Coming closer to Home

Have you entered a forest without a proper guide? Like anyone of us, entering a dense forest like the Amazon is going to get us trapped. But for the natives knew there is a clear path that we can’t see, not to mention understand. When we explore the mind, it is a similar situation. The mind we have is like a dense forest that we can’t make out and exploring it is not as easy.

Through familiarization, the natives got used to the forest. The forest has its natural order and recognizing that order enables one to move around confidently and even use it to his or her advantage. To know the mind is to get familiarized with it. And there is no better way than to use our already moments to be watchful or aware of the mind. Every learning or familiarization requires awareness of what is happening. The more we notice our mind, the more we notice an order, which is universal by nature in other minds too.

There is so much to know about the mind. It is not a straightforward path, as in the dense forest. There are delusions, views, misperceptions, and even ugliness that we have to face while observing the mind. One of the big hurdles to start with is the already concept we have about our minds. That itself becomes a hindrance in observing the mind without bias. The other is the insidious attachment that is like a constant shadow following us in what we notice. Where attachment is concerned, it clouds us from observing the mind squarely. For that reason, when we embark on the journey of mind-realization, we really need lots of right information and supportive friends to journey with us, just as a guide is needed when we first venture into a new forest.

The more data we gather about the workings of the mind, the more we become familiar with its pathway. We begin to notice how the mind gets stressed out. We will also notice how the mind becomes wholesome. With more data gathered, a kind of understanding sets in. We are no longer beleaguered by the happenings of the mind. In fact, we can use the mind to our highest advantage and also for others. When we do not stop or conclude in observing the mind, it will one day dawn upon us why Enlightenment is our highest goal. Until then, we have to start to be aware of the mind that we have unknowingly messed up!

In grace, 
Tuck Loon
2 Aug 2022