In some of our recent blog posts, we have discussed habits - both in the context of building good ones, and in the context of changing them. In this post, we will discuss how to break bad habits.
One of the two founders of this meditation, Woo Myung, has covered many topics related to personal development in his writings. As one who has completely broken free from the false mind, he is an authority on the subject. He writes:
The habits that people have are the habits that they inherited from their ancestors at birth, combined with their lives lived; this is what habit is. Unless you discard these habits, it is extremely difficult to change your habits, and they are not easily fixed. In order to change your habits, you should discard the habits, which are ingrained in the root of your mind. The habits can then be broken.
Tips to breaking bad habits
1) Have the desire to change!
You really need to be completely honest with yourself - do you really want to change, or are you just saying it because you feel it's what you need to do? Make your mind up to change, and follow these steps, and you can't not change!
2) Discard the life lived from your mind.
To be able to see the habit, you need to clear away the life you have lived stored in your mind. The reason why, is because you have built this mind world on top of the habit you inherited and you are living inside of that mind world.
3) Discard the habit.
Until you can see it from your mind’s eye with the Universe perspective, it’s not easily understood, let alone discarded. Every thought and every action is being dictated by these habits – they have you thoroughly enslaved and are shortening your lifespan. This is one of the most urgent things you should do.
4) Continuous self-reflection.
Once you clear them away, you can see how and why you behave in that way. If you want to change, don’t feed that habit mind by constantly talking about it. Objectively observe it and have the willingness to want to change through action. If you keep getting angry, then reflect in a journal and write down what made you angry and why you were angry, then imagine yourself behaving differently next time.
5) Deny the habit in action!
This is the hardest part, but with continuous discarding, you can ease the difficulty. A habit doesn’t change overnight! Give yourself 2-3 months with the above process and consciously deny the habit in action. Gradually, over time, instead of getting angry 10 out of 10 times, you make it 9 out of 10. Then 8 out of 10. Then 7 etc. It's not a quick fix - there's no such thing! It's a sustainable long term change.
6) Have patience and acceptance.
Don’t fight the mind (this feeds it!). Accept you have that habit, and have the patience to follow the above process, and over time, your entire being will transmute into the Energy and Light of the Universe.
If you would like to learn more about discarding, you can reach out for a free introduction. This meditation is designed as a course to motivate you to complete it until the end, because only then will you truly eliminate your habits and live as your true self – as your eternally happy self. What could be more important than this?