These thoughts ….. or those

On days like today, when I didn’t sleep well — I must’ve woken up more than a dozen times during the night! — my mood feels so weighed down, so murky & gray. It is more difficult to avoid indulging those dreary thoughts of self-loathing & anxiety about the future. It is not easy to keep from brooding over those moments of long ago decades when I made choices To Do or To Not Do, choices that reverberate loudly today. Such thoughts, I know, I KNOW, are delusions — they are no more real than any other thoughts, or any other things. They just are so heavy, so hard to push away, Sisyphean boulders rolling back upon me.

Left: Rewalsar Lake sacred to Buddhist as Tso Pema. Right: Legend links it Padmasambhava’s birth as a lotus in the lake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, knowing the nature of such thinking —>> Delusory, I can choose to turn toward something “better”. Mantra helps – my guru mantra, or the singsong Tara mantra (listen below) are excellent tools for replacing ugly thoughts. Plus, mantra has the added benefit of bringing in good vibes:) And moving quotes are helpful too, such as this from Padmasambhava, the wisdom master who brought Buddhism to Tibet & other Himalayan countries:

Remember the clear light from which everything comes, to which everything returns; the original nature of your own mind.

A few more mantras, some meditation, mantramantramantra, & I can begin again to understand that pure light of my own mind ……… & I can begin again to believe in it, rather than in the crap it sometimes generates, hahahahahahahahaha

~~~~~ My deepest gratitude, Lotus-Born, my deepest gratitude ~~~~~

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Another Chet-ism

In Spencer Quinn‘s chuckle-out-loud detective novels, Chet, the canine partner of the Little Detective Agency, narrates. This treats the reader to the carnival ride of a dog’s mind, which is a pretty fun trip. In his telling of the adventures he has with his human partner, Bernie, the easily distracted nature of Chet’s mind is evident. This is so like MY mind — Ooh, something shiny! — that I really identify. Which is maybe why his inadvertent gems of dharma wisdom so capture me.

I don’t know if the author has any interest in or concern with the Buddha‘s teachings on the nature of mind, but many of Chet’s asides elucidate them, simply. I’ve written of Chet’s observations before, because they so clearly speak to the nature of the unexamined, undisciplined mind (just like MINE). In Thereby Hangs a Tail, Chet & Bernie are experiencing a moment fraught with — Wait, is that a hummingbird?!? — oh sorry, where was I?? Right.

Something is going on in the story, which Chet tries to puzzle out, but he becomes distracted by some stray thoughts, swerving right off the issue at hand. This is SO much the way I find myself responding sometimes to humanity, to my own life, to the wilderness of my own mind – I really try to keep it all straight, but I get so befuddled, so confused trying To Sort It All Out – I get tired, my wee mind feels clogged & life starts to go off the rails. It begins to feel, & behave, much like a maniacal tilt-a-whirl, & the strain of staying upright becomes too much. Chet’s solution in such moments?

 ”I just emptied my mind & enjoyed every second.”

Aha! Just ENJOY the ride ………… Oh. Right.

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Chet’s observation

There are many fine books & CDs out there which present fine expositions on ’the nature of mind’. They teach much about how mindfulness practices, such as meditation, can make a meaningful difference in an individual’s life, & in the workings of the world at large. But few of them are as beguiling as the chuckle-friendly novels of Spencer Quinn.

His stories are about a pair of private detectives, living in Arizona, & not-coincidentally, have nothing whatsoever to do with Buddhist dharma teachings. Yet they make a compelling case for those very teachings, in a round about kind of way. You see, the stories are narrated by one of them, Chet ……… who is a dog. He is devoted to his ”partner” Bernie, & plays a significant, though somewhat self-inflated role in solving the crimes they are hired to investigate. Chet is one of my very favorite literary characters ……. AND, he has his own blog!

What makes these mysteries so darned entertaining is that the reader is treated to a ringside seat in Chet’s stream of consciousness, & what a fun show it is! Here we are in the mind-stream of the canine, a species noted for its ability to learn & think. Is Chet’s an intelligent mind? Very. Is Chet’s a mindful mind?? Oh, not really. This is where we see some parallels with our own minds —> Cheese, a bouncing ball, the scent of a mule — these & many many other things routinely divert Chet from the thinking he is trying to do. So easily & quickly distracted he is, & how very much like us!

But Chet, attentive observer that he is, has some measure of self-awareness, & occasionally a bit of insightful wisdom too. In the Dog Who Knew Too Much, he makes this cogent observation, which almost exactly mirrors the minds of most of our species, as well:

Funny how the mind works, sometimes on your side & sometimes maybe not. Hey! Kind of a scary thought, like having an enemy within.

Is that not one of the best explanations of the ‘nature of mind’ you’ve ever come across?!? And with that, I’ll leave you to these tickling “tails” told from a dog’s point of view. You’ll see what I mean when I say that they present a very good case for why our minds can benefit from working with the Teachings of the Buddha. Oh, & you’ll be mightily entertained too.