Watch Your Mind

An ancient zen teaching is for disciples to "watch their mind." This sounds rather strange, doesn't it? After all, don't people use their mind to watch things? How can you "watch" the thing that you use to watch it with? It would be like taking a picture of your camera with your camera.

However, the very essence of this zen teaching is that there is a "something" (for lack of a better word) that exists apart from your mind. It's the witness -- it's that silent, untouched space that, fundamentally, is the only thing that can truly be said to be "yours." Identities come and go, personalities come and go, everything else changes -- except that witness.

Now, you may not be a zen disciple :) but that doesn't mean that you can't benefit from watching your mind. Instead of identifying with it -- and riding the roller coaster of happy/sad/happy/sad/happy/sad all day long, year after year -- try and reclaim your inner spaciousness; try and return to your witness.

The peace that you'll feel when you do this cannot be described. That, in essence, is the goal of meditation: to return you to that inner, untouched, perfect space. To remember your real self: the witness.