The Mischievous Mind

I feel like most of us are trying to be good people: kind, caring, well-disposed towards others. So why doesn’t it turn out that way? Why don’t we have the power to simply be like that all the time?

The problem may be with our mischievous minds. I don’t know about yours, but my mind is easily seduced by gossip, criticism, complaints, and a whole bunch of other nonsense.

Is this just negativity bias? If so, is there positivity bias? If so, how do we cultivate that? This is what I’m trying to do: notice the mischievous thoughts. Drop them like a hot coal so they don’t combust. Remember we’re all in this together and that our one job is to take care of one another.

Try it and see what happens. See if your mind lets go of its negativity bias, if you have one, and begins to create a positivity bias. You might have more power than you think.

Transcript

Hey, Everybody. Good to see you. It's Judy. This is Wake Up Call 540. It's good to be home. But I miss our Madrid kids. It was great to be able to spend all that time with them. So chapter nine of the Dhammapada is called Mischief. And when I first read the chapter, You know, Mischief can be such a playful word. I wanted it to be about how our minds can get into, You know. John Lewis, Congressman John Lewis is good trouble, Right? But it's not, It's really not playful, I don't think. So mischief the chapter. Is about the ways that our minds lull us into a sense that we're fine, Don't need to practice very much, We're great. Which is not to say that we're not. Remember Suzuki always said you're perfect the way you are and you could use a little improvement. So chapter nine is about the improvement. It's a reminder that we need to practice, Be diligent. Learn to be kinder, To pay more attention to our wild mind, Watch for ways we get attached to a sense of self. And especially this chapter is talking about getting attached to that sense of self that wants to congratulate itself for being so mindful, Right? And it's also a reminder to not forget that we belong to one another. So it's a reminder to continue to not only pay attention, More attention. To all of that, But also to tame our minds, To tame our wild minds. Um. . . So the first few verses of the Byram Ram Dass translation of chapter 9 say, Be quick to do good. If you are slow, The mind delighting in mischief will catch you. Turn away from mischief. Again and again, Turn away before sorrow befalls you. Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again and you will be filled with joy. Do not make light of your failings saying, What are they to me? A jug fills drop by drop, So the fool becomes brimful of folly. Do not belittle your virtues, Saying they're nothing. A jug fills drop by drop, The wise person becomes brimful of virtue. Shreema's translation uses the word evil instead of mischief. So it really sounds, It really sounds different. And so this is when she talks about this, She says, It says, Hasten towards the good, Leave behind all evil thoughts. For to do good without enthusiasm is to have a mind which delights in evil. Interesting. If one does an evil action, They should not persist in it. They should not delight in it. For full of suffering is the accumulation of evil. If one does a good action, They should persist in it and take delight in it. Full of happiness is the accumulation of good. Okay, So I'm hearing a couple of points being made. I'm sure there's many things to understand, But I'm hearing a couple. First, Again, The chapter is saying pay attention carefully to the mind. And we know this because mindfulness of mind is the third of the four foundations of mindfulness. The other ones are mindfulness of the body, Mindfulness of vedana, Mindfulness of phenomenon. And so we know how important it is to pay attention to the mind, To all four. What this chapter seems to be saying is pay attention in formal practice and throughout the day to not just the mind, But the quality of our thoughts. So yes, Notice they come and go, But also are they positive? Or are they mischievous or evil? And if they're positive, Hasten towards them and leave behind all thoughts. That's Shreema's instruction. And do that with enthusiasm, Because to do good without enthusiasm is to have a mind which delights in evil. Okay, If they're mischievous or evil, Notice if we are delighting in those. And if we are, Turn away from them. Right? So the Byram Ram Dass translation says, Again and again, Turn away before sorrow befalls you. And there's a classical instruction that I understand to be more or less this, But without the poetry. And the instruction is to notice the quality of our thoughts and if they're unwholesome, So mischievous, Evil, Really pointing towards suffering, Right? Then prevent them from arising. And if we aren't able to do that because thoughts arise unbidden and, You know, Maybe we haven't cultivated a perfectly loving mind, Then abandon them once they've arisen. And when the thoughts are wholesome, When we notice that the thoughts are wholesome, So kind, Compassionate, Leading to happiness and justice. Then encourage and nurture and sustain them. And it's really all the time. Full stop, Right? Which is, Which is, I think, One of the points that this should become our life. And if it feels like an extra thing, I would say, You know, Try it out. Because in my experience, It's not distracting. It's actually very focusing, You know, Paying attention in this way focuses the mind. And it doesn't take extra time. It actually helps with efficiency because wholesome, Non-mischievous, Non-evil thinking saves all that time on the back end that gets filled with informed by emotions that take up bandwidth like remorse and regret. Okay, So that's the first point that I'm seeing. And then the second point is do not make light of your failings saying, What are they to me? Do not belittle your virtues saying they are nothing. So again, This is pointing to the invitation to work diligently with our thoughts all the time and not think we've already done the work. Right? So Srimad says, And I love this, When you take up the discipline to learn how to control your thoughts, You realize with stupefaction, That in the space of a few seconds there passes through the head a series of absolutely improbable thoughts that are altogether harmful. You believe you are so good, So kind, So well disposed, And always full of good feelings. You wish no harm to anybody. You wish only good. All that you tell yourself complacently. But if you look at yourself sincerely as you are thinking, You notice that you have in your head a collection of thoughts which are sometimes frightful and of which you are not aware. So I love this. And she's using very colorful language. And you know, We could take this as an invitation to judge ourselves, But let's not. Right. We probably all know how to do that only too well. We maybe do it only too often. I know I do. And we're trying. We're too smart for that. We know better than that. So let's not judge ourselves, But let's use discerning wisdom. Uh is what i think shreema is saying and instead of patting ourselves on the back you know even though We are good and kind and well disposed and full of good feelings. Let's remember that we can all use a little improvement. Right? Let's remember Suzuki Roshi's admonition. And then let's improve. Let's be more and more honest with ourselves so that we can say, Yes, I'm good and kind. And I have plenty of absolutely improbable thoughts, Which are sometimes frightful, Of which I was not aware. And then let's prevent them from arising. And when they have already, Let's practice abandoning them. So let's do that, But let's also not belittle our virtues saying they are nothing. Right? Let's bring a lot of gladness to the moments when we are being loving and kind. So that not only are we abandoning unwholesome states. But we're also cultivating and nurturing wholesome ones. Because, I mean, Really, Isn't that the whole pack? Okay, So let's sit. Hmm. You Okay, So finding a comfortable posture. Something that feels stable and easeful for you today. And settling into the body, First foundation, Just feeling into the body. How's the body feeling right now? And then locating the breath in the body. And just beginning to follow. Each in breath and each out breath. And when the mind wanders, Just. . . Coming back to the breath, Using the breath as an anchor. If the breath is not, An appropriate anchor for you, Then you can. Bring the attention to the sound. In your environment. And so it's just the body breathing or the body. Allowing sound to flow in and out through the ears. And now bringing the attention to the mind. And noticing. Whether thinking is happening. Becoming aware of thoughts as they arise and pass away. Inviting relaxation to the mind. Kind of message that it's not necessary to engage with the thoughts and just watching them as they arise and pass away. Not getting caught up in the thoughts, But just noticing. When thinking is happening. And now it's beginning to notice. Weather the thoughts. Are wholesome. Or unwholesome. And with the unwholesome ones, Just letting those go. You know, If that's available just letting them go. Maybe relaxing the mind to let them go, Or if they're really sticky. Having a little self-compassion because it's hard to let them go, Impossible to let them go. And then with the wholesome thoughts, Just bringing some gladness. To noticing that they're present. You can even let them kind of wash through you, That sense of gladness. Or any wholesome thoughts. You Thanks everybody for being on the wake up call. It's really great to see you. And great to be back home. And I'll see you all next week.