Written by David Spector   

I've just watched a webcast episode of Oprah Winfrey's Lifeclass on spirituality, with guests including Deepak Chopra. You will be able to view this show when it airs soon on the OWN television network.

I imagine reactions to watching this show might range from "I feel inspired" to "I feel transformed" to "boring!", with its talk about the true self not being the body or even the thoughts, what you think influences your life, etc.

For myself, I feel that something was missing.

For example, the show stated (and I think that it's true) that we tend to have lots of distracting thoughts. These are thoughts that are generally not particularly relevant to our current context. "I'm hungry." "Why did she look at me that way?" Our daily chatter masks whatever Self might be in there. It's a wonder we are able to focus and come up with creative or intelligent solutions to life's challenges. Sometimes, we just can't.

Having studied several enlightened teachers, I'd like to offer something to the reader other than the typical mood-making chatter. I'd like to offer a genuine insight that might help those who wonder about why we live with so many thoughts and whether there is a way to get beyond them.

First, as to why they're there: it's simple--our brains are messed up from all the stressful experiences we've had. Every time we couldn't get what we wanted--we got a stored stress. Every time we had an accident--we got a stored stress. Even if love dawned for us, the poignancy of it may have given us another stored stress. All those cognitive or sensory overloads, which can't be handled by our already weakened nervous system, cause yet another stored stress.

It's amazing we're still able to function.

Just as circuit breakers in a house shut down to protect the wiring from overloads, our nervous system selectively shuts down to protect us from further overloads of experience. Eventually, we're running with a barely functioning engine. It gets difficult to complete a sequence of logical thoughts. It gets difficult to be creative, loving, independent. All those goals that require clear thinking become elusive.

So, the simple reason we have hundreds of distracting, essentially meaningless thoughts is: we are living with stored stresses. Our nervous system is weak. It's spinning its gears, making little progress.

I hope what I've written seems reasonable so far. And I hope you've already thought of my next question: how can we get rid of this stored stress? Is it possible to make the nervous system normal, by which I mean: free from stored stresses?

I will bravely answer: yes, it is possible. In fact, it's actually rather easy. But it does require some learning. Not learning some facts about stress, or learning some spiritual or religious philosophy. No, it only requires learning how to experience the fourth state of consciousness.

Let me explain.

We live our life in three basic states of consciousness, in rotation: waking state, dreaming state, and deep sleep state. We have always done this, and everyone we know has always done this. So, that's all there is, right?

Wrong.

There is another state of consciousness, which can be described as restful alertness. This is the state that lets the brain dissolve the daily overloads, the stored stresses. Without this state, forget it. Not only can't we dissolve stored stresses, but in our weakened state we acquire new ones everyday.

If we didn't know how to sleep, someone might offer us instructions. "Lie down on a comfortable bed. Close your eyes. Don't pay attention to anything," they might say. And, surprisingly, it would work (assuming we were tired enough).

Similarly, there are instructions for achieving the fourth state of consciousness. They will be a little more complicated than the instructions for sleeping, because we are not familiar with this state.

They might start, "Sit comfortably. Think a particular thought that is conducive to this process. Appreciate it in quieter forms until it disappears. What is left is pure awareness. Enjoy this pure awareness for a few minutes."

This process is called transcending. It quiets the mind and the body follows. Researchers measuring signs of rest conclude that transcending produces a deeper state of physical rest than does sleep. More importantly, our stored stresses begin to break up, to dissolve. It's like a quiet melting of a glacier.

What happens if we practice transcending every day?

As our stresses, the blocks to full functioning, begin to dissolve, we experience increased energy, and increased restfulness in life. It may start with our spouse: we may spontaneously become more loving. It may start at school: we may unexpectedly do better in our classes. It may start at work: we may begin mentoring others, or increase our own productivity.

Life becomes more enjoyable, because the problems begin to vanish. They vanish because they were illusions caused by our poor functioning. When functioning increases, life becomes easier and more fun, simply because freedom from stored stresses makes us strong, independent, and more fulfilled.

Surely, you must be asking where you can obtain instructions for transcending, for practicing the fourth state of consciousness.

Have you ever heard of Transcendental Meditation, or TM? Well, that's transcending. Have you ever heard of Natural Stress Relief, or NSR? Well, that's transcending too. All you have to do is visit the TM or NSR websites, and you can find learning that fits the way you work: go the TM route to learn from a personal, trained instructor in a nearby TM center. Go the NSR route to learn at home, do-it-yourself style from a manual.

It's your choice.

Either way, you will learn how to transcend thinking. Think you can't learn? Think again. You can: anyone who can think a thought can transcend.

I hope this article has provided a different approach to spirituality: instead of nice, inspiring thoughts and attitudes which prove impossible to adopt, I've presented actual reasons for the human condition of suffering and limitation. And I've presented an actual method that anyone can easily adopt to achieve the goals of spirituality without even bothering with all the philosophy.

As an enlightened man once said, "Water the root to enjoy the fruit."

David Spector
President,
Natural Stress Relief/USA