The Mind Is The Problem And The Mind Is The Solution

Meditation As A Vehicle

While practicing mindfulness, we tend to forget that the words, concepts, and teachings of these practices from their original source are actually just translations into English or any other modern languages we are using today. It is like this classic analogy of “the finger pointing to the moon”. We get so caught up in grasping our attention solely on the finger itself – forgetting that the purpose of the finger is not the finger in-and-of-itself but more so about what it is that the finger is pointing to: the moon. Language, symbols, mindfulness, meditation – these are just the instruments or the channels pointing towards something else – the original source: peace, happiness, clarity, wisdom, love, etc. – that is always available, at the tip of our nose. With these thoughts in mind, what could “meditation” in its original sense possibly mean before it gets translated into a relatively equivalent English word “meditation”?

Allowing To Nurture The Conditions

With the intention of not wanting to confuse the reader with an ancient Pali word that he or she is not familiar with, I will just omit the word but would like to introduce the idea of “cultivation of the mind” before this particular type of practice gets translated into everyday language as “meditation”. Simply put, the practice is more about tending to the mind – understanding its true nature, nurturing its well-being. Mind put aside for now, it is probably easier for us to think about it in terms of a tangible physical organ of a human body. Let’s take for example “eyes” as an organ. Eyes’ function is to see the light and it is not capable of taking any other input from the outside world, such as a sound or a smell or anything else but solely the light. Despite the fact that “eyes” as an organ will age over the years, there are ways to nurture or cultivate its well-being in regards to seeing things clearly without any blurry vision near or far, seeing colors as they are, recognizing when seeing the faces of our loved ones, or being able to appreciate a beautiful painting, etc. And, when we do have troubles with our eyes, we can go see an ophthalmologist who understands the true nature of the eyes to a certain extent and he or she can give us the right directions to improve and maintain eyes’ well-being.

Taking Care Of The Mind Organ

Now, let us go back to talking about the mind and allow me to propose this unusual idea of treating mind as an organ as well although it is not tangible or can be seen as a physical organ such as “eyes” used as an example in the previously. Just like the eyes have their own functions and can only take its appropriate input (light), mind also has its own functions and takes its appropriate inputs – ideas, memories, thoughts, imaginations, as such. Its function is to think, plan, calculate, recall, speculate, assume, etc. But the interesting problem is this – when we buy an iPhone or any other Apple products for example, it comes with a user manual that explains how it functions, how to use it properly, effectively, or what to do when something goes wrong – not so much with the mind that we come to existence with, however. So where do we find this user manual for the mind?

Cultivation Of Seeing The True Nature Of The Mind

This is where the idea of the “cultivation of the mind” comes into play. When one sits in stillness and silence, the mind reveals itself to the one who observes its true nature. It’s not quite possible to observe the true nature of the mind when one is watching TV or listening to another person’s voice because it is engaged to its input and hard to separate itself from what it is already attached to. But when one sits in stillness and silence, the mind is uncomfortable and unsettled because it wants to be busy and wants to do what it thinks it is good at doing – looking for thoughts to chew on, memories to recall, future events to plan, so on and so forth. But if we are patient with it long enough in stillness and silence, the mind does not have a choice but eventually has to give up and show its true nature to one who is observing.

The Solution Is The Problem

Let me end here with another analogy that you can take away with you on this thought — let’s say when one walks barefoot into the woods after it rains, it is likely that his or her legs will get muddy. And, after the walk, if one wants to clean off the mud, he or she will have to rinse it off with plenty of water. If we pause here for a moment and think – isn’t it the “water” that causes the ground to be muddy while at the end, isn’t it also the “water” that is capable of cleaning the mud off? Likewise, it is the “mind” that causes us to suffer pain, resentment, sadness, loss, despair, etc. but it is also the “mind” that is capable of cleaning off all this suffering and bringing us peace and happiness.

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