Speaking Tree, Sunday, 20.01.2013
A group of monks were going about their daily chores at the outskirts of Rajgir, where Siddhartha had camped. Some brahmanas were passing by of which one of them sneered “All that these monks ever do is sit and meditate. There is nothing worthwhile they do”. One of the monks heard it and said “No, we don’t even do that”. Taken aback the brahmana retorted “Oh, so you useless one’s don’t even do that?” “No”, replied the monk, “what is there to get distracted about?"
Have you ever observed a flea? It does not stay still even for a few moments. It is constantly moving around in a random path hopping from one point to the other. Or have you ever sensed the wind? It is constantly shifting and drifting. So also is the case with our mind. It does not seem to stay still. Our inability to really understand the true nature of our mind or even if we do understand it and get glimpses of it in our meditative practices, its ability to get easily distracted is the very basis of our suffering.
Even in meditative practices, given the tiniest distraction our mind sometimes deserts us. At one moment we might be resting peacefully in abiding calmness and in the next moment just as a thought casually arises, we tend to chase it and soon we find ourselves playing a football match or in romantic conversation with our heart throb! And then we sheepishly realize this drifting and try and ‘come back’. This cycle continues and is really amazingly as it tends to frustrate our efforts. But yet we must endure this slimy creature called mind and device means by which it remains faithful to us at all times.
In our meditative session this sort of desertion may not give rise to immediate harm, but imagine if this were to happen in our daily routine! At one moment we are all fine and in peaceful conversation and just as someone distracts us with a rude remark or a desireable person walks up to us, our mind just leaves us. Before we realize it, we’ve reacted and have landed ourselves into a position of guilt, embarrassment by having said, thought or done something stupid.
The sessions of meditation are our laboratory. Our mind is what we are trying to tinker with. What we experience and realize in these sessions, however insignificant it might be, is what we must integrate into our day to day living.
Here’s one way that might offer some assistance whilst ‘working’ in our laboratory in preventin our minds from slipping away.
Sitting still, when we try to focus inward into our mind and bring it to some stillness or calmness, we come to a point wherein we are resting in our base mind. This is also called resting in the nature of our ordinary mind. Thoughts and emotions seem to go through a slow motion of naturally arising and fading. Soon they settle down too. Although we may be mindful of our breathing – breath as we know is the prana ("lung" in Tibetan)on which mind rides - and we are aware of this mindfulness, there occurs a particular moment. A thought arises and like a juvenile in love, our mind chases after it.
Recognize this moment! It is this moment which is the reason of our endless torment.
This is the moment that must be identified and dealt with. Dealing with it means just being able to identify it. Pin-pointedly identify the very moment our mind strays. With sustained practice this ‘moment of desertion’ needs to be routinely caught, recognized as the harbinger of suffering and eventually purged. Yes, it is true that initially it might require dedicated and perhaps an artificially generated effort in creating this identification tool. However, as we become more and more used to it in our meditative sessions – in our laboratory - catching the moment goes on to become as natural as swallowing or smiling. Soon we arrive at a point where our mind becomes a vajra (diamond) and nothing really distracts it. Much like the monks in the story.
Remember, the highest Lamas or the most accomplished of gurus are just like us. They have same arisings of emotions and thoughts. They have similar perceptions, mental constructions and formations like you and me. The only difference is that as they do not allow any grasping to enter any of these arisings, there is no internal grasping of them nor any external manifestation of it in terms of body, speech nor mental actions.
And we can quite easily be the same only if we are dedicated in our laboratory work! You wouldn’t want a life with self-created and self-inflicted suffering, would you?
Enlightenment be yours.
A group of monks were going about their daily chores at the outskirts of Rajgir, where Siddhartha had camped. Some brahmanas were passing by of which one of them sneered “All that these monks ever do is sit and meditate. There is nothing worthwhile they do”. One of the monks heard it and said “No, we don’t even do that”. Taken aback the brahmana retorted “Oh, so you useless one’s don’t even do that?” “No”, replied the monk, “what is there to get distracted about?"
Have you ever observed a flea? It does not stay still even for a few moments. It is constantly moving around in a random path hopping from one point to the other. Or have you ever sensed the wind? It is constantly shifting and drifting. So also is the case with our mind. It does not seem to stay still. Our inability to really understand the true nature of our mind or even if we do understand it and get glimpses of it in our meditative practices, its ability to get easily distracted is the very basis of our suffering.
Even in meditative practices, given the tiniest distraction our mind sometimes deserts us. At one moment we might be resting peacefully in abiding calmness and in the next moment just as a thought casually arises, we tend to chase it and soon we find ourselves playing a football match or in romantic conversation with our heart throb! And then we sheepishly realize this drifting and try and ‘come back’. This cycle continues and is really amazingly as it tends to frustrate our efforts. But yet we must endure this slimy creature called mind and device means by which it remains faithful to us at all times.
In our meditative session this sort of desertion may not give rise to immediate harm, but imagine if this were to happen in our daily routine! At one moment we are all fine and in peaceful conversation and just as someone distracts us with a rude remark or a desireable person walks up to us, our mind just leaves us. Before we realize it, we’ve reacted and have landed ourselves into a position of guilt, embarrassment by having said, thought or done something stupid.
The sessions of meditation are our laboratory. Our mind is what we are trying to tinker with. What we experience and realize in these sessions, however insignificant it might be, is what we must integrate into our day to day living.
Here’s one way that might offer some assistance whilst ‘working’ in our laboratory in preventin our minds from slipping away.
Sitting still, when we try to focus inward into our mind and bring it to some stillness or calmness, we come to a point wherein we are resting in our base mind. This is also called resting in the nature of our ordinary mind. Thoughts and emotions seem to go through a slow motion of naturally arising and fading. Soon they settle down too. Although we may be mindful of our breathing – breath as we know is the prana ("lung" in Tibetan)on which mind rides - and we are aware of this mindfulness, there occurs a particular moment. A thought arises and like a juvenile in love, our mind chases after it.
Recognize this moment! It is this moment which is the reason of our endless torment.
This is the moment that must be identified and dealt with. Dealing with it means just being able to identify it. Pin-pointedly identify the very moment our mind strays. With sustained practice this ‘moment of desertion’ needs to be routinely caught, recognized as the harbinger of suffering and eventually purged. Yes, it is true that initially it might require dedicated and perhaps an artificially generated effort in creating this identification tool. However, as we become more and more used to it in our meditative sessions – in our laboratory - catching the moment goes on to become as natural as swallowing or smiling. Soon we arrive at a point where our mind becomes a vajra (diamond) and nothing really distracts it. Much like the monks in the story.
Remember, the highest Lamas or the most accomplished of gurus are just like us. They have same arisings of emotions and thoughts. They have similar perceptions, mental constructions and formations like you and me. The only difference is that as they do not allow any grasping to enter any of these arisings, there is no internal grasping of them nor any external manifestation of it in terms of body, speech nor mental actions.
And we can quite easily be the same only if we are dedicated in our laboratory work! You wouldn’t want a life with self-created and self-inflicted suffering, would you?
Enlightenment be yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment