A simple way to calm the mind
The mind is a complicated business so let's simplify it a little:
1) there is the thinking mind (your wordy thoughts, inner voice, etc)
2) and there is the mind of simple presence (the one that knows, if you like)
The first mind is that one that tends give us trouble because it seems so utterly believable even when it is being completely irrational - in fact, it is telling us a story. If it is telling us a horror story, then we start to get a bit out of whack...
But let's not go there. Instead, let us visit a zen story. It goes something like this:
Student: I cannot calm my mind
Master: Show me your mind and I will calm it
Student: I cannot find my mind
Master: There, it is already calm
Now, this is a highly useful method of calming an agitated mind. In order for it work, you need to be able to recognise the difference between mind 1 and mind 2 as explained above. If you've never been in mind 2, then you probably won't even believe it exists (indeed, many people don't even know they have a mind at all).
So, why and how does it work? If we drop down into presence, we begin to see the origin of thoughts and awareness. Drop even deeper, and there is just a super fast munge of particles - it's hard to be entranced by your own mind from this perspective, and this is why it works. We see our minds from a different perspective and this wider view allows us to let go of the content going through the mind. It's simply not that important because it's simply not real in a super real sense.
1) there is the thinking mind (your wordy thoughts, inner voice, etc)
2) and there is the mind of simple presence (the one that knows, if you like)
The first mind is that one that tends give us trouble because it seems so utterly believable even when it is being completely irrational - in fact, it is telling us a story. If it is telling us a horror story, then we start to get a bit out of whack...
But let's not go there. Instead, let us visit a zen story. It goes something like this:
Student: I cannot calm my mind
Master: Show me your mind and I will calm it
Student: I cannot find my mind
Master: There, it is already calm
Now, this is a highly useful method of calming an agitated mind. In order for it work, you need to be able to recognise the difference between mind 1 and mind 2 as explained above. If you've never been in mind 2, then you probably won't even believe it exists (indeed, many people don't even know they have a mind at all).
So, why and how does it work? If we drop down into presence, we begin to see the origin of thoughts and awareness. Drop even deeper, and there is just a super fast munge of particles - it's hard to be entranced by your own mind from this perspective, and this is why it works. We see our minds from a different perspective and this wider view allows us to let go of the content going through the mind. It's simply not that important because it's simply not real in a super real sense.
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