Stay Calm

“Ramana Maharshi ended a story by telling me: To be calm is the greatest asset in the world. It’s the greatest power you can have. If you can only learn to be calm you will solve every problem. This is something you must remember.”
-Robert Adams

Most problems arise from resistance to the present experience.

Whenever you want something that cannot be changed to be different—like the weather—see for yourself: desire is the problem.

Become more aware of your mind as it continuously labels perceptions as not right.

You walk into a room and notice something is not where it should be. Examples of the not-right response provide an endless opportunity to learn.

Whether or not something is not right is not important. 

What is important is to observe the creative power of the mind’s activity.

A fire naturally dies out if you don’t add fuel. A fan blade slows to a stop after it’s switched off. Likewise, problems steadily disappear, without any effort on your part, as you stop feeding them with desire.

Robert Adams

Watching your mind frees it from its destructive habits.

As you steadily expose your mind’s workings, by watching its responses to experiences throughout the day, its power of deception dies out on its own.

If you become keenly aware of your mind’s activity—when trying to resolve an issue—you will realize that thinking creates the problem.

In a three day retreat, I was in a personal interview with a Rinzai Zen master. In the interview, you try to answer his koan (mind-riddle or puzzle). He rapped his stick on a gong and asked, “What hears sound?” I reached out my hand and laid it on his thigh. To my surprise, he leaned back slightly and said, “ah, good.” But I could tell he wasn’t fully satisfied. He repeated the question. I quickly stood up and spread my arms out, you know, like a tree. (I don’t think that one went so well.) He motioned for me to sit. He picked up my hand and gently laid it on his heart. Rocking slowly back and forth, he repeated, “no desire… no desire… no desire…” Then he dismissed me from the interview. I bowed three times and left—ecstatic, feeling I’d learned the most important lesson of all.

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Comments are welcome, and all questions will be answered.

A new topic will arrive each Friday afternoon, in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living. Or: how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.

Thanks for coming in.