Turning mind to MIND

Last night I was with a "Sitting Group." During one point when people discussed reasons for coming to practice, a theme emerged, but was only spoken directly by two. They said, "I want to be okay with myself, because the world seems so big and I feel so very small and insignificant within it." As the words we're given voice, I heard air waiver with a certain self-disappointment and regret.

In my being, I felt those tears, because I've known that moment too. I've known that doubt and uncertainty... I've known the feeling of there being a gap and feeling no one would be able to cross over and connect with this person that I am. I've had the moment of looking in the mirror and not being thrilled at what I was seeing.

The truth is, that so-called sense of self-disappointment or emptiness or aloneness is not real, it just appears that way. It's a kind of psychological or emotional mirage. The ego has extensive skills and tools, designed to convince us of some of the most ridiculous things, much in the way a good magician can trick us into seeing what's not actually there. Remember, a good magician relies on misdirection. This is also true for our ego. It frequently gets us to turn in a direction, where our back is turned against the open beauty of life and our eyes are pointed into a dark and murky fog bank, they we sometimes decide to live in.

We are looking at ourselves and at the same time not "Seeing," ourselves as we genuinely are... Beautiful... intermingled... interconnected... Vast like the bluest of blue skies on a clear and crisp day.

So-called "Englightenment," or awakening "Heart-mind," is simply turning ourselves... our mind in another direction to see what we genuinely are. This is why the word, "Zen" means "Unifying the Mind." There are no seams or gaps.

I don't know if you know this but there's a word that we have an odd relationship with in Western culture. It's the word, "Guru." Though it generally has many negative or unrealistic connotations, it actually means, "The one that blows the clouds away." My teacher, Genjo Marinello Osho does this for me all the time. He helps me to turn, when my feet are stuck in the muddiness of my life. It's as though he's asking me what I am seeing and then he asks, "Are you sure about that?" He then says and shows, "What about this?" And then if my mind is clear... quiet... clean... I can see an feel precisely what he is showing.

Sometimes we have a really good friend, spiritual guide, mentor, priest, minister, therapist, counselor, psychologist or heart-connection. They are windows of opportunities to blow the clouds away. These people can, if we make ourselves available and open, help us turn and see ourselves as we are, rather than as our ego illusions or our psychological and emotional misalignments. This requires patience, effort and time. But it is doable... very doable. We can turn. We can see. We can wake-up! Step by step, we learn to turn the mind to MIND!

With Warm Smiles,

Jaye Seiho Morris, Curator
digitalZENDO