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Sometimes we're angry but forget why. We may not
be sure of the real reason for our anger, but
our gut feeling says our anger is justified and
we hold on to it. We start to think of
justifications for our anger: the time our
friend forgot to call, insulted the family dog,
was late for the movies, never picks up checks,
and constantly complains. Suddenly, we have lots
of reasons to be angry. The list is endless.
That cheers us up, and our busy minds are
satisfied for a moment.
Whether it's anger or passion or just our "to
do" list, the mind always seems to be actively
involved with something. One instant, it runs
outward toward something it sees and wants, the
next moment, it retreats inward toward some
engrossing thought. Then it's back to our friend
and the anger that's becoming so familiar. Our
minds are always busy keeping track of this and
that in our inner and outer worlds. It's like
having a job and a family -- between the two,
there's hardly any break. One thought leads to
another, and that thought leads to a third. At
some point, we lose track and can't remember how
we got to where we are. When the mind goes
around and around like this, it's like water
that's stirred up all the time. It never has a
chance to settle and become calm and clear. You
can even have trouble sleeping because your mind
is not at rest.
If you know your mind is busy and full of
thoughts, then that's actually not too bad. But
often that's not the case. Sometimes we're
juggling five or six trains of thought and the
emotions attached to them. With so much going
on, the mind starts to get agitated and
confused. We can't see clearly how disturbed our
minds have become. We also can't see that
there's no logic to our confusion. Still, we
remain very diligent and patient when it comes
to holding on to our thoughts. We try to keep
them all alive, to keep up the steady stream of
thoughts. If the stream starts to slow down or
stop, we immediately try to revive it. We even
have gadgets to help us hold on to our thoughts
-- pocket PCs, Palm Pilots, notebooks, iPhones
-- so we can record anything. It's all there:
your emails, texts, schedules and shopping
lists. That's not always a bad thing, but with
all this going on, it's easy to see how our
minds never get any rest.
Our problem is that this busy mind can lose its
connection to its real nature. When we take time
to look beneath all this activity, we discover a
sense of spaciousness and awareness, peace and
happiness, that doesn't change from moment to
moment. It's always there for us. The Buddha
taught that this is the actual reality of our
minds. To reconnect to that reality, we need to
slow down and relax -- totally let go and rest
our minds. Then there is the possibility of the
mind clearing up, calming down, and tuning in to
its basic state of peace and happiness.
So how do we rest and relax our minds? There are
a number of things that can help. You can
nourish and relax your body with a healthful
diet and exercise, especially yoga. You can take
breaks, go for walks, listen to music, and
disconnect for a while from the cyber-, info-,
and techno- worlds. But what can help the most
is the practice of meditation where you are just
watching your thoughts and resting your mind on
the coming and going of your breath. This style
of meditation is simple, can be practiced
anywhere, and has a strong impact on our well
being. Once we become comfortable with the basic
technique, which is described in many places, we
can take a closer look at our thoughts.
The first thing you'll notice is how many
thoughts you have, how they're always shifting
and changing, and how the mind chases after
them. The practice is simply to notice when your
mind wanders off and bring it back to the
present, again and again. The way you come back
is by letting go of the thought you're
following. Once you notice it's there, you don't
hold on to it. Then you've cut the momentum of
the stream of thoughts instead of encouraging
it. There's a sense of relief when you're not
being dragged around by your thoughts. It
doesn't matter whether the thoughts are positive
or negative. If a good thought appears, you
don't need to improve it or rejoice in it; just
let it be as it is. If a bad thought pops up,
you don't need to get upset about it or try to
block or change it. You can just let it be as it
is.
The way to really rest our busy minds in
meditation is to let go of all thoughts about
our thoughts. We can simply relax as our
thoughts come and go. The more relaxed we
become, the more we can see the mind's spacious,
wakeful quality, which we've been more or less
blind to. When we see this, we are seeing what
the Buddha called our "enlightened potential,"
which everybody has.
What this means is that we can find our own
happiness and peace of mind just as we are in
this very moment, because it is within us. We
don't have to change our thoughts or change
ourselves into someone else. We don't need to
think that who we are, this "me," is not good
enough, smart enough, or lucky enough to be
happy. We don't need to be Mother Theresa, Bill
Gates or the people in the Vogue magazine ads to
be happy. If we think we do, we don't have to
chase after that thought. We can just let it go
like any other, and rest our busy mind.
© Copyright 2010 Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. All rights
reserved. |
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