A calm mind is clear, quiet and pure, and he who has such a mind is indeed blessed. But such a mind is not easily acquired. Each has to earn this tranquil mind and there is no short cut to it. Even Deities cannot grant it although they may help certain people to strive for it through giving confidence and helping them to overcome their obstacles while they are in the midst of practice. The practitioner must still make all the necessary efforts!
How does the mind get afflicted with mental poisons? From the seeds of the past which mature in the present upon coming into contact with the right conditions. It is as if from nowhere that they arise but there are causes to them. That is why the mind must first of all be cleansed and afterwards guarded and protected because it will become as tainted as soon as it has been cleansed. Cleansing can be a very tough task or easy if one knows how but guarding and preventing impurities from arising will be the most difficult! How many have vowed never to commit an evil act with fervent prayers and pledges and the very next moment fall into such acts once more? It is the nature of the mind to be weak and lax, to go against disciplines that are beneficial. Even knowing that doing certain things are good or evil, we may not readily do or avoid doing them. Why are there so many impurities and what are they?
Each being has lived uncountable lives before and the misdeeds of his body, speech and mind are really limitless. These are the potential poisons and they come to a person as thoughts. It is because everyone has been having countless thoughts daily that they are not looked at with awareness. It has become so natural for a person to act without thinking and knowing that most of the times his actions are quite unwholesome and selfish.
What causes such thoughts and actions to arise? It comes from nowhere for those who do not know but they arise because of dependent origination. Each person is exposed to conditions that surround him at any moment and they can trigger off impulses or thoughts. A person may be driving off to meet someone he loves. Just that arising thought of this someone can bring about a happy feeling and if so where did this “happy feeling” come from? Then when someone in front stops all of a sudden, he too has to stop his car. What brought about this action of stopping? He gets angry because he will be late and he honks and gets involved with a quarrel and suffers from great anger. How did such mixed feelings and actions come about? Actually they all depended on causes and from ‘nowhere’. When we can stop and think in this manner, then there is meaning in emptiness and the emptiness of phenomena. Mind connects it all for them to happen. It is the most important thing to control because the qualities of life depends solely on its activities.
Many people come here with all kinds of sufferings and undergo various forms of feelings which disturb their mind and unbalance their entire being. No amount of prayer or medicine can help them unless they know how to help themselves. It is still self-effort and there is no short cut cure for whatever they are suffering. If they are too lazy to work for their own well-being, there is little that others can do to help them. But when they are ready to exert effort, then all is possible and they will be able to absorb the right ‘prana’ or energy to revitalise their lost or weakened spirit, it will help them to have the right attitude of self-help!
All that is needed is to learn how to calm oneself by the simple meditation on the movements of the breath - the breathing in and the breathing out. This simple watching of the breathing can settle the mind.
For a few minutes, just relax the breathing system and by doing so, the body will soon be relaxed. This can be done anywhere even while walking, but it is best to begin the practice with sitting. No great effort is needed to relax the breathing, just close the eyes and be aware of it and very soon the rhythm of the breath will be noticed. When this is done, then just watch the going in and the coming out of the breath.
So it will be, without thought, just the watching of the going in, coming out, going in and coming out of the breath. It will settle the mind. There is no need to put any effort to it. Just relax and watch, no concentration is needed because when there is concentration, thoughts will arise and the watching will be broken, thoughts will create disturbance. It is thoughts that brings about discrimination. While seated in the house do not allow the mind to be disturbed by anything else. If noise is there, it is there, it becomes part of the environment otherwise it becomes a disturbance. It is easy to be disturbed by things around, even people, once the mind has drifted from the watching and is “trying” to concentrate. In the meditation on the breath, concentration is not needed, just awareness. So it’s the simple relaxing and watching of the in and out breaths. Whatever sound or smell is felt, accept it, let everything be a part of the whole, then the mind will not drift, will not try to cut out this and that, then nothing is rejected, nothing is offensive.
It is simple to watch the breath’s movement. It is pleasant to do so. If even this exercise is difficult, it shows that there is a great need for one to spend time in the exercise and no wonder one is easily excited and ill. When there is calm, excitement will not arise. Try to calm the mind then, everyday!
Thursday, 5th November 1987 (9th Moon 14th Day)