Cleary titles a section in the book “The Great Task.” “We are swept away by memorizing sayings and living inside conceptual consciousness. Has it not been said, ‘Concepts act as robbers, consciousness becomes waves’? If you have not mastered the great task, nothing compares to stopping, in the sense of quiet cessation, the purifying and quieting of the body and mind. At all times avoid dwelling obsessively on things, and it will be easy to unveil this (page 42).” [1]
Boy is this a “great task.” There is not a moment in the day that goes by that we are not swept away by some belief we hold, some information that we’ve read, some concept that we were taught in our schools, churches, synagogues, or mosques! When we do we often end up stressed out, tired, confused, and fearful. Not everything that we read or learned is “true.” Some states have taken events in history out of their history books because they did not like something that happened. Yes, as hard as that might be to fathom it is true!
So this is just another reason to practice the principles of Buddhism and not obsess over things. It is so important when we are meditating/sitting that we clear our minds of everything. Yes, that includes the wonderful sutras and teaching of Buddhism. That we simply clear our minds of things and focus on the breath. We need to give our “minds” a rest! We exhaust ourselves day in and day out with those thoughts. Thinking propels us toward good and bad things but either are not bringing us peace, quiet, and rest. The Empty Mind will be our only salvation as the Christians might say!
We need to give our body and mind a rest on a regular basis each and every day. We need to tamper down the obsessive thinking and actions. When we do we’ll see that this peace heals our body and mind without medicine. Brings joy into our lives. Finds the good in others. Helps us ignore the silly things the people around us do and say. Drops our blood pressure, removes our nervous stomach, and allows us to sleep like a “baby” as my mom used to say!
Avoid obsessing about things starting today and watch what happens in your life! Try it—I think you’ll like it! The Magic will reappear in your everyday life!
[1]
Cleary, T. (1998) Teachings of Zen. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc
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In the introduction chapter of the book Cleary talks about the influence that conventional religions had on Buddhism. “On a deeper level, Zen masters sought to restore and express the living meaning of religion and philosophy; the Zen teaching was to ‘study the living word, not the dead word.’ Not only did Zen reawaken Buddhism in this way, but it also revitalized Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and Shamanism bringing out their higher spiritual dimensions (page xiv).”
This last chapter will totally debunk the 9 chapters before it! What a fabulous way to end my story…
