Mind, Consciousness and Thought

A few weeks ago, I faced one of the hardest decisions of my life—letting my beloved dog, Po, transition into the formless. He had been my constant companion, and as he has aged, he held on. When I finally made the decision to help him let him go, his health declined quickly, and it became clear he had been holding on for me, for all his humans. Maybe he was staying strong because I wasn’t ready to let go?!

After he passed, I felt grief, but guilt lingered even more deeply. I replayed every decision, questioning whether I had waited too long or could have been more present. Those thoughts were painful. The guilt was weighing me down and amplifying my pain.

A few weeks before this happened I had started working as an apprentice with Michael Neill and thankfully his teachings helped me see things differently. Through his guidance and the teachings of the Three Principles—Mind, Consciousness, and Thought—I began to understand how much of my suffering was shaped not by the past itself but by the stories I was telling myself about it in the present. This understanding has brought profound shifts in how I see and navigate life.

Mind is the universal mind, the intelligence behind life—the source of wisdom, clarity, and our individual mind, which are not separate. 

Consciousness is the awareness of the mind.

Thought is the raw material that creates our moment-to-moment existence.

While it is normal to be sad about losing a loved one, I realized that my guilt and the resultant suffering were the products of my thoughts. By continually reliving those moments, I was using my consciousness to give those thoughts life, creating a lens of regret that wasn’t the truth—it was just the story I was holding onto.

When I began to see this, something shifted. I could look back on Po’s life and see it was filled with love and joy. Letting go of the stories and the thoughts, allowed me to focus on the deep bond Po and I shared and the unconditional love he gave.

Since working with Michael, I’ve realized that peace and clarity don’t come from changing circumstances but from understanding how our thoughts shape our experiences. Po’s memory is now a source of love, a reminder that the world we see is created within us, not outside of us.

“I can choose what thoughts I hold on to and that creates my reality.”

If you’re holding onto something heavy, what would shift if you saw it as just thought? For me, this journey has been about stepping into simplicity and allowing the wisdom of mind to guide me. And in that space, there’s always healing, connection, and love.