A Zen Story to Help Control that Strange Brain of Yours

“You have a strange brain”

He said this to me as I was walking out the door.  I smiled.

It wasn’t an insult. I knew what he meant.

But it got me thinking.

What is the mind?

Is the mind your thoughts?  Your feelings?  Your fears?

Or is the mind the empty space between the subatomic particles that race around inside your brain?

If the mind is infinitely vast, then most of the mind is empty.  Like an atom.  But it’s the clutter that we see and feel and touch and taste.

It’s the patterns we notice.  A cage for our dreams.

Our thoughts race.

Our anxieties creep in.

Our fears assault us.

Our minds suffer.

We really are strange creatures.  Gifted by God with insight.  Able to remember the past and dream of the future.

But these abilities come at a cost.  Anxiety and Regret.

Finding peace inside your mind is tricky.  Often the key is being present and accepting that we don’t have full control.  

But hey, that ain’t exactly easy.

So let me tell you a story. It starts off like this…

A tiger, a monk, and a strawberry all walk into a bar.

Okay, not like that. More like this…

There once was a monk that liked to take long walks in the woods. One day, out of nowhere, a tiger leaped out and began to chase him.

He ran and ran. But the tiger was gaining ground and the monk knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught.

He came to a cliff and noticed a vine over the side that he could cling to.  So he grabbed the vine and dangled over the cliff.  Safe from the tiger above.

But when he looked at the distant ground beneath him, he saw another tiger waiting for him.  He knew if he fell, he was dead for sure.

Just then, two mice came out and began to gnaw on the vine.

While watching the mice he noticed a wild strawberry growing next to the vine.  It was almost out of reach, but not quite.

He grabbed the strawberry and ate it. But by doing this, he lost his grip and began to fall.

“Oh how sweet and delicious!” he exclaimed, as he plunged to his death.

What’s the moral of the story? Well, that’s for you to decide. But here’s what I think…

Life can be tough, but sometimes the answers are right in front of us.

Until next time

Peace

p.s.

I’m not saying that reading my book will make you as cool as Bruce Lee…

But I’m not not saying it either

dr Chris park house
clp Written by:

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