If you’ve done some kind of journaling practice or mindfulness, then you likely already know a few repeating negative themes that need working on. So one of them in my case was bitterness and resentment from my childhood. When stuff comes up, what can you do? Well the first stage is the awareness, obviously, you need the mindfulness. The central skill is ‘mini-Nembutsu’, i.e. deliberately reigning the mental screen.
Now as you know the themes you are working with, you are likely pre-prepared with suitable replacement thoughts/images from the manifesting pictures you created, including contrary images to these repeating themes. So in my case it was the composite castle and keys image which represented the healing of my childhood. Remember also that the central image you have chosen contains all your manifesting intentions, and so can be used in any situation. You can be doing absolutely anything in the physical world and holding the image of your choice firmly, choosing the state you are abiding in, and with practice it doesn’t take long for these replacement thoughts to alter the course of your consciousness. Your mental screen is YOUR MENTAL SCREEN. YOUR INNER LIFE IS YOURS. You can reign the light at any moment you choose, and any time a demon arises, you are allowing it by implication of not using your will to act.
Remember that anytime something comes up as a memory, it’s an energy stored in ‘the light’ that you created, you perceived because your will conceived and then manifested it and perceived it and recorded it stored with this state and energy. When you ‘correct’ or ‘heal’ it, you are releasing something that you yourself put there. You are making your Pure Lands pure.
Replacement thoughts can also be helped by being aware of the sensation that is occurring. If negativity occurs and is strong, it might be felt very low in the body. Depending on the state and what mental pictures it has created, it might be better to replace them with compassion to widen the state away from self rather than joy, you’ll get a feel for how to do it, and remember, the central symbol, enso or whatever you chose, is always safe.
Also remember, it is ultimately, the state that is important. Rather than replace an image, it can sometimes be better to alter it. If it is a bad memory from the past, take someone from the present back into that situation and alter the outcome, have your best friend from now spend time with the bullied child in your past and leave them talking. The point is to change the state associated with these pictures, feel compassionate for your past self.
There are also mental sequences that come up that are triggers, replaying recent events, something someone said to you earlier or imagining yourself responding to something you saw on TV. These can also be revised rather than replaced. If someone said something or did something you didn’t like, then reimagine it as you wished it had occurred, until it feels real and the state in you changes to positive. If you try and it’s too hard, it is always safe to hold the central symbol high with emotion.
Try also to be aware of states that don’t necessarily have a mental image that comes with them. For example, if you find yourself avoiding something, there could be an underlying fear but not specific mental pictures. Sometimes, I think a common one is avoiding mail or messages. For example, say you apply for a job and are worried whether you were accepted or not, there might not be a specific mental picture of the fear, but the fear is there as a state as you avoid the mail box for days and so it manifests in this way.
The practice here is to flip the state to happiness, and resolve that this happiness is free, non-attached. You can open the mailbox and see what is there and no matter what is there, accepted or rejected, you do not orientate your feeling from the senses any longer, your mind is the creator of all and you see as you please. Be mindful of your body and open the mailbox joyfully, and if you do not perceive the news you were hoping for… PERCIEVE THE NEWS YOU WERE HOPING FOR, your physical eyes are reading a rejection and your spiritual eyes are reading an acceptance, see what you want to see and stay in the state that you choose. In a way, you’re choosing to be, what most people would call — crazy, but you’re actually choosing to awaken, as all is imagination and the difference between things is the illusion of time. SEE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE.