What do you think –is this statement true or false?
‘A mind that rests is a more productive mind than a mind in constant motion.’
Perhaps it’s not possible to ever stop the movement of the mind, its ceaseless thinking and churning and dancing about. Some spiritual practices even advocate for attempting to bring the mind to point of total stillness. I admit that one has always been hard for me to do.
I prefer to work with the ideal of a mind at ease rather than a still mind. Stilling the mind certainly has its value. It’s a practices that asks us to witness the mind’s movement and learn to slow it down in order to gain some degree of mastery over it. Which makes good sense because most often the mind just runs free, unfettered by any real attempt to bring it to another rhythm, let alone a point of stillness.
When I think of a mind at ease, however, it feels to me like an acknowledgment that the mind is not something to be battled against or thwarted. Mind is a gift of life and connects our finite minds to the one Infinite Mind, which is creation in action. The mind is itself a creative force, and to attempt to thwart that natural function is to try to battle the natural currents of life.
A mind at ease…to me that’s something I can work with. A mind at ease is relaxed, and most importantly it is surrendered. To what does it surrender? To the reality that it is endlessly connected to the current of thought and energy that flow from the one Infinite Mind, from the greater conciseness into ours. Surrender is allowing our mind to become the channel for the expression of Infinite Mind into the world.
If your mind is caught up in the endless churn of thought stemming from your daily doings, from your dramas, from your needs and fears, then you sever the connection with Infinite Mind. Your mind is not surrendered; it is in the grip. And this causes no end of stress and fatigue.
At times the spark of your mind will become entranced by your creative ideas. They will dance through your head — oh the possibilities! — and off you go, into the fantasy of it all, the potentials of it all. And this too is fine in that it may open your heart or bring a degree of joy or self-confidence to you. But is your mind at ease in those moments? Possibly not. It is still in the grip of something of your own creation.
A mind at ease is surrendered, and it is increasingly at peace. Wonderful thoughts and ideas will still permeate through, and you will act and live on what you perceive to be of value therein. But there is also a knowing that when you connect in surrender and ease to the Mind that is greater than anything you can ever conceive of, it’s not really of you. And there is a beautifying humility in that.
Practice this daily: stepping back and allowing in ease of mind. Surrender your thoughts to that which is greater than you, and see what happens. Adventures will not cease, I promise you! And you will learn what it is to be a partner with Life.