A higher intelligence

While unpacking the intricacies of the tornado kick, my esteemed Chen teacher paused to say, “The mind is inherently lazy.” (Mind was hoping to keep this a secret.) Later, with the same placidity: “The legs are strong but stupid. Kicks are for ending fights, not starting them.”

Thoughtless

Peace of mind? Not possible. The mind is a ball of snakes. Peace is non-conceptual—above the mind, awareness without thought.

Argue-mental

No one wins an argument. An argument is one mental/emotional structure bashing against another. There may be noise, excitement, even victory, but there will be no peace. The chief blessing of the natural world is that it has no opinions. It is perfectly capable of taking defensive measures, as it is doing right now, but it has no opinions. It will not argue with humans.

 

Struck dumb

Disciple to Jesus: “Your mother is here.”

Jesus to disciple: “Who is my mother?”

In Zen, a koan takes a student to the precipice of a “great doubt.” From this tenuous place, he sees that while logic is not wrong, it has its limits.

Mind bomb

The secret of happiness

(and there is no other),

Is to say at every moment

and in every circumstance,

This is what I want.