Training the mind - 4

A sticky glue

Trapping invisible ink

Seeking heaven and shunning hell

Scripting a journey by roll of dice

Life is one long sticky road. The mind is stuck with either the notion of happiness or unhappiness. Just as the evening sky morphs into the night sky, which in turn changes in the the morning, there is no period of time when a sense of happiness or unhappiness is absent from the mind. Just as light from the sun changes the color of the sky, thoughts can change the prevailing mood in the mind. The sky does not change, and the intensity of sunlight does not change, but it is the movement of the two relative to each other that changes. The interaction of mind and thought may be considered similarly. The subconscious mind is an infinite storehouse of thought and an endless chain of thoughts from the subconscious travels into the conscious realm. Each thought in the subconscious mind has a 50-50 probability of nudging us toward a more happy or a less happy state. Faced with this uncertainty in the quest for happiness, the conscious part of the mind tries to increase the odds of success by turning to the outside world. Through the senses, experiences are selectively sought to enhance the sense of happiness. This approach would work if the mind is satisfied with one object and that object remains unchanged with time. However, the mind is never satisfied with one object and everything external is subject to change.

Training the mind - 3

An unwritten code

Written in the land of the free

Sliding down a helical staircase

Leaving its impression on every door

Life starts when one door closes and another opens. When the door of the womb shuts, door of the mind opens letting in the light of the world. Like a brand new computer with a basic operating system, the brain is the “hardware” and the mind is the “software”. Computers may be programmed by a binary code of 1s and 0s. The human body is programmed by the genetic code. This is a quaternary code consisting of the letters A (for adenine), G (for guanine), C (for cytosine) and T (thymine). These four letters standing for nucleobases in DNA arranged in innumerable combinations create the blueprint for the entire human body.  Every cell in the body is given this genetic blueprint based on which all cellular processes go on.

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