It took a lot of thought to come up with these sophisticated methods of functioning in the world, but many of us have grown to live by them. When an electronic light, installed on a metal post on the corner of a human-created street comes on (thanks to our human-created electricity) and that light is red but not green, we stop our human-created vehicle at the human-created white cross-walk, and we wait a bit so that other vehicles can do something different depending on the color of the electronic light they see on “their” metal post, on “their” side of the street, and so on.
We have done this with many things and you can see that we have used languages all over the world to then place judgment on the parts and pieces we have put in place to represent reality. Judgment just means we have created dualism--breaking things in to more parts such as “good or bad”, “right or wrong”, “acceptable or unacceptable”, and so on. And by this means we have created the chaos of the world that deciphers what constitutes the hierarchies we will live by. What we will praise or shame children for. What we will give a gold medal or prison time for. What defines the value of a human being--be it wealth, skin color, sex, size of home, size of bodily organs, popularity of belief, level of knowledge, age, etc.
One step beyond this phenomena, is that we have identified with this pretend-world we have created and come to believe that the place-holders are the real thing. Or that the one piece of paper that folds the same as the other identically sized and shaped piece of paper in my pocket, “actually is” more valuable than the other. Or that the white person we have valued more highly than the black or brown-skinned individual “actually is” more valuable than the others. That the male “actually is” more valuable than the female, and the dog and cat “actually are” more valuable than the chicken or the cow. By use of the word “identify” I mean we have really embraced it as our reality, but more importantly as “who and what reality really is as a whole”.
In true meditation practice—when someone sits down on a mat and relaxes the body and becomes quiet—the aim is not just to find a little peace. Meditation begins with the practice of quieting the mind so that you might first begin to see all of these parts and pieces floating around, distracting you and dragging you out of this moment and out of reality. Instead, focusing on something “right here” (i.e., the breath, my big toe, the sound of traffic outside, the hum of the refrigerator), you begin to see what is actually present “before” all the chatter and distraction of the brain’s busy-thinking pulls you away.
In Zen practice this is called “before thinking mind”. It means, before judgments, before labels, before opinions, before we take off with things mentally and verbally, but most importantly it means, before we exit the present moment by attaching ourselves to the ox (the thinking mind) that wanders off into the woods of our judging dualism, where we can get lost for hours, days, weeks, and even a lifetime. And it’s here we find the source of our ruminations, anxieties, depression, sorrows, angers, worries, and we find we have fully identified (come to believe as real) each and every one of these thoughts, labels, representations, and opinions.
We know in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that when we identify with something as true, the feelings follow. If I believe that I am less valuable because I am female, or if I believe I am more valuable because I am male, then the feelings will follow. If I believe I am in danger, even if I am not, I will have understandable anxiety in situations that others might not understand. If I believe that the world has gone to hell in a hand-basket, then feelings about that will follow and I might feel discouraged, disillusioned and disappointed. Contrary to popular belief, Buddha did not say “You are what you think”. What he actually is noted to have said was, “What you think, you become”.
Taming the mind is an ongoing process and only the greatest of Zen Masters do it well. The depictions of the famous Ten Ox Herding images define this life-long and ongoing process. The Ox herding images define stages of the process of taming this wandering mind (the Ox) and eventually bringing ourselves into the present moment “as much as possible”. Anxiety and depression are naturally reduced in this way and in this practice. No one does it perfectly, but those who practice diligently tend to improve with it over time.
The image above that I have used for this blog is the fourth (number four
of ten) of the Ten Ox Herding images in Zen practice. It represents “you” having seen the need to
tame these wandering thoughts—the mind (the Ox) that distract you from the
present moment, and having a lead (or rope) on it, about to sit down and begin
the work of taming this mind (the Ox). Not
controlling it, not abusing it as we abuse real ox and other animals, not
torturing it and demanding its submission, not shaming or praising it, but taming it.
The image above of the Ox is a “place-holder” representing something else, just like words represent things but aren't really the things. It is not your enemy or friend. It isn’t good or bad. There is nothing right or wrong in it. It’s a symbolic representation of your relationship with reality. It’s a tool, just like language is. It’s about the journey back home where reality still exists and thoughts are tamed so they no longer drag you off into the woods of the past where depressive feelings can follow, and they no longer drag you off into the woods of the future where anxious feelings can follow. Instead, you train your mind (the Ox) to stay in the present (i.e., taming the Ox to stay near). This takes time. Patience. Diligence. Practice. Focus. Repetition. And when I say it takes “Faith” I mean, it takes a belief in this process (not necessarily in a god, goddess or entity) and that it is worth sticking with it.
Start meditation by simply focusing on the counting of the breath. Focus on the breath with every ounce of your awareness. Count "one" breathing in. "Two" breathing out. "Three" breathing in, and so-on, up to "ten", and then begin again.
As you notice the mind wander here and there (like the Ox wandering off into the woods), just give a tug on the rope and pull it back to the present. Start all over no matter where you were at. Be kind and compassionate to the Ox! "One" breathing in, and "two" breathing out, and so on. Try to keep your awareness only on the breath, the counting of the breath, and returning to the breath over and over.
"Anxiety, the illness of our times,
comes primarily from our inability
to live in the present moment"
~Thich Nhat Hanh
