In this issue:
In our hyper-busy, electronic-device-filled modern lives, it is tempting to believe that we can only be productive if our minds are active and we are busy doing something. Quiet time, with nothing to occupy the mind, tends to be seen as wasted time. However, with a little reflection we may stop to consider: if all this busyness is so productive, what is it productive of? I think the answer is that excessive busyness simply produces more excessive busyness. We just get caught in a cycle of endless mental activity. And it is very addictive, because the more we do it the less appealing the alternative: quietness, with seemingly not much happening.
From a spiritual perspective, what is truly productive is that which draws us closer to the Buddha Nature. Letting the obsessive mental activity die down, allowing the mind to calm and quieten—this is what draws us closer to the wondrous Presence at the heart of our lives.
I am aware that what I’ve written above is all fairly basic. We are all pretty much taught this on day one of meditation instruction. And yet, it remains, at least for me, a real challenge to put it into practice. As a lay person, with work and family life, and the endless seemingly worthy things to stay busy with, it is so easy to forget to return to the Source. Without this returning to the Source, we just stay spinning in the whirl of thought that begets thought and more thought. But, if even for a moment we can stop, and listen deeply within, it makes all the difference in the world. The underlying stresses get a little more revealed, but at the same time we can glimpse and feel the reassurance that comes from the boundless ocean of stillness. And from that there comes, naturally, practical help with the myriad difficulties we encounter in life.