When we go through difficult or painful times or simply do not feel comfortable with the reality we are living, we have a tendency to look for someone to blame outside. But the truth is that many of the most painful moments we have experienced come from mental patterns or belief systems that have conditioned us.
On my mystical path (and yes, I am a modern mystic and eternal student of life) studying different traditions that have dedicated themselves to analyzing why human beings suffer so much, I discovered that they all had in common a kind of "directory of thieves" that steal our energy and happiness. And that they also gave us very simple tools to put them to sleep once and for all.
Far from wanting to be the owner of the truth, and based on my own experience, I share with you ancestral wisdom that helped me understand and, above all, achieve much more peace and happiness in my humble life as a mortal in a society that increasingly demands more of us and confuses us more.
What if the essential is actually simpler than we think?
The first thing to understand is that happiness is our birthright. And I like the word thieves because “thief” is someone who snatches something that belongs to you. In this case, thieves are mental patterns and internal filters through which we view the world in a distorted way.
Here are some of my detective investigations:
In Buddhism there are five obstacles: sensual desire, ill will, laziness, restlessness and doubt.
In the Christian monastic tradition, they are the seven deadly sins: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed and sloth.
In Sikhism, the world's fifth and one of the youngest religions, there is a concept that as human beings we possess a sense of the rightness of things, which its followers call common sense . Sikhism recognizes five mental patterns (which it calls thieves) that rob us of our common sense: lust, greed, attachment, anger and arrogance.
In essence, all traditions teach that we are naturally happy and in harmony if we manage to master the forces we have within us.
In my experience, my life changed when I decided to observe my life story from my heart, with honesty and without judgment and lots, but lots of COMPASSION .
I discovered that many of the most painful moments in my life had one of these thieves silently but effectively doing what they do best: confusing me and making me make decisions that, while they provided me with immediate happiness at the time, in the long run the result was emptiness, pain and frustration. And when I say in the long run, it may be years, but life always finds a way to shake you up so that you see that you need to transform and modify. Because in this game of life we came to remember who we are, and to conquer the mind, working on our gifts and talents.
My friend Atma Kaur explains very well something that was key for me on my path to true happiness. "According to the Sikh Gurus , the 5 Thieves are the 5 main weaknesses of the human personality that make you live against your spiritual essence and occupy your mind in such a way that they steal all your energy. These 5 Thieves are kama (sensual appetites in general, of course, in excess), krodh (anger or rage), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankar (egoism).
If you are on a path of growth, you have to fight them and deactivate them in order to evolve. The Vedas already speak of these thieves, but they are not grouped into this “panch” or group of 5. The 5 thieves are interrelated in such a way that if you choose any one and defeat it, the others will also fall and they will stop bothering you.
Whoever thinks he is free of them is wrong because these thieves are everywhere equally.
They derive from the 5 elements that make us up. If we have the earth element that governs the 1st chakra, we have attachment . If we have water, the element of the 2nd chakra, we have attachment. chakra, we have sexual appetite sometimes uncontrolled. If we have fire, which governs the 3rd chakra, we can have anger . If there is air, element of the 4th chakra, there are aspirations that can lead to greed.
The last thief, Ego , is the leader of this gang of thieves.
The ego sets this trap for us by making us believe that we are responsible for things happening, when the truth is that everything is done by Ek Onkar , the Creator, the laws of the Universe.
If something goes well, the ego takes pride in its achievement. If something goes wrong, we blame ourselves and reproach ourselves. This is a mistake. We are not the ones in charge, but the universe, in its own laws, makes us dance to its tune.
The 5 thieves flourish thanks to the ego, which believes itself to be the king of the world, takes everything personally, and attributes all actions to itself. So if we believe that we can get away with it, we insist on taking only one path, we become greedy, we stick to the idea of how we want things to turn out, we get angry when something goes against our opinion or desires, and in the confusion, entanglements and doubt, the thieves have easy ground to steal the time of our lives.
Now if one lives in devotion to the One Creator principle in all, flowing in the Great Will of the Universe, working on developing gifts and talents, accepting the divine Will (Kirat Karo) meditating on the divine name ( Naam Japo) , participating in community service ( Vand chakko ), the 5 Thieves are eventually defeated. By adopting this daily routine and discipline, our actions become meaningful and rewarding and body and mind are purified.
Look how important community life is as recommended by Guru Naanak. By reflecting on others, one day we will realize that ego is a false lead that leads nowhere.
He who lives in expanded consciousness, in love of the Being who gives us everything, becomes wise and evils do not touch him. Such a person is not affected by pleasure and pain, not because he is insensitive, but because he has freed himself from the 5 thieves."
I propose a very practical and simple exercise to identify where these thieves hide in your life.
Choose a time in your life when you felt lost, suffering, frustrated, or experiencing deep depression or anxiety.
Observe without judging and review the whole story.
Where and how did it start?
What decision/action did you take that led to that emotion or unhappiness?
Which of the 5 thieves is represented?
Breathe deeply and with patience and a lot of self-love, review the narrative of your story. You will see that one of these 5 is always involved in these painful processes.
You can write in a journal as they manifest in your life and then bring
light and consciousness, forgiving and forgiving ourselves, little by little those distortions of our mind begin to dismantle.
Meditate and look for techniques that help you in this process of self-knowledge.
And I'll tell you a secret: your greatest attachment is found in your birth chart. But I'll leave that for another article.
Good day!
With love,
Gabriela Ana
Holistic Health Coach
+34 604 398 948
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