You.
Hey,
Everybody.
It's Judy.
This is Wake Up Call 533.
Really nice to see you all.
Today I'm going to talk about Chapter 3 of the Dharmapada which is called Mind.
Or the mind,
And I like the way the mind is translated in the mother commentaries on the Dhammapada.
Which is the commentary that I've been looking at.
So for a little background,
The mother was born Mira Alfassa,
A French woman.
And traveled to India and became first the student and then the collaborator of Sri Aurobindo.
And Aurobindo.
Who was an Indian man who was educated.
At Cambridge,
And then became a revolutionary against British rule.
And it was ultimately jailed by the British a couple of times.
While he was in jail and he didn't have really any particular interest in spirituality,
He had visions of Swami Vivekananda.
And if you remember Swami Vivekananda is the teacher,
Yogi.
Who spoke at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago,
And is essentially credited with bringing yoga and Eastern philosophy to the West.
So after his visions in jail of Vivekananda,
Aurobindo co-founded the Aurobindo Ashram with the mother,
With Mira Alfassa.
And then over time,
He was eventually nominated for a Nobel Prize in literature.
He wrote many books and the Nobel Peace Prize.
And by the way,
Apparently there were no photos taken of the two of them together until Henri Cartier-Bresson,
The famous French photographer,
Actually came to the ashram.
Which was in Pondicherry.
In India,
And he was allowed to take photographs.
So if you look up these two amazing humans,
You'll see these photographs that were taken by Cartier-Bresson.
So here's the chapter,
The Mind,
Translated by Sri Aurobindo,
Maybe,
Or by the mother.
I think it was probably translated by him,
And then with her commentary.
And this is in modernized language.
Just as the arrow maker strengthens their arrows,
So the intelligent human strengthens their thoughts,
Wavering and fickle,
Difficult to keep straight,
Difficult to master.
Just like a fish cast out of the water,
Our mind quivers and gasps when it leaves behind the kingdom of Mara.
Difficult to master and unstable is the mind forever in search of pleasure.
It is good to govern it.
A mind that is controlled brings happiness.
We should remain master of our thoughts,
For they are subtle and difficult to seize and always in search of pleasure.
A mind that is well guided brings happiness.
Wandering afar,
Solitary,
Bottless,
And hidden in the deep cave of the heart,
Such is the mind.
Whoever succeeds in bringing it under control liberates themselves from the fetters of Mara.
The intelligent.
The intelligence of one whose mind is unstable.
Who is ignorant of the true law and his faith is wavering,
Will never be able to develop.
If a human's thoughts are not agitated,
If their mind is not troubled by desire,
If they no longer care for good and evil,
This human wide awake knows nothing of fear.
Observing that the body is as fragile as a jar,
And fortifying the mind like a city at arms,
We should attack Mara with the Blade of Intelligence.
And should guard carefully whatever has been won.
Before long,
This body will be lying on the earth,
Abandoned,
As lifeless as a piece of old wood.
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy,
Whatever a hater may do to a hater,
The harm caused by a misdirected mind is even greater still.
Neither mother nor father nor any beloved.
Can do so much good as a well-directed mind.
Okay,
So the overview,
The mind is unruly.
It's under the influence of Mara,
The poisons,
Greed,
Hatred,
And delusion or confusion.
And I mean,
Mine certainly is.
Tends to be all over the place.
Even though,
You know,
I practice to steady it,
To govern it.
And then even when it does stabilize,
This first stanza is so interesting because it says,
Just as a fish cast out of the water,
Our mind quivers and gasps when it leaves behind the kingdom of Mara.
And the mother talks about this as meaning,
So we're so used to living in a state of greed,
Hatred,
And delusion,
Judging ourselves,
Judging others,
Judging the world,
That when we abandon those states of mind,
The mind quivers and gasps because it doesn't know what to do.
Um.
And so it's that the mind knows there's a better way,
There's a clearer way,
But it's so caught.
And this feels really true for me as well.
So then the next stanza is the aspiration.
It says that the mind is difficult to master and unstable forever in search of pleasure.
Hidden in the deep cave of the heart.
Isn't that interesting?
The mind is hidden in the cave of the heart.
And whoever succeeds in bringing it under control liberates themselves.
So we know how difficult the mind is to master,
Right?
And this invitation is first just to see that.
And then to see the mind really is hidden in the heart.
Right,
How our thoughts arise from what's in our heart,
That whatever the heart dwells on becomes the inclination of the mind.
So.
For me,
I read and I hear and I watch and I consider.
And it affects my heart first,
Right?
So I read an article,
I watch a show and my heart shifts.
It opens or it tightens based on what I see or hear.
And these last few days are such a good example.
You know,
This $1.
8 billion fund and the Trump family settlement with the IRS,
You know,
My heart has felt so contracted and so agitated.
And from there,
Thoughts have followed.
And they've definitely been difficult to master and unstable,
Right?
Under the influence of Mara,
Of greed,
Hatred,
And delusion.
And the chapter says,
The intelligence of one whose mind is unstable will never be able to develop.
And it's just that mind that's all over the place.
And so how can I possibly develop any real intelligence,
But it says,
If a human's thoughts are not agitated,
If their mind is not troubled by desire,
They know no fear,
Nothing of fear,
Right?
So the untroubling the mind,
Right?
Untroubling the mind,
It's just simply,
Not easy,
But simply a matter of practice,
Right?
So it's not easy.
We know the mind's tendency toward greed,
Hatred,
And delusion.
You could take a moment and consider how you've been feeling over the past few days with just with this latest news cycle.
You know,
See if there's hatred or confusion or fear.
Which is,
It's just an object lesson for the last lines of the chapter,
Which are.
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy.
Whatever a hater may do to a hater.
The harm caused by a misdirected mind is even greater still.
Right,
So what this means is,
At least this is the mother's interpretation,
And this feels resonant to me is absolutely hate arises or fear or confusion or greed and desire.
Or frustration or disgust,
A thousand difficult emotions brewed in the heart.
Right in our good hearts.
In our good hearts that care so much about our world.
And the humans and the other beings that are in it.
Right?
Care so much for ourselves and for the people we love.
Of course,
Those thoughts and emotions arise.
Of course,
That's how the heart is.
But the chapter is asking us not to stop there,
To notice that no matter what is happening,
The biggest damage we can do is to allow our mind to be misdirected.
Which to me just essentially means to forget how much we care.
Yeah,
To forget that we belong to one another and that we're all in this together,
All of us,
All of us,
Not some of us,
Not just the people,
The humans we identify with or approve of.
Right,
We're all in this together.
Yeah,
And that's the final line that neither mother nor father nor any beloved,
Or maybe it's also anyone,
Anything,
Can do so much good as a well-directed mind.
And this is the best argument for our practice,
For pointing the mind in a wholesome direction.
So let's do that.
Let's sit and let's do a little metta practice.
And if you're able and willing,
We'll start with an easy being,
And then we'll shift to a difficult being.
And you're welcome to stay with the easy or shift to the difficult,
Whatever would best support your practice.
You So finding a posture that is comfortable for this practice,
It's considered skillful to relax,
Lean back in your chair if you want,
Or if you're lying down.
If you're standing,
You can stand against a wall and take the support.
From the wall.
And just settle in,
Take a moment or two to.
Feel the body in whatever posture it's in.
And notice that the body is breathing.
That the breath is flowing in and out.
And then call to mind.
Some being who is just so easy for you to love.
So that could be,
For me,
It's often my puppy.
Could be a dog or a cat.
Could be a child.
Hmm.
Could be an elder.
A grandparent here or long gone.
Could be a spiritual figure.
And just call this being to mind.
And feel how easy it is to love them.
And how much they love you.
And let that sense of love,
That kind of yummy,
Easy love rumble around in the body.
Let the heart soften.
Wish this being well.
May you be safe.
Really wanting this being to be safe.
From inner harm,
From outer harm.
May you be happy.
Just have a joyful day or a joyful existence.
You be happy.
And wishing them good health.
Just the highest modicum of health is available to them.
Feel that healthiness,
That measure of healthiness.
That you have.
Wishing you good health.
And a sense of ease.
May you live with ease.
May you encounter your life.
In an easeful way.
And seeing how.
How you feel in wishing well for this easy being,
This being whom it's easy for you to love.
How does your body feel?
Is the heart softer?
Is the mind.
Softer and then calling to mind a difficult person.
And it doesn't have to be the most difficult person.
Maybe it even shouldn't be.
The most difficult person.
But someone where there's just that kind of fingers on the blackboard,
Eee,
Not.
Not easy.
Not easy.
And call them to mind.
Keep yourself safe.
Call them to mind.
And just wish for their safety.
May you be safe.
Yeah.
May you be safe from inner and outer harm.
May you feel safe in this world,
In your life.
Save from.
Needing or wanting more.
Safe.
From those you fear.
Safe in the understanding that you're part of something bigger.
Than yourself.
And happy,
May you be happy.
May this sense of safety bring you happiness.
And ability to be in the present moment,
To be with the people you love,
To be in the world.
Happiness with the simple things in life,
Happiness with nature.
And healthy,
May you be healthy in body,
In mind,
In spirit.
Wishing you good health.
So that it's easier for you to let go into the present moment,
To let go into things just as they are.
And may you live with ease.
May there be ease in your life as you move through your days,
As you move through your years.
And then just taking a breath or two.
Wiggling the fingers and toes.
Maybe putting the hand on the heart.
This work might not be easy.
You.
.
Thanks for playing if you played and thanks for being here.
In whatever capacity was available for you.
Take care,
Everybody.
Love you all.
