5 Mind Shifts to Move from

Suffering to Wellbeing
(No work or practice required.)

Coaching with Jock 2016

jockgilchrist.com

Start Here
A Scottish Welder Changes the World
In the 1970s, a simple man with an 8th grade education had an enlightenment
experience that transformed him. He became a mystic and theosopher, and shared his
deep insights into human psychology and spirituality. He touched thousands of lives.
And he had the mysterious, magical quality of lastingly changing people after just one
conversation with him.
His name was Syd Banks. You probably havent heard of him. But his instruction has
changed my life. And it might change yours too.
His perspective on human psychology was drastically different than traditional
psychological approaches (and he did not go unchallenged by many a PhD psychologist).
The most glaring difference between traditional psychology and Syds approach (called
the Three Principles) was this: traditional psychology focuses on the content of our
experience, while Syds approach focuses on how experience happens.
While this might not sound like the most life-changing shift ever, remarkable things
tend to happen when our misconceptions about our psychological experience drop away.
Relationships improve spontaneously. Creative capacity and results organically
increase. Long-time personal issues disappear without effort or psychoanalysis.
I dont like to make promises that sound pie-in-the-sky, but none of this is exaggerated.
This understanding has found success in prisons, schools, politics, Hollywood, hospitals,
and addiction and psychiatric treatment centers.
Theres a reason these dramatic, even miraculous, changes are possible. Its because
when our attention shifts away from the content of our experience to how experience
happens, we align with an innate wisdom, peace, and wellbeing that is the default state
of every human. Getting in touch with that space is the only solution we need, because
the only problem we really have is losing sight of it in the first place.
Its a place where each of us is complete, flawless, loving, and peaceful already.
Touching this space is not a matter of effort, practice, intention, or willpower. Its a
matter of understanding. We develop (or reawaken) that understanding by looking in a
particular directionthe opposite direction were used to looking. We want to look at
the source of our experience.
This guide is designed to illuminate a few of the most common misconceptions that
prevent us from seeing the source clearly.

I invite you to read this guide not with a skeptical, analytical mind, but from a place of
curiosity, the way you might listen to a piece of music. As well see, our thoughts arent
exactly the most reliable source of information about the world

Myth #1: You need to delve into your negative feelings to

figure them out and prevent their return
Syd once gave relationship advice to a woman on the verge of breaking up with the man she
initially planned to marry.
He just bothers me so much now. His weird habits and different ways of doing things irk me.
We argue more. I dont feel the way I used to about him.
Syd said, How did you feel about him at the beginning of your relationship?
I felt great about him. We loved spending time together, doing little things, being silly
together.
Great. Do more of that.
At first the woman thought this was worthless advice, and Ill admit, I did too. But soon, a much
deeper message became clear to her (and me).
The reality of problems grows when we focus on them in a negative feelings state. Problems
dont get solved from that state.
On the other hand, when your mood is higher, the same triggers that spark conflict in a low state
of mind dont become problems.
The classic Einstein quote comes to mind here (and it will come up again later): We cant solve
problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Dont take my word for it, see if its true in your own experience. Have your feelings about
something you thought was causing you to feel badly ever changed on their own, without you
solving what appeared to be the problem?
Problems transform or disappear altogether when we are in a higher mood or state of
consciousness. So instead of trying so hard to solve those problems (which often locks us into
that lower state of consciousness) we can just wait for our mood to rise. Then the problem looks
different, or might not even be recognizable.
The reason it can work like that is this: the problem is not based in the real world, another
person, or an external circumstance. It is based in thought.
This is what I meant when I said wed be looking at the source of where our experience comes
from, as opposed to the content of the experience. If we were taking the latter approach, it would
make a lot of sense to analyze the problem, create a strategy, and then design action steps to
reduce or remove the problem.
But theres an easier way. Seeing that the source of a negative feeling is a thought means that
theres no reason it cant go away at any moment. On its own. Without us fighting it or working
on it.
So much for needing to solve the problem.
This works in relationships, but can be applied to anything in life, since we are in relation with
things we see as problems and challenges.

All day, every day, our moods are fluctuating up and down, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.
A mood is nothing more than a persistent set of thoughts. And we always have new thought
coming in (unless we dont let it). Thoughts are the source of our experience, not the
circumstance or event. So an hour from now, we might look at something that was troubling us
and no longer be troubled.
Perhaps youre thinking, isnt it too simple to just focus on good feelings? How can I ignore
these deep, recurring issues that require attention and work to resolve?
Consider this: once you have a general awareness about them, continued attention and work
might actually prevent them from going away. We can habitually work on things, which too
often is a way of staying in a low state of mind.
The problem itself shrinks and grows as our moods rise and fall. When were in a higher mood,
and a clearer state of mind, an insight might occur that enlightens our understanding or shows
us an action to take. Negative feelings get solved of their own accord, and the best thing for us
to do is get out of the way of that natural shift.

Myth #2: Healing will come from analyzing the past or your
childhood
Another way mainstream psychology and self-help tell us to approach our problems is to
diligently examine our pasts.
While this helps us build awareness of our tendencies and habits, it runs the risk of the past
becoming an over-emphasized focus instead of one stop on the journey towards wellbeing.
Delving into the past might help our self-understanding, but it does nothing for our Selfunderstanding. (Pay attention to that little-s self vs. the big-S Self.)

Remember, the part of us that we imagine needs healing is not the part we
create from; that part is far deeper and stronger. The part we create from cant
be touched by anything our parents did, or society did. That part is unsullied,
uncorrupted; soundproof, waterproof, and bulletproof.
Steven Pressfield

What Pressfield calls the part we create from, I call the big-S Self. This Self has innate wisdom
and wellbeing. The Self is our real self because it is completely unbound by ever-changing
temporal and physical conditions. It remains when all else blows away. It needs no healing. It
has no past and no future. It is beyond our pain and beyond our conditioning.
The method of healing Im describing is simply a matter of rediscovering the Self. The more we
touch the space of our Selfand we can at any timethe more we experience ourselves beyond
the pain from our past that haunts us. Living from that place transforms the world we
experience.
If wellbeing and wisdom are innate in ourSelves, we dont have to create or find them. Weve
already got them. They can never be damaged or removed by harsh or painful experiences. Yet
most of us dont know we have these innate gifts because we havent been in touch with them for
a while.
One of the ways we prevent ourselves from accessing the innate healing potential of the Self is
thinking that the past has relevant information for us now.
Thats a very bold statement, so let me qualify it. I think its helpful to be aware of how our pasts
shape our personality tendencies. I also think the introspective act of looking at the past can be a
helpful skill to have.
However, the past is literally no longer real. The past is now memories, which are thoughts.
Delving deeply into the past is often just a way to keep getting stuck there and overthinking it, or
worse, to continuously justify our harmful behaviors. Delving into the past isnt wrong, but
lasting healing comes from the present.

The only thing we can experience is the present moment. To have an experience we havent had
beforelike overcoming an ongoing negative behavior that originated from a past painwe have
to have new thinking about it. The only place new thinking comes from is the present.

Myth #3: The answer will be found through the intellect

I love the phrase, the mind is a great servant but a terrible master.
When were miserable, our thoughts are running crazy, like a bull in a china shop. And we feel
like crap. Our feelings come from those rampant thoughts.
One of the hallmarks of self-help is trying to counter our negative thoughts with better, more
positive thoughts. We learn about controlling the mind and reprogramming beliefs.
All of that is an intellectual pursuit.
Einstein famously said, We cant solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used
when we created them. This time, Im applying his quote in the context of the way we use our
mind.
The intellect is only one mode of using our mind. Another mode available to us can be called
intelligence, which I also call intuition.
Perfect answers, tailor made for our situations and personalities, arrive when we stop paying as
much attention to the noise of the intellect. The intuition can then be heard. The intellect is like
the dark ink of the text Im writing with; the intuition is like the white space upon which the text
occurs.
Intuition is available to us all the time. It is a mode some of us are so unfamiliar with, and have
not experienced in such a long time, that we doubt it even exists. Well insist that rationality and
logic are the best, and the only, tools to master our worlds.
Thats like cutting ourselves in two and only acknowledging one of those parts.
I know this pain myself. But it is not necessary. Allowing that new modes of experience are
available to us when we disengage the intellect opens a new world of possibility.
The intellect loves to be an expert. When we are beginners we see possibilities and novel
connections. When we are uncertain we can open ourselves to the flow of life instead of needing
to figure out for ourselves where to go next.
Thats the beauty of the innate gift of intuition or wisdom. It speaks to us, but not in the
language of the intellect. Hearing it is a matter of seeing that the web of thoughts the chattering
mind spins is often irrelevant and arbitrary. We dont need to pay attention to the noise.
Intuition is an expression of the Self, of the intelligence were all connected to. Thats why
insights and epiphanies that come from outside the intellect often come with the feeling of being
the perfect solution for the situation at hand.

Myth #4: You dont already have everything you need

inside of you
Every feeling of peace and healing you seek is already alive inside of you. It wont come from
anything you dont already have.
It wont come from a new strategy, book, article, seminar, workshop, course, teacher, guru, skill,
or practice.
Im not saying dont read books or dont seek answers. But on that journey of seeking, if those
materials dont direct you back to yourself as the source of wisdom and wellbeing, youll stay on
the journey, perpetually seeking peace, instead of living in a peaceful experience.
If any of these materials makes you go aha!!! caution! It might seem like the insight came from
the material. But really its because it awakened the part of you that already knew the truth of
what it was saying, and it resonated with you. If these materials do help you, its because theyve
successfully pointed you within yourself to the peace and wellbeing you already had.
The feeling came from you. It was awakened in you. You have remembered.
It is ultimately detrimental and false to believe that your peace and wellbeing come from a
source other than what is already inside you.
People meditate, practice mindfulness, or do yoga because it opens a space in them. It quiets the
mind. And when the mind is quiet, we are beyond the surface. We are listening deeper. And in
our depths is where our Self resides, containing every shred of wisdom and peace and wellbeing
you will ever need.
Now: Within sounds like awful vague instruction. What does that even mean? How do I look
within for the answers Im seeking?

Myth #5: Change and insight come from what you already
know
Have you noticed how funny it is that the focus of this guide is just about deconstructing
misconceptions?
The only reason that could possibly be a useful thing to do is if there is something underneath
our misconceptions that is worth discovering. So whats underneath?
While I can say that you have a source of wellbeing within, I cant tell you exactly where the
answer is. That place cant be located. It cant be discussed or described. Anything already said
or known is already created.
But the creative potential of the universe is available when we instead look to the source of our
answers, healing, and creativity.
And its source is the unknown.
This is an inherently difficult thing to talk about. Bear with me.
The world of form is the world of everything we know. That includes the things we sense with
our five senses, and the things we think. It includes the past and future we have imagined. It
includes our successes and failures. And it includes our problems.
The other side of the coin is the realm of the formless. It is the world of spirit. By spirit I just
mean having no form. The formless is spiritual, not necessarily meaning religious, but
meaning immaterial. Its the nothing from which everything comes.
The formless contains the form. Silence allows sound to exist. Space allows matter to exist. The
blank canvas allows the masterpiece to be painted.
The form and the formless are really one worldthis world.
Its obvious to us that we have a dimension of form. We have bodies and think thoughts. It isnt
so obvious that we also have a formless dimension. Im not preaching here, or trying to persuade
you. Dont take my word for it, see for yourself.
Its awfully useful to talk about the formless dimension because it is the creative potential for
which we are conduits. And since its so not obviousyou cant see, hear, touch, or know itwe
think that we are the ones creating things. Were not.
Think about a time when youre in flow. Playing a sport, dancing, giving speeches, doing math,
writingwhatever activity you love. When youre really nailing it, doesnt it feel like whatever
youre doing or creating is coming through you, not from you? It feels like youre not there.
This might sound esoteric, but we all experience it every day. Another example is having an
epiphany. Where do epiphanies come from? They come from the formless energy that animates
us. That formless energy is the Self, and is the source of intuition and insight.
By accessing the formless, or the unknown, we tap into an infinite store of creativity. (That turns
out to be pretty useful when we think weve got a longstanding issue that needs fixing somehow.)
We access it with our mindsbut not through thinking intellectually about it.

It can be misleading to even describe how to access it. But in general, we are more in touch
with the source of creativity and wellbeing when our minds are quieter
A Zen student comes to meet a Zen master. As the student regales the master with stories,
discoveries, and ideas from his journeys and exploration of Zen, the master begins pouring tea.
As the student keeps talking, the master keeps pouring. And pouring. And pouring. The cup
overflows. Eventually the student says, Excuse me, master! The cup is already full, you must
stop pouring!
The master says, This cup is like your mind. It is so full that it cant receive anything new.
People have all kinds of methods for quieting the mind. Meditation is one. When our thoughts
calm down a bit, we feel better. Our minds have more space. And since theyre no longer
crowded with the known, there is opportunity for insight, intuition, and wisdom to emerge.
Quieting the mind can be tricky, because trying to quiet the mind disturbs the mind. The best
way to quiet the mind is to not try to quiet it.
Michael Neill has a wonderful analogy for this. Our minds are like a car, and our thoughts are
measured in RPMs. Between zero and fifty RPMs are feelings of deep relaxation, peace, and
love. Fifty to one hundred are feelings of flow and claritywere thinking but thinking clearly.
One hundred to two hundred are feelings of mild stress and urgency. Two hundred to three
hundred are feelings of stress, anxiety. Three hundred or greater is like having a panic attack or
meltdownextreme stress.
So how do we get the mind into the nice, happy realm of less than one hundred RPMs?
Just take your foot off the gas.
You might keep moving fast for a bit but soon you will slow down. And the calmer the mind, the
better we feel. The calmer the mind, the closer we are to our innate springs of peace and
wellbeing, available to us every moment.
In a way, this fifth myth is part and parcel of each of the first four myths I mentioned.
The unknown is the place new thoughts come from that change our feelings from bad to good
and back again. It produces new thoughts that allow for the healing of past issues that feel
permanent and lasting. It is the source of the intelligence beyond the intellect, and is the inner
home of our wellbeing and wisdom.
Ironically, the unknown is the answer to everything were looking for.
The unknown has the opportunity to deliver something we havent seen before. A solution. An
action. A new perspective.
Have you ever been working hard to solve some challengeany kindand eventually given up?
Then you go do other things, think about other things, and BOOM. Out of nowhere, something
new occurs to you. You know what to do about that challenge.
Surrendering ourselves from the need to be the source of answers takes the pressure off. And
since were no longer under the impression that we have to solve it, the unknown solves it for us.

We are taught, explicitly or implicitly, to work with the world of form to improve ourselves. Fix
our beliefs. Change our actions. Form new habits. Buy new things. Achieve greater success.
Make more money.
These strategies make a lot of sensebecause were familiar the world of form. And they would
be great but they generally have limited success.
We can look in a new direction. Away from form to the formless. Away from the known to the
unknown. Looking in that direction can be disorienting at first. (What am I looking for? What
am I supposed to do?)
But if you keep looking and let your mind settle, youll catch of a glimpse of something.
Feeling happy for no reason. Inspiration to write a song. The perfect solution to a challenge
youve been facing. Or, more likely, fewer situations will look like problems in the first place.
This is also the place where we are beyond our conditioning, past, and wounds. This is the place
where were already perfect.
No brokenness, scars, or wounds. Nothing to fix, heal, or change.
We lose touch with this space because of misconceptions we develop. The misconceptions are
little lessons we pick up as we grow from babies to adults. And most adults are unhappy. Most
babies arent.
Thats why seeing through them cuts through the illusion and gets right to the source of love,
peace, and wellbeing. Right away. No work or practice required.
Even a glimpse of this space will change you. If you look in the right direction, I guarantee youll
see something.

What Now?
We just had a casual conversation about some light topicsyou know, the nature of the human
experience, your divine identity, and the roots of psychological suffering. Small stuff.
This guide introduces you to some of the most important mind shifts Ive come across in my
exploration.
If youre interested in taking this understanding to a deeper level, there are infinite possibilities
for exploration. This understanding impacts the ability to create, to heal, to connect, to achieve,
and to love.
As I started to learn all this fun new stuff, I started to wonder:
How do I integrate this understanding into my everyday life?
How can I bring my understanding from an intellectual to an experiential level?
Whats the best way to deal with roadblocks and resistance on this path of understanding?
If youd like to explore these lessons even more deeply, have more insight, and expand your
sense of possibility,
Thats what Im here for.
With a set of experienced eyes and ears to support you on your journey, your growth will be
accelerated and deepened.
Apply for a free coaching call with me here to take this understanding to the next level.
(And if youre interested in keeping up with regular blog posts, and havent already subscribed,
you can do that here.)

Thank you so much for reading.

About the Author

Jock Gilchrist is a transformative coach living in Northern California. He has been coaching
since 2014. His primary aim is to illuminate the myths that perpetuate suffering and show
people their innate wellbeing. His work has been featured in the Huffington Post and Tiny
Buddha. He holds a Bachelors degree in Neuroscience and Religious Studies. When hes not
coaching and writing, you can find him hanging with close friends, playing guitar, or training for
a 50k trail race in Squamish, British Columbia that might just kill him. Reach out with
questions, comments, or just to say hi, at jock@jockgilchrist.com.