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YehoiakhinEx232
Guest
I need to have better custody of the mind and custody of the imagination, does anyone have any methods and tips I could use to work on this?
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Wm777
Guest
Well, they say - “occupy your mind and your body will follow”…
That said, I have heard of custody of the eyes as a way of not looking at stuff that might give rise to evil thoughts… With respect to popular media, I guess you could go to the USCCB’s website for movie reviews, and - if something isn’t given a good rating due to sex, violence, language, or etc., you could then just stay away from it. There’s also filtering software for porn and such on the internet.
Basically, when you take custody of the mind and imagination - what you want to practice is almost like a sort of sense deprivation - the idea be to simply not listen to, look at, touch, taste or smell something that could leave you with some imaginary occasion of sin… It’s basically using your mind to tell your eyes to look away… and so on with every other sense…
Now - to take custody of your mind - which governs your senses is a bigger task… You may not really be able to do it very easily… Often times, thoughts just happen - especially through habits, physical infirmity (such as illness), weather, other people you meet in the course of upholding life’s responsibilities, etc…
Some people can block stuff out… Saint Faustina said when she would pray she would be oblivious to her surroundings… I myself would have a really difficult time doing so… However, what I have found helpful is reading good, high quality literature… reading usually plants lots of positive ideas… I’ll read for a few hours, and that time will have been spent focusing my mind on something positive… Then, when I walk out into the world, I’ll carry those thoughts with me…
It’s a form of “positive self talk”… It works like - suppose, for example, someone cut me off in traffic… If I have been away from reading some Theology, then I might get mad and think more and more bad thoughts… But, if I have been reading some good books, and I am on a spiritually higher plane - I’ve found I’m more likely to recall some merciful thought… or, if I really am grumpy, then I’ll go to a Spiritual friend to commiserate, and that friend will usually pull me around…
Also, I wouldnt beat yourself up if you aren’t always 100% in custody of your senses… we live in a world which really makes it hard to find a pure and pious existence… In fact, if you really ignore some of those things, then you could just weaken yourself if and when you happen to run into them… That has been my experience anyway, so - when I see something that challenges my spirituality - it can also becomes an opportunity to strengthen myself… I’m not always sure of how to deal with it, but then I do learn from those experiences… try Saint Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and rules for Discernment… They might help…
Good reading and the sacraments seem to be most helpful…
That said, I have heard of custody of the eyes as a way of not looking at stuff that might give rise to evil thoughts… With respect to popular media, I guess you could go to the USCCB’s website for movie reviews, and - if something isn’t given a good rating due to sex, violence, language, or etc., you could then just stay away from it. There’s also filtering software for porn and such on the internet.
Basically, when you take custody of the mind and imagination - what you want to practice is almost like a sort of sense deprivation - the idea be to simply not listen to, look at, touch, taste or smell something that could leave you with some imaginary occasion of sin… It’s basically using your mind to tell your eyes to look away… and so on with every other sense…
Now - to take custody of your mind - which governs your senses is a bigger task… You may not really be able to do it very easily… Often times, thoughts just happen - especially through habits, physical infirmity (such as illness), weather, other people you meet in the course of upholding life’s responsibilities, etc…
Some people can block stuff out… Saint Faustina said when she would pray she would be oblivious to her surroundings… I myself would have a really difficult time doing so… However, what I have found helpful is reading good, high quality literature… reading usually plants lots of positive ideas… I’ll read for a few hours, and that time will have been spent focusing my mind on something positive… Then, when I walk out into the world, I’ll carry those thoughts with me…
It’s a form of “positive self talk”… It works like - suppose, for example, someone cut me off in traffic… If I have been away from reading some Theology, then I might get mad and think more and more bad thoughts… But, if I have been reading some good books, and I am on a spiritually higher plane - I’ve found I’m more likely to recall some merciful thought… or, if I really am grumpy, then I’ll go to a Spiritual friend to commiserate, and that friend will usually pull me around…
Also, I wouldnt beat yourself up if you aren’t always 100% in custody of your senses… we live in a world which really makes it hard to find a pure and pious existence… In fact, if you really ignore some of those things, then you could just weaken yourself if and when you happen to run into them… That has been my experience anyway, so - when I see something that challenges my spirituality - it can also becomes an opportunity to strengthen myself… I’m not always sure of how to deal with it, but then I do learn from those experiences… try Saint Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and rules for Discernment… They might help…
Good reading and the sacraments seem to be most helpful…
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Wm777
Guest
Also, a good social support network is helpful…
If you make lots of good Catholic friends, then they’ll obviously be more apt to understanding your concern than if you take the matter to the bar down the street…
If you make lots of good Catholic friends, then they’ll obviously be more apt to understanding your concern than if you take the matter to the bar down the street…
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Lee1
Guest
It may help to bear in mind that God is with you, always and everywhere.
It may also help to ask “what would Jesus do, say under these circumstances?” This can help in your day to day life.
It’s difficult to constantly control your mind and it may be a better prospect to practically manage your mind instead, rather than to live within a prison of self control you might develop a sense of a higher self. Your higher self then leads your more base old self gently and persistently towards peace in Christ. Your higher self is aligned with God, if you develop the higher self through reading the scriptures, prayer and the sacraments then you should have far less problem with custody of the mind and imagination.
It may also help to ask “what would Jesus do, say under these circumstances?” This can help in your day to day life.
It’s difficult to constantly control your mind and it may be a better prospect to practically manage your mind instead, rather than to live within a prison of self control you might develop a sense of a higher self. Your higher self then leads your more base old self gently and persistently towards peace in Christ. Your higher self is aligned with God, if you develop the higher self through reading the scriptures, prayer and the sacraments then you should have far less problem with custody of the mind and imagination.
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Socrates92
Guest
I wish I could do that. For me, this is itself is difficult because of the custody of the mind thing. Other distracting thoughts bombard me. It’s a vicious cycle.
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Lee1
Guest
Did you read what I suggested about a higher self?
It can work. A big part of me wants to be calm, serene and holy and then pray a sincere heartfelt prayer to God. Another very noisy part of me wants to be busy or do something else. One of them, if you like, needs to win and as my higher self wants to follow thoughts and deeds which will lead to Life I really need to empower that part of me. So, I try to quieten down the noisy mind, understand it with patience, wait for it to stop and take notice of where I’m leading it and off we go hand in hand. A bit like a toddler in a candy store. These are ways to explain my feelings about it but I hope you see what I mean.
I’m not always completely successful you understand, but all children learn eventually.
It can work. A big part of me wants to be calm, serene and holy and then pray a sincere heartfelt prayer to God. Another very noisy part of me wants to be busy or do something else. One of them, if you like, needs to win and as my higher self wants to follow thoughts and deeds which will lead to Life I really need to empower that part of me. So, I try to quieten down the noisy mind, understand it with patience, wait for it to stop and take notice of where I’m leading it and off we go hand in hand. A bit like a toddler in a candy store. These are ways to explain my feelings about it but I hope you see what I mean.
I’m not always completely successful you understand, but all children learn eventually.
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Socrates92
Guest
That’s the hope, anyways.
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