Hard it is to train the mind,
which goes where it likes and does what it wants.
Dhammapada Ch 3
which goes where it likes and does what it wants.
Dhammapada Ch 3
Well, duh. We like to think that
it’s the distractions of modern life that
make it so difficult to focus, to stay on track, and – worst of all – to
meditate. “If only,” we think. “If only I didn’t have to pick up the kids, or
work late, or go to the gym, do the dishes, pick up the drycleaning, do that
thing at that place where I volunteered. If only I wouldn’t get sucked into
stupid online games, or Facebook, or reality shows, or the latest crime
thriller. If only I had time/could make time/didn’t waste time. If only…”
And then
the Buddha gets right up in our face and says, “Hey, I’m talking to you – yes,
YOU – from across the millenia. Guess what? In my day we didn’t have offices or
TV or Snookie or Facebook, but the mind was still just as hard to train. You
know why? Because it is the The
Mind. It’s constantly full of old thoughts and constantly running
around looking for new ones. It does its level best to fill up any space of
openness so that it doesn’t have to recognize that it is the major source of its
own problems. You want to blame the Internet or your boss? Go ahead,
but that’s just The Mind
offloading its problems once again so that you won’t take a closer look.”
As long as you look outside
yourself for the problem, then you’ll continue to look outside yourself for the
solution to the problem, too, and you will leave The Mind still doing its gig and getting away with it.
See, The Mind is going to
point out pretties and shinies in every direction just to get you to keep
looking at everything but it. Why? Because The Mind is the gateway to The
Ego , that wonderful picture you’ve created of yourself and that you
send out into the world on a daily basis.
And The Ego has an agenda.
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