“If a man knows what peace is, and what mind is, he cannot write a book entitled Peace of Mind, because mind is the cause of all unpeace, all restlessness. Peace is when there is no mind. So peace of mind – no commodity like this exists” Osho
Do you notice that you search for peace of mind and anything you do, any objects you have or any where you go will only ever give you temporary peace if that?
Can you see how efforts to silence the mind or get rid of the mind perpetuate the noise in your head?
Is a noisy mind or head chatter all too familiar for you?
I often work with people who are searching for peace of mind, an end to their anxiety, more positivity, happiness, to get off prescription drugs, less conflict in their relationships, an end to their addictive behaviour and so on.
Life is a constant battle and they come to me asking me what I can do to help them change this, to get rid of it. What yoga or other exercise, or meditation or book to read or therapy or treatment can they do? They tell me…..I hear you, I get it, I understand it but…
…the problem is that my head is so noisy and I just want it to be quiet. What can I do? What can I do? What can I do?
Thing is there is nothing to do. It is the persistent effort, trying, struggle, battling with oneself that is keeping the mind busy. We are searching for something that we already have, that we already know, that is innate within us and that we already experience even if only for a glimpse at a time. In fact this peace is the background of our experience. Always there. Who we are innately.
Imagine a still pond, peaceful, nothing going on, silent, not a breeze, nothing alive in the pond even. Total stillness.
A big black Labrador comes along and jumps in with one gigantic leap and lands in the middle of the pond. Pandemonium ensues. Disturbance. Noise. Water splashing everywhere. Total destruction. The clear water gets muddy. Anything you do as the owner of the Labrador to get the pond back to stillness will add to the destruction.
How does the pond get back to its innate peace or stillness?
It waits.
It accepts the activity is happening. The experience may be a lot of fun for the dog, for anyone watching it, an experience of life. The pond allows the experience to unfold and then the dog jumps out. The pond returns to stillness, its innate state. It settles into itself.
This is what peace is like….the still pond. The dog represents the mind. The more effort we use to still the mind the more disruption there is, the more we perpetuate the problem.
The mind is a self correcting system.
It will return to its innate peace when thinking or mind settles.
It always does.
Every feeling or thought ends, they don’t last forever. They come. They go.
Even though this busy mind can feel permanent and personal, it is always transient.
Sit with and observe the activity of life, of the mind, allowing it to unfold, experiencing every moment without judging it or labelling it or trying to fix it.
Just be. Just be. Just be as the still pond and you return to your innate peace.