
June 11, 2021
The Knowledge Project #103 – Loch Kelly: Effortless Mindfulness
Key Takeaways
- Consciousness is understanding that you are “you are not your thoughts”.
- Two different types of flow systems:
- Absorbed Flow State: Being so interested in a task, you lose all concept of time and surroundings.
- Panoramic Flow State: Optimal functioning of complex tasks without thinking while being extremely connected
- The Ego’s function is to manage your own internal operating system. It is built on thoughts, feelings, sensations, and views to form perspective
- While effortless mindfulness is learnable and teachable, the concepts still remain inexplicable. The best we can do is to look inward and create perspective around interconnectivity.
- Retraining your brain to think without a specific subject-object mindset is hard.
- Mindset shifts can happen because of how you identify, what you know, or what you perceive
- Big ‘H’ happiness which arises from unconditional love is more sustainable than small ‘h’ happiness which arises from finding pleasure or satisfaction.
Intro
- Loch Kelly (@LochKelly1) is a Psychotherapist, Author, Meditation Teacher and founder of the Open-Hearted Awareness Institute
- Host: Shane Parrish (@ShaneAParrish)
Background
- Effortless Mindfulness is closely related to flow consciousness or being in the zone.
- Loch’s first experience derived from hearing a Hockey announcer say a player had “eyes in the back of their head”.
- He tested this theory on the rink, expanding and recognizing his peripheral vision, he was able to expand his consciousness to enter the zone, feeling much more capable and a greater sense of enjoyment in the task.
- Early career book referral: Zen and the Art of Archery
- You and the target are connected, this is where he found this niche audience looking for expanded knowledge of the human experience.
Consciousness & Flow State
- What is Consciousness?
- Different types of awareness: attention vs mindfulness, understanding that “you are not your thoughts”.
- Absorbed Flow State: Being so interested in a task, you lose all concept of time and surroundings.
- Panoramic Flow State: Optimal functioning of complex tasks without thinking while being extremely connected with your surroundings, in a euphoric state.
- Can anyone enter a flow state?
- Yes, it can be achieved with a proper relationship with our own operating system and ego.
- Unhooking: Technique used to enter flow and effortless mindfulness. Step back to a “different center” and be aware of thoughts coming and going. Realign your “center” to your “heart-center” to be aware of the space and be aware of the space. Different techniques, or “doors”, are used to continue according to different learning styles.
Ego
- The whole idea of any awakening or enlightenment is to relieve suffering.
- What is Ego?
- A function of managing your own internal operating system. It is built on thoughts, feelings, sensations, and views to form perspective
- It should not be killed, but rather, optimized.
- Small egos limit happiness as you will always be contrasting against your life. Inversely, large egos limit the awareness of perspective.
Anxiety
- Do not focus on the symptom but rather who or what it is rising towards.
- Identify the source of the anxiety whether it be internal or external and fight it with intelligence.
- “Effortful brain debugging” -Shane Perrish
- Be a mindful witness to your own situation, don’t detach your feelings from the cause.
Shifts in Mindset
- Shift in Identity: shift from small-self, to no self, to true nature operating system.
- Shift in Knowing: shift from thought-based knowing to not-knowing, to not-knowing and knowing you don’t know.
- Shift in perception: shifting from attention to perception.
Types of Minds
- Thinker: The everyday, ego-centered, small-self mind.
- Mindful Witness: Subtle mind, dropping out of everyday mind into body-based operation (e.g., yoga, chanting, exercise, etc.). This is where most people get to and it is the hardest hurdle to jump.
- Awake Awareness: Very subtle mind, nature-centric mind. Does not deny thought but is flow consciousness. Contentless and timeless.
- Simultaneous mind: There is no such thing as an independent existence, everything is connected. E.g., a flower relies upon on the sun and rain to live interconnectedly.
- Open-Hearted Awareness: Ture nature, your flow becomes your center. Non-reactive. There is something bigger in the world that inspires empathy and beauty.
Happiness & Love
- Small ‘h’ Happiness: Attempt to find pleasure or satisfaction, can be good but addicting. Not sustainable on its own.
- Love is unconditional, it is not something that can be ‘gotten’. Relative to the large ‘H’ happiness that are consistent modes of love and happiness.
[Notes By Drew Waterstreet]