The Big Mind Technique

Big Mind is the wide, open state of awareness Paul invites you into after you relax. He describes it as an expanded awareness where there is nowhere else you need to be and nothing that needs to be done. The practice is how you get there, by letting the busier parts of your thinking move to the background.

Paul starts from the everyday idea that one part of us wants one thing and another part wants something else. He then speaks to the controller, the evaluator or critic, desire and the seeker one at a time. Each is thanked for its job and asked to keep doing it quietly from the background of your experience, so none of them has to be fought.

Before the parts work begins, you imagine how you would look if you were twice as relaxed, then float into that version of yourself. You see through its eyes, hear through its ears and feel its deeper relaxation. He repeats it once, so the body settles further before the mind work starts.

With the other parts, Paul asks them to step back. With desire he goes a step further and invites you to let go of all desire in this moment, while the part still does its job in the background. It is the point where the session turns from relaxing into feeling content with nothing to chase.

Non-seeking contented mind is what remains once the seeker has stepped back: you are simply aware of your awareness. Big heart comes next, and Paul says problems and challenges transform in this expanded awareness. You then send the good feeling out around the world, and let it spread outward from you.

Paul tells you the parts will reintegrate and you will carry a peaceful, happy feeling with you. He counts backwards from ten, noting at eight that you are coming back to normal waking consciousness, and suggests a stretch near the end. You finish feeling refreshed, alert and in touch with your inner peace.