The mind of attachment arises from a stopping mind, which also brings forth the cycle of transmigration. This stopping evolves into the bonds of life and death. Stopping signifies that the mind is being detained by some matter, which could be any matter at all.If there is some thought within the mind, although you listen to the words spoken by another, you truly won't be able to hear. This is because your mind has stopped with your own thoughts.
When facing a single tree, if you focus on a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not fixated on any one leaf, and you face the tree with an empty mind, an unlimited number of leaves are visible to the eye.
Allow me to reveal a significant secret. Whatever you experience while simply resting your attention on whatever passes through your mind at any given moment, that is meditation. Simply resting in this manner embodies the experience of the natural mind.
The only difference between meditation and the ordinary, everyday process of thoughts, feelings, and sensations is the application of pure awareness that occurs when you permit the mind to be as it is—without chasing after thoughts or being distracted by feelings or sensations.It took me a long time to acknowledge how easy meditation actually is, mostly because it seemed so ordinary, so close to my everyday habits of perception that I rarely stopped to recognize it.Â
Like many people I met in my teaching travels, I felt that the natural mind needed to be something else, something different or better than what I was already experiencing. Like most people, I injected too much judgment into my experience. I believed that thoughts of anger, anxiety, fear, and so forth that came and went throughout the day were counterproductive—or at least inconsistent with natural peace!Â
The teaching of Buddha—and the lesson inherent in this non-meditative exercise—is that if we permit ourselves to relax and take a mental step back, experiencing natural peace is simpler than drinking water. All you need to do is rest your mind in its natural state. No special focus or effort is required. And if for some reason you can't settle your mind, simply notice any thoughts, feelings or sensations that arise, stay for a few seconds, and disappear, and recognize,Â
“Oh, so this is what's going on in my mind right now.” Regardless of where you are, what you are doing, it's essential to acknowledge your experience as something ordinary, the natural expression of your true mind. If you don't try to stop what's happening in your mind, but just observe its activity, sooner or later you will start to feel a profound sense of relaxation, a broad sense of openness in your mind - which is, in fact, your natural mind, the naturally undisturbed backdrop against which various thoughts come and go. At the same time, you are awakening new neuronal pathways that, as they strengthen and connect more deeply, enhance your ability to tolerate the domino effect of thoughts running through your mind at any given moment.
But now it's time to move beyond a general introduction to the mind and start examining its characteristics in greater detail. You may wonder why it's necessary to know anything more about the natural mind. Isn't general knowledge sufficient? Can't we proceed to practice now? Think about it this way: if you're driving in the dark, wouldn't you feel more comfortable if you had a map of the area instead of just a rough idea of where you're going? Without a map and without any signposts to guide you, you could lose your way. You could take the wrong streets and traverse back roads, making the journey longer and more complicated than necessary. You might end up going in circles. And, undoubtedly, you might end up where you didn't intend to go—but the journey would be so much easier if you knew where you were headed.
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