The mind: the source of all experience

'The mind is the source of all experience, and by changing the direction of the mind, we can change the quality of everything we experience...

'Psychologists often refer to this kind of transformation as 'cognitive restructuring'. Through applying attention and intention to an experience, a person is able to shift the meaning of an experience from a painful or intolerable context to one that is tolerable or pleasant. 

'Over time, cognitive restructuring establishes new neuronal pathways in the brain, particularly in the limbic region, where most sensations of pain and pleasure are recognised and processed.

'If our perceptions really our mental constructs conditioned by past experiences and present expectations, then what we focus on and how we focus become important factors in determining our experience.

'And the more deeply we believe something is true, the more likely it will become true in terms of our experience.'

Extracted from The Joy of Living, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche