This morning Chozen-roshi said:
If you take refuge in tight muscles,
In a closed heart,
And in a mind that believes problems are solved by thinking,
You are taking refuge in the wrong things!
Today we had a morning of silent work, and I sat stiching meditation cushions after filling them with buckwheat hulls. Against the background of this very simple task, my mind was chattering away, really bent on reliving or previewing conversations. When I looked at them, both the chatter itself and the fantasy interaction it concerned were motivated by a desire to protect myself and promote my own safety and comfort. Sigh....
I realized something then:
No good idea hasever come as a result of repetititous hashing-over in my mind.
Insights come suddenly to a calm mind. Or they arise as if by magic in the course of a natural, stimulating conversation. No progress at all is made by flogging a topic, whether silently or through speech.
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