Meditation is a state of pure consciousness with no content, that is, a state of no-mind. But if you try to stop thought, or make the mind go blank by force, you’ll only tire yourself out and make the mind more turbulent and unruly. If, on the other hand, you leave the mind alone, and, for example, simply watch the breath for a few minutes without comment, the busy, scattered mind will soon slow down and come to rest by itself. One cannot stop thought; it has to stop by itself. As they say in Zen:
Sitting quietly
Doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass grows by itself.
Or, in the words of Chuang-tzu:
The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror.
It grasps nothing, it refuses nothing.
It receives but does not keep.
It is like the wild geese flying over a lake: “The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection, and the water has no mind to retain their image.”
The mind is a train of thought, always on the go. To break the cycle of obsessive thinking, simply be herenow listening to the sounds around you.
Just listen. Listen without thinking.
Don’t say “beautiful,” “ugly.” Don’t say anything. Don’t bring in words, don’t verbalize. Simply listen. In that listening, nothing is favored, nothing is rejected.
The wind passing through the pine trees; the dog barking far away; the birds chirping nearby; the airplane passing above your head…
When you become present suddenly like this, the continuity that was going on in the mind is broken. And as the mind ceases, Truth is revealed.
