Stilling the mind brings greater clarity to the objects of our attention, just like how standing or sitting still allows us to perceive things more clearly.

Imagine you stayed in one location such as a park and observed your surroundings for a year; you would see things change, but also, you would start to observe patterns in how they change; these could be continuities across the unfolding seasons, as well as chains of cause and effect that drive patterns of expansion, durability, and then decline, like the kind you would see on the leaves of the trees.

When we expand on these teachings from nature and also apply this kind of observation to the mind, we begin to understand its nature as well. When we understand the dynamics found in matter and the mind, and common continuities between them, we begin to understand the nature of existence. One sees a symphony between physics and metaphysics.

If you meditate and observe your mind with acute attention, you can discover something like the below. But, a description of an orange is not the same thing as experiencing an orange; it is best to discover it for yourself, without forcing a fabrication of the results. Only attention, stillness, openness, and a will to find out more are needed.

Thoughts and feelings arise and they make a kind of declaration, such as ‘I am agitated’ or ‘X is Y’. We can notice two things by observation:

1. The conditioned nature of the thoughts and feelings, that they depend on the Past to exist and manifest in your mind at this moment.
2. That it can have an explicit intention to it, and an implicit intention that is often unconscious.

When we put 1 and 2 together, we can say that thoughts and feelings are like waves that rise and fall to resurface again. Some waves are bigger than others, and some spend more time above the surface than others too. The underlying cause of these waves is movement, which arises from the Past, and in the final analysis, perhaps from a wider intention.

When we identify with a wave, like a belief, identity, or emotion, we take its viewpoint and are absorbed in it. Then we see its frontal direction and intention, but not the forces that are giving rise to it in the background. We may say ‘I dislike Johnny because he is obnoxious, therefore I will ignore him’, but this explanation and intended action is not the whole story.

Like the gravitational force of the moon on the waves of the Earth, there are hidden and less obvious factors behind the momentum and motivations of our feelings and thoughts. The moon is also often seen as a symbol of the unconscious, which, by its nature, we are often unaware of. We usually interface with it subtly via the effects it has on our thoughts, feelings actions, dreams, and life outcomes.

Without finding a resolution, we can easily see in ourselves that many waves, such as addictive habits and thought patterns, keep arising. It’s almost as if they seek to go on and on, to be permanent.

Self deception is at least in part, this: It is when the impermanent seeks to become what it can never be: permanent. This is often done by hook or by crook, and so in this vein, many people push away the reality of death, that their views could be wrong, they hold onto a limiting identity, or their appearance and possessions, and so on.

Suffering arises out of self-deception, as well as greed and loathing. This trio are not inherently wrong, they are present in virtually all of us and do not came equally, there are many levels and forms of them. However, they do cause repetitions of experiences through attachment.

Help! I’m Deluding Myself! What Do I Do?

Almost all of us are deluded in varying ways and extents, and we’re all pealing it back like the layers of the onion. We do not have to panic when we newly uncover our attachments and the perhaps overwhelming sense of their power over us, despite knowing better.

Not much usually changes in these moments of recognition, life goes on, and gradual efforts can be made. I like a quote from Ram Daas that conveys the feeling behind what I’m trying to say:

“we’re all walking each other home”

Let us guide each other to embody courage, love and wisdom, learn from and value all of our experiences, and remember to be open, caring, and perceptive in our conduct on our journey home.