Metaphors for the mind

"It is like an orphan child who must fend for itself until it finds a safe parent or guardian."

"The mind must be free. It is as if your house were stuffed to the ceiling with all the possessions you have ever owned--everything--and you had not thrown away anything. It is all in there, things great and small, filling your every room and hallway. And you say, "Well, I want to bring new things into my house, but there is no room. I want to create a new feeling and atmosphere in my house, but there is no space for it." Everything is cluttered, and your house becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Your experience of being in it is imprisoning, and you find yourself spending all of your time maintaining all of these possessions."

"Your mind is like the house that you live in, in the world. It is filled with whatever you put there. It is the place from which you look out into the world. It is your shelter and your protection. It is the place where your spirit generally abides. However, if your house becomes too cluttered and too uncomfortable, Knowledge will not abide there. Then, you will find that you are living in a relic of your own past. You will feel like you are a museum keeper, someone who is taking care of old things."

"The thinking mind must constantly be stirred by new experience and by adaptation to new experience and new understanding in order to be vital and capable of learning. It is like stirring concrete. If you do not keep stirring it and adding water and new things to it, it hardens. And once it hardens, it can only be broken. People who are learning and living The Way of Knowledge are constantly being renewed and refreshed because they are close to life, and they are close to Knowledge. Their thoughts change, grow and evolve. Their ideas change, grow and evolve. Their conclusions change, grow and evolve. They can do this because there is something greater. There is Knowledge, the dynamic force of life within you, within the world and within the Greater Community as well. Knowledge brings you to the edge of life where you have to learn and adapt, communicate and contribute. This keeps you young, alive and close to the heart of life. Your mind, then, becomes constantly relevant to the present and is able to prepare for the future."

"The mind without a true ruler will try to rule itself, and it makes a very poor guide in this respect. Indeed, it becomes more of a tyrant, and it is abusive, arrogant and self-deprecating all at the same time."

"Your body is the physical vessel, adapted to its environment, a marvelous instrument if it is guided properly. It can sail the whole world if it has a wise captain and an able crew…Your crew are your thoughts and emotions, what the mind produces to direct the body. Here you have a functional crew or a dysfunctional crew, a faithful crew or an unfaithful crew, a competent crew or an incompetent crew. And their competence or incompetence will determine how far this vessel can go, what it can withstand in the winds and waves of the world and how well it can adapt to the presence of other ships and the hazards therein. Then there is the captain. The captain is you. It is even greater than your mind, for you are greater than your mind, for the mind is the crew. You are the captain."

"The mind is a magnificent organizer and vehicle of communication. But it must be wisely directed and employed for a real purpose. Having a mind is like flying a plane. The plane is always going off course. You have to keep it directed where you want it to go."

“Learning how to clear the mind and to quiet the mind can sometimes seem to be a great effort because the captivation has already occurred. Somehow you got swept downstream, and now you have to go downstream and find yourself and pull yourself out of the water because you got washed away! And though the current may be strong, you must pull yourself ashore.” Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training, Step 23</ref>