The content of the mind is the mind! What leads to that realization is detached observation.
Detached observation
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The content of the mind is the mind! What leads to that realization is detached observation.
The thinking mind has an
The thinking mind has an active energy, the energy of movement, whereas the mind that is simply aware is still, it has an empty quality, a neutral energy. Through detached observation, the mind can be led to this neutral, open state, but it easily slips back to its active mode and gets caught up in the world of form. Rather than just observing the active mind and waiting for it to calm down, is there some way to channel the mind’s active energy, to exploit it, to direct it in such a way that it extinguishes itself?
The first step is to become
The first step is to become aware of the mind’s activity. This gives the mind material to work on in that very moment. Now that it has the material to work on, it can trace that material to its root, and by doing so, it naturally undergoes a process of acceptance. And at that very moment, the mind ceases to resist universal consciousness; the momentum of that agitation is reverted to a manifestation of the universal, thus releasing the mind.
If we go to the very root of that material, a profound change is effected, one that impacts the energy field on all levels, right down to the molecular level. When we really get to the root, we get to the true origin of that activity, which is universal consciousness.
The mind has not gotten to the root until it has reached a state of stillness, therefore as long the mind is aware that there is still a momentum to this area of thought, that indicates that one has to pursue the practice of awareness. That momentum may manifest in a different form, one may find one’s mind on other things, so one might be inclined to believe that one is dealing with an essentially different thought structure, when it’s really the same stuff. As long as the mind has not found that stillness, it must persist in following that momentum attentively, in whatever form it assumes.
When the mind has truly achieved a state of genuine stillness, there is no effort involved in clearing the consciousness of thought, for the root thought that was the source of all that momentum has been purified, in effect neutralized by awareness.
Those who have very strong
Those who have very strong desire for liberation are often motivated by a strong desire to escape the mind’s pain. This may even be said of the Buddha himself. I am not referring to the tendency to escape the problems of the outside world, but the need to escape the inner turmoil of the mind. When one perceives that all problems are caused by the mind itself, one may be inclined to escape the mental tendencies that cause suffering. How does one deal with such an escapist approach when it manifests in spiritual practice?
The very idea of running to
The very idea of running to emptiness is itself the hindrance, for when one is doing so it is giving reality to the turmoil of the mind, thus maintaining it. Now when one perceives that any movement away from the turmoil is itself the very activity of the turmoil one can only abandon any such activity. When there is no activity one finds oneself in the home of emptiness.