The Zen Mind-3
The way to abide in equanimity of the mind begins by being mindful of our thoughts. (Perhaps, Gisan too could have been more mindful with his words. Personally, I wouldn’t yell at or chastise anyone like that, no matter what the reason.) When you find yourself in a tug of war with your restless mind, simply pause for a few moments. Take a few deep breaths. Ask yourself, “What am I thinking right now?” Look around and become aware of everything around you. The room, color of the walls, paintings, doors, windows etc. Let your mind win. Let it take the rope. Battle no more. Instead, be mindful of its play. Just sit and watch how it generates thoughts. Become a spectator. It’ll slow down and then still itself. Like every drop of water counts even in a gushing waterfall, every thought matters in our ever-moving mind. Thinking is mind’s only occupation and it is a tiring one. Awareness of our thought patterns is the first step in calming the mind. And, awareness, I may add is not possible without attention.
An attentive mind, without exerting, in a natural state, free of mental, religious and intellectual constructs, is the basis of Zen. Effortless attention is the only way to be in the present moment. Zen is when mind is aware of its own presence. It’s an incredibly empowering and calming feeling — to be aware of your mind and understand it.
As D.T. Suzuki said, “The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows.” This sums it up neatly. Our life is flowing, it’s bubbling inside us, while we worry about how things could have been or should have been. We have all these ideas, notions and preferences on what kind of people we want and circumstances we want to be in. Perhaps, there’s nothing wrong with that. How about though, if we learned to flow with the river of life? What if we learned to enter into the temple of silence where the fragrance of awareness and light of wisdom add glory to every pinch of existence? That would be a Zen mind if you see what I mean. Just everything as it is. No interpretations, no judgments. When you get past the jokes of life, you understand its humor.
Let it be. Let us see. Simply, let it Zen.
Om Namah Shivay
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