You govern your mind, not your mind to you

 

"Once upon a time there was a Zen student who lamented that he could not meditate, for his thoughts prevented him. He told his teacher that his thoughts and the images he generated did not let him meditate, and that even when they left for a few moments they soon returned with greater strength, not leaving them alone. His teacher indicated to him that this only depended on himself, and that he would stop caviling.

But the student went on to indicate that thoughts confused him and did not let him meditate in peace, and that every time he sought to concentrate he appeared thoughts and reflections on an ongoing, often unsusable and irrelevant manner.

To this the teacher proposed that he take a spoon and hold it in his hand, as he sat down and tried to meditate. The student obeyed, until suddenly the teacher instructed him to leave the spoon. The student did, dropping her to the ground. He looked at his confused teacher, and he asked him who grabbed whom, whether he spooned or spooned him."

This short tale is based on Zen philosophy and originates from Buddhism. It makes us reflect on our own thoughts, and the fact that we should be the ones who have control over them and not the other way around.

ManHistories