There are many versions of this story, but the general interpretation, meaning or lesson is similar in all. That we are so busy wanting to explain things and have a solid answer, and then defend that view or belief, that we actually miss the present moment and remain unable to see that it's the internal filter of our own minds that make our particular and personal reality what it is. So attached to our own judgments, interpretations, opinions, views, and expectations, we miss what is really there, right now.
Your mind is moving.
Where can we see these similar lessons in life? Two people arguing over how to make the brownies. Walnuts or no walnuts? Both missing the reality of their moment together, alive and breathing. Or how about two owners of the same pet arguing over how to have the dog groomed. Short or with design? Both missing the potential of a co-created event, and instead miffed about the outcomes. Then there is the local politics. Two parties arguing over how to use the town funding. Invest in local ponds or build a new shooting range? Each sure of their stance and all missing the opportunity for real compromise in the present. Finally, what about the warring countries? Each defending their personal view, politics, or religion, and overlooking the destruction of bombs on an already dying and environmentally threatened planet they share.
It was the American Zen teacher, Joko Beck, author of Everyday Zen and Nothing Special, who wrote about how it is our minds that create suffering and separation, and she spoke at length about how we humans can be so cruel and harmful to one another since we all judge and react from that place of the moving mind. That internal filter we are so attached to and so defensive of. Not one of us is free of this human flaw. But we can get a little better over time if we realize the Zen master was right. "Your mind is moving". It's not a good or bad thing. It's just something to notice and pay attention to.
When it comes to things like depression or anxiety, even anger or resentment, we could say, don't blame the flag or the wind. Look instead to your one moving mind. What is it doing? How is it hanging on to its own view, its own belief system, its own judgment about your depression or anxiety? Look for the purest awareness of reality you can find. We could argue at length about the causes of these as well as anger and resentment. But what is real? What is opinion? What is belief? What is actually happening? Do you truly know? You can theorize it's the traffic or your irritation with your spouse, but if you pause you can try one step further in looking with your purest mind's awareness and see that no matter the cause, your mind is having its say about it.
Sometimes we interpret situations as more dangerous than they really are. This sends messages to the body that there is danger when there isn't and the body reacts. Sometimes we see things happening in the world and tell ourselves, "It's all hopeless", when it isn't. This sends messages to the body to give up, and it reacts. We can look out at our country today and see the behavior of fellow citizens and we create a story in our head. "It's the flag moving", or "It's the wind". But don't forget what makes those views your own. Your Mind is Moving
You can read more about mindsets and cognitive restructuring in one of my earlier blog entries from February 2020 here
"Anxiety is always a gap between the way things are and the way we think they ought to be" Joko Beck
Thanks to Kitty Terwolbeck for the great photo, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
