Q: Do you recommend watching the news?
MICHAEL: No. It may seem innocent on the surface, but you are taking in all those images/vibrations and negativity into your mind. Other peoples’ stories based on fear, worry, anxiety, limitation, uncertainty and insecurity. Once taken into mind, they do not lie dormant. They will sprout spin-off fear thoughts like, “Oh this is bad, if X happens that will affect me negatively, etc.” And so more worries are added to the mind’s confusion. More beliefs on top of the spider web of beliefs that are already there.
There is no freedom in any of this. This is why it’s so important to be clear on what it is you truly want. If your heart’s desire is peace, freedom, liberation, etc. above all else, it’s obvious the news does not provide this.
The mind will come up with reasons why it’s not a good idea to stop watching the news, i.e., “I’ve got to stay informed.” But is this true? What happens when you actually make the break from watching the news? I haven’t watched the news (not tv or internet or radio) for the past 10 years and I can tell you that not only have I not missed anything, but I’ve truly never been happier.
At first, like any addiction, you will go through withdrawals. For me, they lasted about 3 days. By the fourth day I began to enjoy the lightness of not being weighted down by the “problems of the world.” Instead, I just began to follow my heart and let it guide me. This has a much different feel than the mind. The mind is logic based and its medium are words. The heart is silence based and its medium are feelings.
A good place to start is by observing your thoughts. Just silently watch them. At first, since we are not used to doing this, it may seem difficult. But the more time you spend just witnessing your thoughts, without getting involved with them one way or another, the easier and more natural it becomes.
And yet, everything that “needs” to get done gets done only without all the stress, worry and fear. It turns out that Emptiness has it’s own way of moving naturally, spontaneously, intelligently, harmoniously and lovingly that the mind knows nothing about.
And Emptiness, the Now, the Self, doesn’t require anything from the news (or anything else) to be what it already IS.
Michael Jeffreys 