Imagine that your mental life is like a series of martial art belt tests. You start as a white belt, then earn your yellow belt, as you work your way up to the highest level of mental mastery, also known as the black belt. Earning a black belt in the mind means that you have reached a high level of inner wisdom and knowledge--that you have achieved (or are achieving) your fullest potential as a human being. To reach that highest level is a wonderful, incredible feeling--to know that you are elevating yourself and creating more joy and success in your life and in the lives of the ones you love.

With this article, we will begin the first in a series of “Black Belt of the Mind” lessons. Each lesson will take you one step closer to achieving that sense of absolute confidence and supreme mastery over your inner and outer world.

Today’s first lesson is this:

IT’S YOUR LIFE: CHOOSE:

People believe they have choices, but the truth is that they don’t. There is no choice in life.

None.

If you live from your higher, Unified Nature, also known as your intuition or gut feeling, you don’t have any choices to make. You simply know what to do. There is no need to choose between two alternatives, between this or that. There is no need to analyze anything; you simply follow your intuition. You know which person to stay with, which one to leave. You know which friend to make, which one to avoid. You know where to invest your time, energy, and money, and where not to invest it. You have no choices to make because you live simply from your sense of true knowing, and you act accordingly. Life is simple, clear, beautiful, true.

If you live from your lower, Divided Nature, also known as your “monkey mind” (the part of you that is always frantically chasing thought after thought), then you also have no choice: Whatever you decide will turn out wrong. To be happy, you think you need to choose between this and that person, this and that activity, this and that business venture. But, the truth is that neither choice will succeed; all will fail; because you are haven’t created a mind that is calm, unified, and purposeful. A woman asks, “Should I stay with this man I love, even if we fight a lot?” The answer is simple: As long as you are divided in your emotions and thoughts, it doesn’t matter what you decide. If you decide to stay with him, sooner or later, part of your mind will question your decision and urge you leave. If you leave him, the other part of your mind will call you “a fool” for leaving such “a loving and caring man.” Either way, you lose; either way the decision you make will fail--simply because you are not united in the core of your nature. It doesn’t matter whether the woman stays with the man or leaves him; if her mind is divided, she is not balanced. If she is not balanced, she will fall.

The truth is that you have no choice in your everyday routine matters, but you have one very important choice in the way you choose to spend your time on earth. You can either live from your Unified Nature or your Divided Nature. One you have decided which core to live from, the rest is easy.

If you choose to live from your Divided Nature--a life of chasing for external prizes, trying to steal your identity from the thrills of the world--then the rest of your life is guaranteed: disappointment, frustration, and failure. No choice.

If you choose to live from your Unified Nature--a life of continual inner study, growth, and elevation, of using the external world as a training ground to uplift your mind and spirit--then your future is also assured. The person with a strong Unified Nature devotes himself or herself to studying themselves, reading good books on self-elevation, and learning from teachers who provide authentic psychological and spiritual truths. The person of Unified Nature is always learning and continually wanting to improve themselves so they can help others in the process. When you live from your Unified Nature, whatever you do will succeed; whatever you decide will work. There is no need to agonize over this or that. You simply know what is good, true, pure, and authentic. You have no choice because you don’t need to choose. You simply are.