Freeing The Thinking Mind
"At the same time, it can confine us by obscuring the bigger picture of reality which often causes unnecessary suffering. Through deeper reflection, we can see that most unwanted feelings or emotions are not derived from outside, but from our own mind that is lost in thoughts or perception about what is happening."
Sojong Reminder for the month of 05/18 from Anam Thubten
Dear Dharma Friends,
There are liturgies or books that bring everlasting change in our lives. You might have experienced one that changed your life from the inside. Personally, the Heart Sutra has been one of the most important liturgies for me and I still recite it often for various purposes. People often find it quite enigmatic when they hear it for the first time. In part, this has to do with the fact that it is full of negations. It sounds like just a bunch of negations that lack a sense of sacredness or love and compassion. Yet when recited, it is a powerful means to let go of our mind. I use this sutra for this very reason.
In some sense, many spiritual practices help us to let go of the thinking mind, such as prayer or intentional silence. You might notice your normal thoughts stop even when you visit a temple and sit next to an image of Buddha. The usual mind that gives rise to fear, greed, judgment, and anger may melt away in a moment. Have you ever noticed that our usual mental activities stop when we join hands to express gratitude before eating? This shows how easy it is to let go of the thinking mind.
The thinking mind is a wonderful tool that is necessary for our survival as well as our creativity. It is also the very thing that allows us to experience being human. It is the screen and conceptual pixels that build the grand illusion of climbing different stages of life from the past to the future and through many events each day. It also gives us the basic identity of being an individual with purpose and uniqueness. At the same time, it can confine us by obscuring the bigger picture of reality which often causes unnecessary suffering. Through deeper reflection, we can see that most unwanted feelings or emotions are not derived from outside, but from our own mind that is lost in thoughts or perception about what is happening.
Even though we can’t completely get rid of this thinking mind, we might like to find a period where we can just drop it for a while. When that happens, we might notice a huge bulk of problems go away from our life until our mind returns. The question is, how do we do this? We often do this during sitting meditation or chanting sacred liturgies. The simplest method is to concentrate on the breath or sensation in the body. In the Vajrayana tradition, we use methods like gazing into the sky to tap into calm mind that is much bigger and more spacious than the mental commotion we often experience. There are two key phrases we could use to guide our meditation, “let go” and “relax”. These two can be applied whenever we feel it is time to unload our mind.
Once again, the monthly sojong is about to be observed. It’s time for us to do some deep reflection about how we live and the changes we want to bring about in our lives. It can also be a time to let go of many concepts and mental habits that no longer serve us. We can do this by simply practicing sitting meditation or even adding some chanting like we’d add spice to a delicious meal.
With palms joined, Anam Thubten