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Riding the Winds

There is a type of music that lets your mind ride on its tail-winds. Up and down, slower, faster, a pause… Slightly unpredictable, so you cannot drift into a thinking mode; you do not have much choice but follow its movement. Classical music is sometimes like that; jazz is even closer to what I mean. My daughter made me listen to the music of St. VIncent in the car the other day. Although I cannot say that I liked it much, I appreciated its musical patterns, the pauses and movements through which small patches of emptiness can be glimpsed. The mind can glide on its winds rather than ride on the winds of its own thoughts.
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The Run-away Brain


Doesn't this look to you like a gigantic brain, irresponsibly left by its owner in the garden? It moves slowly towards the perils of the ocean. There is a small rope, most likely put there to prevent it of running away, although its presence looks purely symbolic. 

For me, this is a great metaphor for our minds. Left out there, unprotected by anything, but our meek gestures of morality, moving slowly to the perils of the ocean of our disturbing emotions. Our anger and greed, loosely tied by the rickety rope of the possibility of social exclusion, our jealousy, painted over by our pride and reluctance to be seen by others as weak, are the only fences. 
That pretence does not protect our mind but we chose to believe that it will. Putting around it the strong chains of moral discipline and mindfulness takes a lot of effort. Most people will just say, 'Let it run free!'.
Our mind, that boulder, will not cause any damage to the ocean, of course, but when it comes tumbling down, it will break into pieces, crushing and dragging everything in its way.




Comments

  1. Anonymous31 March 2023 at 09:16

    Thank goodness for our lamas, and the dharma that teaches — in its own timeless way — humility, devotion and care, to the rock in that poem, so that it can turn back into sand then merge with the sea. Perhaps only another few million lifetimes 🙏🏽

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous31 March 2023 at 17:09

      Indeed! But that is another story…

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