An Unbeatable Foe

Your own mind is the toughest opponent you will ever face. In most arenas you can make a mistake and still win. Not here. With the mind there is no margin for error, no mercy. In fact the moment you enter the ring you’ve already lost. The mind is unbeatable in direct combat. Arguing with your thoughts, trying to change them… even desiring a quiet mind is an unrecoverable mistake. The mind takes no prisoners, it will cut you no slack. Every movement you try to make towards a quiet mind is itself a movement of the mind, and therefore destined to fail.

People have this false notion that having the skill of quieting the mind means you tell it to shut up and it obeys. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact it is your mind that says “shut up” in the first place. Desiring a quiet mind is an activity of the mind. If you really wanted it, you would stop wanting it.

If someone told you what to do, you would rebel. The mind is no different. It doesn’t become quiet through opposition. You don’t fight it and emerge victorious. The act of fighting it is a failure. When the mind of an enlightened person becomes quiet, it does so because there is an alignment. The mind does not obey an order to be silent, but rather becomes silent of its own accord. It is a relaxation. And just like you will only relax in the right environment, the mind can only relax when it is no longer being coerced.