The True Mind

When the thinking mind quietens it becomes clear that the body has a mind of its own. This mind is an aspect of the body's energy, and is literally wracked with trauma, insecurity, anxiety, fear, all because it has been suppressed and repressed by the thinking mind for almost as long as we have been alive. It connects naturally, and above all else it feels, and spontaneously and uncontrollably responds to feeling. This feeling comes from a vast and dark whirlpool – a forment and torment – which, when it flows into and through us, makes us truly aware and alive. When we begin to connect, tap and explore this whirlpool it also becomes clear that the thinking mind is a foreign body, consuming our energy and life for reasons of its own – tricking us into giving it all we have. It is for such a formidable enemy that we learn to yield – softening, deepening and patiently slipping beneath it. The centre of the whirlpool – the centre of the body – is the dan-tien: the navel, or just below. This centre is elastic – threads pull into it. It is a place established and strengthened early on by the baby's gut-wrenching crying – each sob a tightening into the belly – a continuation of the prenatal breathing of the foetus – the belly as centre of power and expression. When you centre yourself there as an adult – have it as centre of awareness – then the thinking mind relaxes its grip and the pool begins to swirl. The thinking mind – when it operates and commands – stops the swirling – rigidly setting and constricting the reality it perceives. That reality is in many ways easier to contend with that the ever-flowing – ever-whirling – one in evidence when the mind stops, so the world we live in when the mind thinks is to most of us preferable – an easier ride. Add to this the fact that for most of us the true mind – the body's mind – is still a baby – locked at that age our thinking mind took over – and you have an indication of just how difficult a task it is to switch our allegiance to the true mind and away from the thinking mind. But this is really the task for all of us, and only when embarked upon and travelled past the point of no return will the true meaning and significance of our lives become clear.