Written on April 14, 2008 by Tom Stine
What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for Self-realization, but continue to ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?
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Behind most spiritual practices is the belief that you have to get someplace you’re not- a destination called realization or enlightenment. But realization isn’t someplace else; it’s the naturally occurring human state. It doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s who we all are. Spiritual practices also set up many pictures of what this state looks like. For example, when I described how much fear was present, people told me the fear meant that something must be wrong, because fear was an indication that I wasn’t in the proper state. But fear is just what it is, and it’s there too in the vastness of who we are.
In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.
Those who awaken never rest in one place.
Like swans, they rise and leave the lake.
On the air they rise and fly an invisible course.
Their food is knowledge.
They live on emptiness.
They have seen how to break free.
Who can follow them?
We always want someone else to change so that we will feel good. But has it ever struck you that even if your wife changes or your husband changes, what does that do to you? You’re just as vulnerable as before; you’re just as idiotic as before; you’re just as asleep as before. You are the one who needs to change, who needs to take medicine. You keep insisting, “I feel good because the world is right.” Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That’s what all the mystics are saying.
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart.
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow.
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on April 15th, 2008 at 4:06 am
Tom, your making me dig deep this morning. 06:00 am is pretty early.:)You asked:”What is the Mind” Well for me the mind is the first thing that engages when I start the day.If it is wandering when it starts up it’s very hard to get it to focus.Music helps me bring it into line, so to speak. I’ll leave others to discuss the rest.Thanks for the update.
Mark’s last blog post..Justa looking for a Niche?
on April 15th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
@Mark You bet. I love these wonderful quotes I keep running across. I’m glad you enjoy. Treat them just like poetry and music.