Training the mind - 2

Five figurines stacked on one another

Their beauty hidden by a smokescreen

Conjured by a magician exemplar

Whose grandmaster lives beyond rivulets of desire

 

Wearable optics such as the Google Glass are now in vogue. Information that used to be available at fingertips can now be had at the blink of an eye. The modern mind is quickly adapting to these “synthetic senses” in addition to the five natural senses. But this “heads up display” of information has always been an inbuilt feature of mind. Anywhere we look, the sensory information processed by the eyes is interpreted in real time by the mind. A constant stream of thoughts guides us based on new information as well as older information already stored in the mind. Unlike the internet, the information bank in our minds is sequestered for only our private access. Or is it? Perhaps, it may be possible to explore the deeper roots and connections our minds may have if we are able to sufficiently quieten the surface mental activity.

Training the mind - 1

Not many sports can evoke such nationalistic fervor as soccer does. A ball being thrashed around a grassy field can raise or drop hopes of millions. The intense emotional scrutiny of screaming fans juxtaposed on the what goes on in the minds of the players as they attack or defend their positions more than makes up for the paucity of goals scored compared to other “high scoring” games. The psychology of the striker and the goalkeeper are very different as they come face to face separated by a ball in motion, the biggest prize on this moving chess board. The mind has millions of “thought balls” that are being kicked around between the conscious and subconscious minds. At any given moment, the mind is shuffling between an attacking and defensive mode, driven by the reward of objective gratification in the outer world. Like trapped air forming the core of a soccer ball, trapped energy forms the core of bundles of thoughts. If a soccer ball is deflated, the game stops, and similarly if the energy supplied to thoughts run out, the mind vanishes. In deep sleep, consciousness is withdrawn closer to the core of ourselves beyond the thoughts and the senses. Deprived of its fuel, the mind goes dark. Like a well timed geyser, consciousness erupts into the mind on waking up and the waking drama starts where it was left off.

The ant and the preacher

A cavern on stilts

Storehouse of wealth

With pearls of knowledge

Written with golden letters

Six legs

Duty bound to the end

Trudging steep paths

Hauling sweet crystals

A comfortable rise

Of abundance and rest

Softens the flesh, resting on

An inflexible scaffold

Head to the ground

With determination and focus

A monotonous daily crawl, negotiating

Grains of sand big as boulders

Wisdom’s slow ooze carries danger

Of watering seeds of narcissistic admiration

The grotto fills with thoughts idolizing

Invincibility in the mirror of self worth

A musical rose

A bed of roses

With fifty petals

A grand design

For every life divine

A symphony of sounds

Heard by tender ears

Cacophony of thoughts

Sadly drowns them out

A baton comes alive

Orchestrating energy into music

Instruments sing and dance

As the conductor calls their turn

A wall of silence

Sound proofs the inner realm

Black space insulates the moon

From the fireworks of our rejoicing world

Eyes that see the deep

An ancient sea

Not the blue you normally see

Shallow wavelets

Are out of its depth here

Tucked in the depths

Are not fish that slice through water

In a place as free as air

Sleepers are unwelcome on this sea bed

A divers paradise

If one forgets to breathe

Only the weightless may rise

Out of this bottomless sea

The pressure of a chase

To a happy reward

Fueled by thoughts

That float on pleasure and pain

Three Faces

A hidden phase in a painting’s life

Locked away in an artist’s mind

None take notice of a blank canvas

When a finished painting craves the attention

Sketches made create a shell

Connecting dots makes a line

Fleeting images hang on the string of life

A complete picture is never seen in the mind

Mindful of Desires

Quenching the flow of desire may be a thirsty effort

Dousing the mind’s fire brings joy without end

Thoughts are tethered by invisible threads

Every desire is a puppeteer that unsettles the mind

A remote planet can be seen but not touched

Desires twinkle like stars, too many to name

A distant light triggers a cascade of memories

Commanding a price paid through sleepless nights

A desireless mind gives more that we can take

Like a land that gets plundered over time

Even a mind of gold becomes a barren mine

When the mind touches the forbidden gem