerpt, the first exercise given by Ra is learning how to silence the mind. It seems to me that this is a foundation for the other exercises. The second exercise, to be done once the practitioner is satisfied that they have completed the first exercise, is to balance all of the things about themselves which they approve of with their polar opposite, i.e. all the things about themselves which they don't approve of.

I think this is a way of gaining an objective perspective about ones self. I also think that doing this leads to an emotional balance of some kind. The example Ra gives is the balancing of patience and impatience, so if you ever feel impatient, stop and think about being patient and vise versa. Some other good ones, I think, are winning and losing, like when playing chess, or finding and losing, like losing money or finding money.

An exercise which I've found helps me stop the internal dialogue that I've mentioned in other threads is to simply listen to the sounds around me, or feel the pressure of my chair or just focus on an object. Another way I've found is to focus on moving my hands or body. I think this works because I'm activating various pathways in my brain which inhibit the habitual pathways of the internal dialogue.

Don Juan say's that as one practices silencing the mind more and more, it becomes easier to do until it's possible to do it at will. Not only that, but at first it's only possible to do it for a second or two, but the length of time which one can maintain the state becomes longer and longer the more one practices. Eventually, according to Don Juan, Silence becomes the natural state and is indefinite.

Another thing I think I should mention just briefly is something obyvatel said in Reply #33 of the Observation must begin from the beginning thread:

The state of absolute quiet is not easily achieved and most of the traditionally known methods to cultivate this state involves isolating oneself from life for periods of time. When it comes, it gives a sense of peace and "bliss", which is much better than the normal state in which we spend our lives. Hence it has the element of attraction and is usually accompanied by a desire to prolong the duration of this state. If one falls for this desire, then the degree of isolation from life tends to increase. This goes against the basic tenet of 4th Way.

So, I think this is where the balancing exercise which Ra talked about in the above snippet comes in. It's not enough to be able to silence the mind, but I think it's a necessary platform for gaining an objective perspective of ones self and world, and also for doing the work.

 

[Faith]

Hello Archaea :)

I've got some questions.

I think this is a way of gaining an objective perspective about ones self. I also think that doing this leads to an emotional balance of some kind. The example Ra gives is the balancing of patience and impatience, so if you ever feel impatient, stop and think about being patient and vise versa. Some other good ones, I think, are winning and losing, like when playing chess, or finding and losing, like losing money or finding money.

What does this mean exactly? Is it just about realizing "I am impatient", instead of seeking the source of my anger somewhere else:"This damn thing won't work, because it's stupid and I deserve better, bla, bla..."? So when I face the fact that I'm impatient, the source of the anger is in me: impatience in this case. If there is impatience in me that is triggered by something from the outside, how do I find my patience? How does this balancing of ones attributes look like in practical terms?

An exercise which I've found helps me stop the internal dialogue that I've mentioned in other threads is to simply listen to the sounds around me, or feel the pressure of my chair or just focus on an object. Another way I've found is to focus on moving my hands or body. I think this works because I'm activating various pathways in my brain which inhibit the habitual pathways of the internal dialogue.

I find this technique interesting. I'm going to try this when something is looping in my head or when I'm feeling completely consumed by a certain feeling that makes me onesided. Is it like dancing, when you do this with your hands or body, a movement out of the ordinary? Or is it part of a practical movement and you just focus on doing it, whatever it is you are doing in that instance?

Stopping the inner dialogue by focusing on the outside reminds me of this thread "Inward Observation with simultaneous Outward Observation" also in the "work" section.

 

[nicklebleu]

I wonder if there is a problem of semantics involved here that poses some problems of understanding.

With "silencing the mind" we often associate states of mind that for instance transcendental meditation is hoping to achieve - a complete cessation of ANY thought at all. But I think that this is not what we are trying to attain.

So maybe we should exchange "silencing" with "focussing". As far as I have come to understand - and I might be wrong - what we are trying to achieve is to stop the incessant internal chatter that goes round and round in circles and is not achieving anything. What we want is to focus on what IS inside of us, without judgement, to kind of take stock. And it may well be a good way to go about that by balancing every emotional state within with it's opposite state, in a purely non-judgemental way.

I think that is one of the things EE is trying to achieve, not to silence the mind, but to focus it on our true internal state.

My 2 cents, please anyone, correct me if I am wrong.

 

[zbuki]

This inner dialogue thread is very interesting to me because it's something with which i've been trying to deal with for a long time so this is just my experience. For me it's very hard to stop it because sometimes it feels like it's an automatic reaction for external or internal stimuli and it starts sometimes whithout my conscious permission. Very often I find myself just like waking up and thinking "why am I thinking about this" and it happens over and over, sometimes I feel like a lunatic because of it. I am very rational about everything and I try to "explain" everything with my linear mind so maybe for person like that it's hard to shut that kind of behavior and just be aware whithout all the explanations and rationalization.

One of the things which was helpful for me, altough I am far away from it, is a concept which I heard from one Croatian teacher, and that is to watch empty space between you and objects which you are observing. It made me sort of impartial for a brief moments to that which I was observing but certain triggers would stoped me from it, or I would just "fall asleep" and forgot about it. From thread on this forum "Brain Waves and Attention" I found reference to this concept. Of course there is a lot more information behind this but I don't feel adequate to write about it. Maintaining this state was very hard for me so that only gave me more proof how linear mind is strong for me, and how many programs are running in my subconscious.

 

[Faith]

What we want is to focus on what IS inside of us, without judgement, to kind of take stock. And it may well be a good way to go about that by balancing every emotional state within with it's opposite state, in a purely non-judgemental way.

Maybe I'm a bit slow today but how is this balancing achieved? Can you give an example from your experience? If I am sensing that I'm impatient does balancing mean to remember a moment, when I was patient, balancing the present moment with a memory of a past moment?

 

[David]

Perceptual modes...? An odd time I’ve practiced focusing on a point and pausing/stopping my thoughts and just being present, I’m just there observing, but fixed on a point, and observing the space outside and observing how I am inside, how I’m feeling, at the same time, I’m just there with my emotions and seeing a mist roll bye, I tend not to do this so much.

If i try walking and some how shifting thinking to just being there walking, I don’t notice much in the way of negative emotions so much, maybe more pleasant feeling, and mist appears in peripheral vision as well.

Although all I seem to be doing is inducing a dissociated state while walking or focusing, thinking I’m doing something, even though I am... but whether its useful or not, perhaps that would be intent.

At any rate it seems good for exercising will... but I wonder about my sanity...

 

[Archaea]

What does this mean exactly? Is it just about realizing "I am impatient", instead of seeking the source of my anger somewhere else:"This damn thing won't work, because it's stupid and I deserve better, bla, bla..."? So when I face the fact that I'm impatient, the source of the anger is in me: impatience in this case. If there is impatience in me that is triggered by something from the outside, how do I find my patience? How does this balancing of ones attributes look like in practical terms?

That's a good question, I don't know. When I first read what Ra said I thought that balancing patience and impatience meant knowing when to wait and knowing when to act. So an excessively patient person could wait for someone who isn't going to show up for a really long time, while an impatient person might not wait at all for someone who is.

However, after re-reading what Ra said, I think it might have to do with accepting that both patience and impatience are a part of our personalities, and then bringing the two thoughts together without one eclipsing the other so that they balance. I think this leads to an emotionally objective perspective of these attributes within ones self.

I find this technique interesting. I'm going to try this when something is looping in my head or when I'm feeling completely consumed by a certain feeling that makes me onesided. Is it like dancing, when you do this with your hands or body, a movement out of the ordinary? Or is it part of a practical movement and you just focus on doing it, whatever it is you are doing in that instance?

It can be dancing, and it doesn't have to be out of the ordinary, it can be anything so long as you're focusing on it. The idea as I understand it is that it takes energy to maintain mental loops or onesided feelings, but it also takes energy to focus on something. Because the energy is being used to focus, it can't be used to maintain the mental loops, and so they stop.

I wonder if there is a problem of semantics involved here that poses some problems of understanding.

With "silencing the mind" we often associate states of mind that for instance transcendental meditation is hoping to achieve - a complete cessation of ANY thought at all. But I think that this is not what we are trying to attain.

So maybe we should exchange "silencing" with "focussing". As far as I have come to understand - and I might be wrong - what we are trying to achieve is to stop the incessant internal chatter that goes round and round in circles and is not achieving anything. What we want is to focus on what IS inside of us, without judgement, to kind of take stock. And it may well be a good way to go about that by balancing every emotional state within with it's opposite state, in a purely non-judgemental way.

I think that is one of the things EE is trying to achieve, not to silence the mind, but to focus it on our true internal state.

My 2 cents, please anyone, correct me if I am wrong.

I think you're probably right about the semantics, and I think that EE is a good way of stopping the internal dialogue, but not if you're counting to yourself. I wonder about the clearing the mind of all thoughts thing though. On the one hand it sounds bad, like an evil super villain wants to empty the minds of the population and turn them all into zombies.

But, if we can observe our thoughts like we can observe objects, then who's doing the observing? I think thoughts are just things, so if we clear our minds of the clutter we can have more "space" to work with. That's just something I've been thinking about though.

This inner dialogue thread is very interesting to me because it's something with which i've been trying to deal with for a long time so this is just my experience. For me it's very hard to stop it because sometimes it feels like it's an automatic reaction for external or internal stimuli and it starts sometimes whithout my conscious permission. Very often I find myself just like waking up and thinking "why am I thinking about this" and it happens over and over, sometimes I feel like a lunatic because of it. I am very rational about everything and I try to "explain" everything with my linear mind so maybe for person like that it's hard to shut that kind of behavior and just be aware whithout all the explanations and rationalization.

One of the things which was helpful for me, altough I am far away from it, is a concept which I heard from one Croatian teacher, and that is to watch empty space between you and objects which you are observing. It made me sort of impartial for a brief moments to that which I was observing but certain triggers would stoped me from it, or I would just "fall asleep" and forgot about it. From thread on this forum "Brain Waves and Attention" I found reference to this concept. Of course there is a lot more information behind this but I don't feel adequate to write about it. Maintaining this state was very hard for me so that only gave me more proof how linear mind is strong for me, and how many programs are running in my subconscious.

I have trouble with the internal dialogue too, I can only focus on something for a short time, but over the period I've been doing this I've found that the time I can do it gets longer and longer. I would suggest that if you're interested just keep practicing.

I like the brain waves and attention thread, the focusing on the space between your eyes exercise helps me when I'm laying in bed and there's a weird changing picture in my minds eye. I think it has to do with resonation alpha waves or something. :)

 

[Anthony]

I think that the main problem with a chattering mind is not the thoughts
but the emotional energy/trauma that are behind the thoughts, it's also what
causes identification. So thoughts are not a problem, it's mainly trauma that
is stored in the body.

 

[Thor]

This brings to mind the place in Castaneda's writings (I don't remember where), where he describes the predator's mind leaving you. As I understand silence it's a removal of the thoughts created by the multitude of little i's or in other words a lessening of the hold of the predator's mind over you.

FWIW, I understand the goal to be a reduction and eventually elimination of the chatter, which is a function of the unconscious needs and desires of the predator's mind, that we take to be our own.

There are several ways to do this. One way is the path of knowledge, where cognitively understanding your own programs allow you to become aware of them as they are about to be launched by which they're no longer unconscious and you can choose to stop them. Another way is devotion (the way of the monk) where all needs and desires are channelled towards God which is the same as saying that the unconscious needs and desires of the predator's mind can't get a solid grip on your mind. Along the same line, as you decrease the ability of the predator's mind to grab onto your own mind, you are not ruled by your own needs and desires and your orientation therefore shifts from STS to STO.

There's also a connection between breathing a the susceptibility of the mind to the predator mind. It is said within yoga that a necessary prerequisite to knowing yourself is mastery of the breath (pranayama). I know very little about the functioning of the vagus nerve and how vagus nerve stimulation impacts the brain waves but from many years of pranayama experience I notice how pranayama (and this goes for EE as well) not only has a short term effect but daily practice shifts the balance away from the personal needs and desires.

The more we do the Work in every little detail during the day (doing the dishes, going to the toilet, brushing the teeth - all the times where the mind would otherwise be idling) the more we condition the mind away from the predator's mind. And furthermore, when we do stuff, such as working, driving, talking, it's the same thing. If we see it as a place where we can do Work we're moving in the right direction.

I think this is why there are many ways that lead to the same result - a loosening of the grip of the other mind. Each contribute to some extent and the more different things we include in our daily routine, the less space is left for the chatter.

Just my two cents

 

[whitecoast]

I think that the main problem with a chattering mind is not the thoughts but the emotional energy/trauma that are behind the thoughts, it's also what causes identification. So thoughts are not a problem, it's mainly trauma that is stored in the body.

I agree with this perspective. When I'm agitated, if I stop focusing on my thinking impressions for a moment and sense my feeling and sensory impressions, I tend to notice and feel the fight-or-flight energy in my body. Feeling it in my physicality, I think, prevents it from seeking an outlet in my thoughts as a coping mechanism for the repressed or thwarted vital energy.

Identification, in the context of the predator mind, is an untrue or half-true thought that resonates and matches with an internal emotional or instinctive posture. When the circuit is completed, you are "taken," and you forget yourself. When you "silence the mind" or "focus" (as nicklebleu said), you are essentially learning to uncouple the thinking from the feeling, and allowing yourself to examine the actual origins of the instinctive/emotional energy. When you isolate it to a particular feeling, posture, or external trigger, it is much, much harder for a random thought to try and hijack that energy to justify and fuel itself, since the Aware You knows the thought has no claim to that energy. Knowing this, you can find more appropriate and effective outlets for that stir-crazy energy, such as bioenergetics or yoga or pulling weeds in your yard.

A good analogy is that of the mind as a work desk. An uncluttered mind (one that doesn't pull out a bunch of feelings or actions just because a thought happens to show up or vice versa) is best for when we are given work to do: turning thoughts that help ourselves and others into action. When our minds and thoughts are a stormy chatter, it is more difficult to use the desk since it is so cluttered with other things. Conversely, having a clean or empty desk for its own sake defeats the purpose of having a desk to work with to begin with.

 

[Menna]

I believe we need our mind to be active and I wouldn't want to completely silence the mine. However through knowledge and experience you can decide what chatter you want to entertain/give energy to and what chatter you should let pass. Also as you change and things change so does the type of chatter. If ones mind was silent all the time how could one evolve. However I do believe that certain thought loops can be a drain of energy and this energy drain stops us from doing things we want to or brings our mood down. Now these thought loops or draining energy thoughts usually have a deeper rooting in oneself so I wouldn't want to silence them they will just keep coming up over and over again. I would want to find out more and actively work to no longer have energy draining thoughts.

 

[Faith]

I agree with this perspective. When I'm agitated, if I stop focusing on my thinking impressions for a moment and sense my feeling and sensory impressions, I tend to notice and feel the fight-or-flight energy in my body. Feeling it in my physicality, I think, prevents it from seeking an outlet in my thoughts as a coping mechanism for the repressed or thwarted vital energy.

Identification, in the context of the predator mind, is an untrue or half-true thought that resonates and matches with an internal emotional or instinctive posture. When the circuit is completed, you are "taken," and you forget yourself. When you "silence the mind" or "focus" (as nicklebleu said), you are essentially learning to uncouple the thinking from the feeling, and allowing yourself to examine the actual origins of the instinctive/emotional energy. When you isolate it to a particular feeling, posture, or external trigger, it is much, much harder for a random thought to try and hijack that energy to justify and fuel itself, since the Aware You knows the thought has no claim to that energy. Knowing this, you can find more appropriate and effective outlets for that stir-crazy energy, such as bioenergetics or yoga or pulling weeds in your yard.

A good analogy is that of the mind as a work desk. An uncluttered mind (one that doesn't pull out a bunch of feelings or actions just because a thought happens to show up or vice versa) is best for when we are given work to do: turning thoughts that help ourselves and others into action. When our minds and thoughts are a stormy chatter, it is more difficult to use the desk since it is so cluttered with other things. Conversely, having a clean or empty desk for its own sake defeats the purpose of having a desk to work with to begin with.

I think that the main problem with a chattering mind is not the thoughts
but the emotional energy/trauma that are behind the thoughts, it's also what
causes identification. So thoughts are not a problem, it's mainly trauma that
is stored in the body.

I find this interesting and quite helpful :)

 

[edgitarra]

It is not always that we cannot identify with our thoughts, emotions etc. In my opinion for every exercise or practice, there has to be a certain time in the day, working as a plan. If Work is mixed with something else, it can lead to nothing but confusion of what is I or "I":

Mme Et.: May I ask you for some advice? I was wanting to ask you: when I do my work of remembering myself, I am always hampered by the same idea: how can I do my work, how can I organize my day, so that everyone in the house is happy? And during the day, it's just the opposite. I am hampered by the ideas that have to do with the work. I think about what I've heard here and at Mme de Salzmann's, and that constantly impedes me.

Gurdjieff: That is the result of the demands of daily living. It happens to everyone. I've often said this. You must set aside a special time each day for the work. Not all the time, The Work is a very serious thing. You cannot work interiorly all day. You must make a special time and increase it little by little. To this work you give half hour of the 24 hours. During this half hour forget all the rest, put all the rest aside. It's a little thing. You sacrifice to this time all your occupations, all the work of your exterior functions. Sacrifice everything for your interior work and afterward you can put it aside for the things of ordinary life. You cannot do this work all day.

Mme Et.: I think so. That becomes mechanical: I am, I wish to be.

Gurdjieff: You mix, you must not. Don't mix this work with ordinary work. We have two kinds of waking state. For this work, you should have one active waking state. But a half hour of this waking state is enough for the rest of the day, which you live as you have the habit of doing. You can do this? And if you can't do a half hour, even ten minutes is rich for him who work ten minutes. You must give and sacrifice to this work a special time. You cannot give all your time. Life is one thing, the work another. The substantiality of each one is different: for this work you must be more active. I've said this many times. When you begin your work, your task, it is your work. You should, even before beginning relax yourself, prepare yourself, collecting yourself. Afterward, with all your being, you accomplish your task. It is a very complicated thing. You cannot do it for a long time. You are soon tired. It takes all your strength; if you do it five minutes too much, you are drained of all strength. It's for that reason that I say you must increase the time little by little, until you are used to it: five minutes, six minutes, ten minutes. Only this system will always give you a good beginning to prepare you for acquiring the state that is becoming to a real man. And if you work a long time, that proves that you do not work with all your being - you are working only with your mind. But as to that, you can do it for a thousand years without gaining anything; it is worth nothing. Work a short time, but work well. Here it isn't the quantity but the quality that counts. Life is one thing. Do not mix it with other things. Five minutes of good work is worth more than 24 hours of another kind. If you haven't much time, work 5 minutes. Let ordinary life continue automatically according to habit the rest of the time. What you say does not concern the work. Our life is one thing, the work another thing. Otherwise you will become a psychopath. You remember yourself with your mind - it is worthless; remember yourself with all your being. You can't do it for long, you drain yourself. Do it for 5 minutes, but forget everything else. Be an absolute egoist, forget everything, your God, your husband, your children, money - remember only the work. Short, but substantial. ( He speaks in Russian with Mme de Salzmann ).

If one sees the repeating thought loops coming again and again, stopping them or changing their direction might not lead always to beneficial results. It means that the presence of the thought loop itself shows that it is still a result of a hidden process that wasn't resolved. In this case, letting whatever arises to arise will bring clues to the real inner state. Changing the thought pattern, or stopping the mind also could mean a negation of what there really is. So it is this awareness of one's machine, and a new relationship with it that one has to activate.

Also, I think that it is also important when one is practicing something(attention, sensing the body, silencing etc) to have a timer or an alarm clock, to make sure that one is working on an measured amount of time(5 min, 10 min etc). I say this because, I can see on myself that if I don't use a timer, in the next days I only imagine that I had more attention for a longer time than it really was, which is considerably less.

 

[Archaea]

Hi edgitarra,

I think that's an interesting transcript, and I think it outlines the need for balance when doing the work. The balances that pop out for me in that transcript are balancing interior attention with exterior attention, balancing focus on ones self and focus on others, and balancing work and play. Thanks for posting. :)

Also, I think that it is also important when one is practicing something(attention, sensing the body, silencing etc) to have a timer or an alarm clock, to make sure that one is working on an measured amount of time(5 min, 10 min etc). I say this because, I can see on myself that if I don't use a timer, in the next days I only imagine that I had more attention for a longer time than it really was, which is considerably less.

Another way to do this might be to set a timer for a measured amount of time, then try to practice something for that entire amount of time, without any slip ups. I say this because I have some difficulty switching off the internal dialogue for extended periods of time, it always seems to pop back in.

 

[edgitarra]

Another way to do this might be to set a timer for a measured amount of time, then try to practice something for that entire amount of time, without any slip ups. I say this because I have some difficulty switching off the internal dialogue for extended periods of time, it always seems to pop back in.

Yes, I agree with you! That amount of time set for the work should be "sacred, saintly"! In that moment nothing else should exist. One should relax before as G. says and forget everything else. Everything else! It is worth to repeat it because this is why there are slip ups in that moment. So those minutes of work can be taken as a matter of life and death. Take it also, if you like, as the last moments on earth and stay there with yourself and do what is needed to do. It doesn't matter if it is 1 minute or 5 or 10. They should be minutes of quality. If that is done, one can be happy for he did something for a whole day. Even the idea of doing something constantly for the Work can become a hindering program. One maybe feels guilty for not doing enough, and this is just an imagination; he is not Doing, but merely trying to convince himself he does something; that is in my opinion a destructive program.

He who goes slow, goes far