Bodhisattva

🧭 Mental Attitude Adjustment: A Guide to Inner Balance and Creative Focus

Let’s begin with a simple truth: labeling someone as “bipolar” often oversimplifies the complexity of the human mind. Likewise, the idea that we must always maintain a “Positive Mental Attitude” to be balanced misses the mark. Balance isn’t static—it’s constantly shifting, like an equal sign in motion. If we cling too tightly to positivity, negativity will tug just as hard, like the opposing ends of a magnet.

Our mental “poles”—positive and negative—aren’t just moods. They shape how we perceive reality. Think of them as magnetic fields or “auras” that influence our thoughts, emotions, and interactions. The yin-yang symbol is a visual metaphor for this: not good vs. bad, but two complementary forces. Positive and negative are not moral judgments—they’re simply two sides of the same coin called duality. Think yin/yang.

🧠 How the Brain Mirrors This Balance

Our brains are built for dual processing. The right hemisphere leans toward intuition, emotion, and holistic thinking—analog and amplitude. The left hemisphere handles logic, language, and detail—digital and frequency. The Corpus Callosum bridges these two worlds, helping us make decisions by integrating both perspectives. But when we rush to judgment or let bias take over, we miss the whole picture. Mistakes often stem not from malice but from misunderstanding. Einstein: “It is not that I’m smarter. I stay with problems longer.” His corpus callosum was three times the average thickness.  Exercising our brain does that.

🧲 The Magnet Metaphor

Imagine your life as a magnet. One end represents cause, the other effect. Your peace of mind sits in the center—where balance lives. Neither pole is “better.” Both pull with equal force. True serenity comes from being present, where time and timelessness meet. Meditation helps us explore this space, revisit past experiences, and release false beliefs. In doing so, we move closer to truth—and freedom.

Imagine that the magnet is shaped like a circle with a gap. The gap between poles becomes a cycle of thought. Each revolution changes the thinker. This is the essence of growth: energy in motion, experience evolving. Every idea is a big bang. It spirals out as a fractal and spirals in as understanding.

🗣️ Language and Purpose

Languages can be misleading. It’s great at creating illusions, but not always at revealing the truth. In our thoughts and conversations, clarity matters. One meditative practice is to redefine nouns by their function—not their name. This shows their true purpose. We value money for what it allows us to achieve, rather than for its own sake. When faced with new information, ask: “What’s its purpose?” This helps separate symptoms from causes.

🧘 The Power of Creative Mental Attitude

When we quiet our thoughts and emotions, we tap into the core of human experience. In this state—sometimes called “Nothingness”—we become creators. A Creative Mental Attitude allows us to direct our focus and imagination toward any goal. But for our creations to manifest, they must align with universal principles.

Developing this mindset takes sustained attention. Einstein once said, “It’s not that I’m smarter; I just stay with problems longer.” Newton credited patience for his breakthroughs. Their ability to focus deeply expanded their mental capacities—literally.

🌟 History’s Creators

Many influential figures cultivated creative mental attitudes, including Lincoln, Jefferson, Mary Baker Eddy, Jesus, Mohammad, Ray Kroc, Franklin, Jobs, and others. They didn’t just react—they created. And that’s key: “creation” and “reaction” use the same letters, but lead to very different outcomes.

🔍 Finding Your Reason for Being

Discovering your purpose is like building muscle. It takes reflection, contemplation, and meditation. While some advance gradually, others make significant strides—often by identifying connections between their strengths and challenges. These leaps in understanding are sometimes referred to as “Quantum Leaps.”

Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor experienced one when a stroke silenced her left brain. For a time, she perceived the world only through her right hemisphere—pure presence and connection. Her TED talk and book My Stroke of Insight explore this transformation.

🧭 Rewriting Your Inner Map

By anchoring ourselves in balance and sharpening our focus, we can rewire our memories and beliefs. This helps us examine our goals and values, discard false assumptions, and adopt healthier perspectives. Change happens incrementally, but it’s real. In Artificial Intelligence, we refer to this as Purge and Merge. This is akin to taking a shower to wash our ignorance down the drain.

Buddhist philosophy teaches that enlightenment is a journey through layers of truth. Wherever you are on that path, a Creative Mental Attitude can light the way. But few are willing to trade distractions for self-discovery. A bodhisattva has no goals other than helping others become one. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an individual who has attained, or is striving towards, awakening and enlightenment, also known as Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or bodhi to help other individuals reach Buddhahood compassionately.

Leonardo da Vinci urged, “Learn to see—everything is connected.” Buddha taught, “We are what we think. With our thoughts, we make the world.” These insights remind us: the mind is powerful. What we focus on, we become.

Accept this fact. Cultivate your Creative Mental Attitude. And let it guide you toward clarity, purpose, and peace.