Saturday, July 02, 2011

Stopping MIND MOVEMENT


My Dad sat me down and told me a tale about this one particular family.

Father, Mother, Son & Daughter lived in a remote village and worked the paddy fields for a living. They would wake and leave their humble house before the crack of dawn and make their way to the fields. One day, Mother asked Father if he could pluck 2 mangoes for her as she'd like to eat it after lunch that day. So Father and Son hunted for a long stick, then Son climbed on Father's back and together, spent some time to try to knock the mango off the tree. Soon, they went along their path again. This repeated thrice as Father and Son stopped to catch a plump farm chicken and river frogs for the next day's dinner.

It was already hot midday by the time they arrived at the fields. Many other families were already there working since dawn and there was hardly any more rice to be harvested. They worked under the hot sun and missed their lunch break. While the other families were eating under the shady trees, Father, Mother, Son and Daughter worked the fields - hungry, tired and regretting their earlier morning romp.

I often chide my Dad and tell him that this story is actually about our family. Why do we have so many gazillion ideas between father and daughter? Why is it that our minds just cannot STOP. We are constantly thinking and hatching up ideas. It's like breathing air. Except these days, today in particular, the haze is rather unpleasant. So no ideas today!

Today, I consciously stop my mind from moving and thinking too much. I will just be. In future, it doesn't need the haze to remind me to stop. In future, I will make it a point to STOP before I GO at least once a week. Unnecessary mind movement can be distracting and is motivated usually by survival. The need to survive, to make money, to bide time, to leave a legacy. So stop. It's alright to do so once in awhile.

Don't wait for me

I return to that land we once played as twenty-somethings, I call you and we catch up like we were riding on a Tangara from Redfern to the c...

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