Mindreading

Jung: “The thought went too far for me, and I shun far-fetched ideas. They are dangerous, since I am a man, and you know how much men are accustomed to seeing thoughts as their very own, so that they eventually confuse them with themselves.”

Elijah: “Will you therefore confuse yourself with a tree or animal, because you look at them and because you exist with them in one and the same world? Must you be your thoughts, because you are in the world of your thoughts? But your thoughts are just as much outside your self as trees and animals are outside your body”

The Red Book, C.G. Jung

Is it possible to read someone’s mind? Yes.

However, it is not in the manner you might expect.

Mindreading is the skill of being present and recognizing the thoughts that are entering consciousness. That which is aware must be aware of the ideas flowing in the realm of consciousness. If that which identifies as you can be in the state of awareness, and act, you increase your odds of mindreading.

I’ve done this repeatedly over the last few weeks and have been amazed at the number of times it has coincidentally played out. I’ll pay attention to the thoughts entering consciousness, and if there something worth acting upon – often times it comes as I wonder – then I’ll say whatever came to mind.

“I wonder if …”

To which the person near me will say, “I was just thinking that!” Or, if I am with my significant other, she’ll say, “Get out of my head!”

Again, it isn’t reading someone’s mind as in, “Let me tell you precisely what you’re thinking right now!” or a parlor trick. It is more an observation of thoughts that may or may not be shared by the collective stream of consciousness.

Try it out.

At a minimum, pay closer attention to those coincidental moments in your life. You know, where someone mentions that they were just talking to someone else a few minutes earlier – or earlier that morning – about the very topic you randomly brought up. Why did you bring up that topic? From whence did that thought come?