Today we ask that you think of your consciousness as being like an airplane.

What does this mean?

Most of you have flown in airplanes.  You experience the takeoff, flying up to a certain altitude, smooth flight, turbulence, and landing.

The main skill of a commercial pilot is in creating a smooth flight experience for the passengers.

Of course, sometimes turbulence is inevitable.  But the skillful pilot learns how to correct course in such a way as to minimize the experience of turbulence.

Navigating through life is like flying an airplane.

You cannot control external factors.

You cannot control the weather, or the wind.

But you can be a good pilot of your own consciousness.

As with air travel, the quality of consciousness is all about altitude.

Except with consciousness, it is not about literal height.  It is about high-vibrational consciousness, vs. low-vibrational consciousness.

High-vibrational consciousness is very smooth, and clear.  It is like flying above the clouds, so that you can see clearly.  There is minimal turbulence at this height.  It is a calm experience.

Low-vibrational consciousness is cloudy, and turbulent.  You cannot think clearly, you cannot see clearly.  You are stuck in the clouds.  Everything rattles and shakes.  It is a frightening experience.

Many, if not most, humans operate a low-vibrational consciousness.  Everything is cloudy, confusing, and scary.

But some humans learn how to “increase the altitude” of their consciousness.  Things become much calmer and clearer.

The simplest way to cultivate high-vibrational consciousness is by engaging in regular meditative practices — including basic breathing/sitting meditation, yoga, tai chi, and various forms of grounding exercise that quiet down and stabilize the mind.

The wise pilot also learns to avoid storms, and turbulence.

This can mean shutting off the computer and TV, and not getting caught up in all the real and fictional dramas that are always going on in the world.

The wise pilot chooses a calm course to fly.

Sometimes, of course, storms and turbulence are inevitable.  If they occur, the goal is to ride it out with grace, and return to calmer flying as soon as possible.

Sometimes the storms are so severe that one shouldn’t fly at all.  That is when it is time to truly rest the consciousness, especially when you are sick and rundown.

You cannot control what is going on “out there.”

But you can learn to be a pilot of your own consciousness — which informs how you perceive and react to what is going on “out there.”

That is why cultivating a calm, meditative mind is really the most intelligent, useful thing anyone can do — since it will affect your entire experience of reality for the good.