Even though the mind was created to assist God experience itself within the illusion of separation, it seems for many people that mission is in fact achieved by enslavement of the host body (us). The mind does the job so well that humanity is lost; totally forgotten what lies beyond the walls of the mind. We live like the homeless when our true father is a billionaire.

How does the mind enslave us? Within each person, the mind achieves enslavement differently; some are possessed by ambition and driven to succeed, some desire total conformity to society and family life, and some suffer depression or emotional unbalance. All of these and everything in-between is not the real us. We do not need anything external to ourselves to be happy, to have contentment and inner-peace.

How to free your mind and how to find the true you? The mind is an illusion; its greatest fear is that we will find out it’s not real and thus its purpose made redundant. That’s why it constantly creates a false world to trap us. If you observe your own mind, it will always be in the past or future. People with low self-esteem or depression will hate their past and create miserable futures for themselves.  More positive people may create a successful future. Both are creating a reality using time, using a core component of the illusion, which will only empower the illusion even more.

The solution is to live in the present moment, the now. No past, no future. Still the mind so it’s quiet, and behind the silence will lay the truth; our treasure and all that we seek.

The essence of spirituality is to free ourselves from bondage, from the mind and experience who we really are. To do that is not that easy, if it was then the prison would be empty. It takes some effort and discipline, but the rewards are well worth it.

The method to set ourselves free! Firstly we need a simple life (as much as we can), to reduce needless thinking about our problems or property. For example, too many assets cause us to worry, too much debt causes anxiety and too many broken hearts take time to repair. In short, reduce complexity so the mind does not have many things to make trouble for you. A simple life means minimize our attachments.

Next, simplify our environment; reduce clutter so the mind always see’s cleanliness. The impression is important as it’s no point cleaning a closet if the rest of the house is a mess. If you leave your outer world messy, the inner one will know you are not serious.

How to free your mind and how to find the true you? Practice a spiritual method which can help you control the mind. Befriend it (never attack it), and then regain control. Whatever method you have affinity with and gives good result. Don’t worry if progress is slow, many yogis take years or lifetimes to be free of the mind, but if we want to find our true self, we must make a start.

Also, if you keep the mind busy with physical labour or work for humanity/God, it reduces the time needed to return to our true nature dramatically; especially selfless service because it expands us, connects us to the whole and provides spiritual merit to pay our debts.

If interested in a technique to help control the mind you may also wish to check out what is meditation or chanting mantras.