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Mind Wide Shut
(What Is Zen?)
The mind is a terrible thing to get stuck in
It filters what we see, hear, touch, taste, smell
How can we ever know what is real?
The anatomy of the brain produces the mind
And by its anatomy, its neurons become branches
Which Grows into the tree of our personality
Of who we are, of what we think we are
At every turn we are conditioned
Hundreds of neurons joined in a pattern
Reinforced over and over again
Repeating our behavior
For good or for bad
A pattern produced by the mind’s anatomy
And we are stuck again in its branches
At every turn in our culture, society, family
We are taught the patterns
Of what we should be; of how we should act
Every time we get more and more stuck
The mud becomes hard around our feet
We cannot move, we cannot be what we want to
So we defend against what we are
Protecting ourselves with a myriad of defense mechanisms
Ego defenses come to guard to make sure we stay stuck
Perceptual defenses come to guard
to make sure we see correctly,
Even our language still binds us
For try to say anything without: I, Me , or Mine
Surely, you will not be understood.
The mind and its language blind us to the truth:
That we are not what the branches of neurons
Connected us to be
We are not the patterns of the tree that formed our personality
We are not the Ego
But try to break away and you will see
That its hold is strong and keeps you in the trap
Of seeing through its eyes
Tasting through its tongue
Hearing through its ears
Thinking through its thoughts
Feeling through its pain
Yet there is a way
A way to change the patterns
A way to deautomatize ourselves
A way to see reality clearly
A way to grasp our most sacred intuitions
Yes, this ego is detachable
We can see the branches of neurons for what they are
Simply our tree of ourselves,
Yet we are not this tree.
We are the essence between the branches
We are the awareness that sustains this tree
Our mind is nothing more than a tree
Of ourselves
When we become aware “that” this tree is not us
Then we are what the ancient masters call: enlightened
We now act freely
We perform at our best as no pattern holds us hostage
We are healthier as nothing keeps us down
We are happier as there is nothing but this moment
We lose hope
We lose expectations
We lose desires
But what is this you say:
Give up my hope and desire?
No! Merely let them be your direction
And not your trap!
In that way you become more and more free
More and more content
More and more balanced
That is the way of Zen and that is the way of life
Zen is everyday life
With Right awareness
And With Right Attitude
We forge ahead where the ancients show us the way
A better life!
Free from the patterns,
Free of the tree
Free of the anatomy of the mind and brain
Our awareness soars to new heights
And new destinations
There are no limits here
You are NOW free
Will you choose this path?
Will you choose Mind Wide Shut?
Or will you choose Mind Wide Open?
Choose wisely for as one master said,
that will make all the difference!
Blessings,
Paul Harrison AIA
aka Master Nomi
Architect, Author, Creator of the Zen Advantage Program™ (ZAP)
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