Sometimes the mind becomes clogged with so much information that to develop a clear path of thinking becomes almost impossible. How is it the mind becomes clogged? Why does it become clogged? The why comes from the fact the mind is the store of knowledge and knowledge is infinite so how does than the store of the infinite end up bearing characteristics of the finite?
The mind becomes clogged but the path can be unclogged. Usually to understand the incorporeal one usually uses the corporeal to develop this deeper understanding. An athlete or a body builder’s primary task one would say is to maintain a disciplined culture toward their craft. They are to go to the gym and continually train their muscles so that they do not lose their craftsmanship. However, the very same athlete can be introduced to steroids and be told how they can make him better. Obviously being in that profession, the athlete knows that steroids are not good for the human body. Yet the desire to be the best at what they do, some will fall to the temptation to use steroids. The short-term results are amazing and they propel the athlete to even higher heights that he only ever dreamed of. The athlete is at the peak of his talents but all of that will eventually come crashing down.
At the point of the crash, the athlete now looks back to see when and how he fell off. At the back of our star’s mind, the athlete knows that those steroids are the main cause of their crash. The realization, like a train hits them but does not stop until reaching for the next stop. By this what I mean is the mind now possess the knowledge to understand what went wrong but refuses to believe that the steroids, that gave such wonderful results, lead to the down crash. Somehow, from the knowledge of the steroids, the mind creates endless webs of whys and hows as to understand what caused the downfall in one’s ability to harness great agility and strength in one’s own limbs. The ever-ending web becomes this complicated system of endless and pointless reasons that somehow connect to each other leading to a clogging of the mind. You see, running in cycles is different. When the mind keeps revolving around one facet of an idea, it simply means that the mind is yet to discover something new about the idea that will allow the mind to escape running in circles around a particular idea. Being clogged in the mind is creating all these webs of reasons that revolve around one idea. This central idea is the theme of thinking; and you create so much around it that it leads one to over-create webs around the idea and ultimately leading you to be clogged in the mind.
This happens quite frequently with many entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur understands that for him or her to make a profit, there must be a product being sold or service rendered and at a mark-up, profit will be actualized. This is the core idea of profit creation. However, the entrepreneur is so obsessed about making so much profit that for the entrepreneur who does not or who hasn’t crafted a single and well thought out plan, this entrepreneur will grab onto anything that will create profit for him. By doing so, the entrepreneur finds himself or herself in web of so many moneymaking ideas that the starting point is void of conception. The entrepreneur ends up being clogged with so many thoughts and ideas around the concept of profit creation that he or she ultimately ends switching from idea to idea without making those immense profits or ends up quitting altogether. The overwhelming ideas created around one focal point overwhelms and shocks the mind to the point that the mind becomes clogged with information.
The mind stores the infinite; therefore, the degree in which the mind becomes clogged becomes endless. To develop a better understanding of this one can use debt as an example. Companies that offer credit in one form or another simply look at your salary and based on that, create an offer that will be tailored for you. For one who does not have a financial plan or lacks the financial knowledge, this person will be led to believe that due to their salary, they can afford credit to purchase whatever their heart desires. Thus, this person will purchase everything that their credit allows without thinking that the salary that opened the door to the credit is the very same salary that needs to close it. Suddenly, the end of the month closes in and this person starts realizing that thanks to credit, their salary is no longer pleasurable as it all goes to cover the costs of the credit that was used to purchase their luxuries. This person will start realizing how they can no longer enjoy the finer things in life like going out with friends or purchasing a bar of chocolate after a long week. This leads to a trap, a financial imprisonment that they cannot escape until their debt is paid. Luckily, for such a clog, the amount of clog is limited to the salary that the person has. The salary becomes a cap as to just how much that person can access credit facilities. Unlike the mind, which stores the infinite, if not monitored, the extent of the clog of the mind too can be infinite.
Our financially clogged person can unclog himself or herself once they begin going to financial advisors and actively taking control of their finances. Wherefore, the same can be said with the mind. The moment we take control of our minds, we can unclog ourselves. Unclogging ourselves from dirt and filth, in nonsense from mass media and social media, (which to me is the easiest to unclog) to unclogging ourselves of creating endless webs around a central idea, as in with the entrepreneur, is possible. The ability to take hold of our minds and lead it to a straight path is a simple act once mastered. A body builder understanding the importance of nutrition to his workout, that body builder will not default and enjoy multitudes of cheat meals. His discipline will enforce the understanding of his knowledge of body building thus making this body builder or athlete last longer than the one who were derailed by the lure of steroids. Both know what is required of them to be the best, but only one had the discipline to keep his or her mind clear from any idea (that is centered on the improvement of the muscle in this case) that will derail him from his cause. This discipline acts like a filter that allows only relevant and applicable information to access the mind.
My all-time favorite thinker and philosopher, Bruce Lee, expanded his mind through fighting and martial arts. Jeet Kune Do, his fighting style, is centered on the idea of being a circle without a circumference, making the limit limitless. This enabled Bruce Lee to push his body to speeds and strengths almost unreal. He continuously kept learning and gaining knowledge around martial arts and propelled him to be debated as to whether he is the greatest fighter to have ever lived or not. At the core of it all, Bruce Lee believed that martial arts was merely self-expression. With that, Bruce Lee could have ventured into other forms of self-expressions such as fine art, graffiti and kept diving and switching these forms until he died. I believe that if he had done so, he would have not been the Bruce Lee we know today. The Bruce Lee who changed and revolutionized the way the world sees martial arts simply because he walked one path of self-expression through martial arts. The endless and infinite knowledge he obtained about martial arts did not clog his mind. On the contrary, it freed his mind thus he became water and could freely express himself through martial arts.
The clogging of the mind is something quite common and through mediation in one’s faith, this can help unclog the mind. However, if the mind is not disciplined to monitor and evaluate the knowledge and the understanding of the knowledge that it stores, the clogging of the mind itself becomes an art; the art of an endless confusion and frustration that enslaves- the mind.