Purifying the mind

Sometimes I will invite a client to stand at the window of my office and watch the movement of traffic in the street below. We are not interested in where these vehicles have come from or who is driving them. We are just watching. Later on, the client can apply the same divine disinterest to the movement of his thoughts. Thoughts can survive anything except our indifference. Indifference is what purifies the mind.

Supplicant sounds

In the West, we say “thank you.” In India, the expression is offensive. Buddhism enjoins us not to thank our benefactors. And “please”? The saying of it produces a weak and queasy sound.

Wrong about everything

We do not easily (or ever!) divest ourselves of our opinions. Sometimes Life takes pity on us, slaps us upside the head and brings us face-to-face with this: “I’ve been wrong about everything.”