Thoughts on Stillness of Mind

• Stillness is the true mind. In activity, it becomes the false mind. From morning till dusk, the mind moves. We even dream when we sleep. What is a dream? Activity in our mind. How does activity arise? It derives from stillness. When it moves, it is the false mind. When it is still, it is the true mind.

• We need to neither be attached to external forms nor to be affected internally. This is cultivating concentration. For example, in our daily living we eat but we do not attach to the food. Some people are very concerned about how it looks, smells, and tastes. This is attaching to externals, to appearance. Thinking this tastes good or that tastes bad, the mind is disturbed. But if we can eat without attaching to qualities of the food and not give rise to any thoughts, we will be cultivating the concentration of One-mind Undisturbed. 

• In all the activities in our daily living we cultivate stillness. Our life is motion. Buddha Sakyamuni set a good example for us, lecturing to all sentient beings, not staying in one place, traveling and teaching, constantly in motion. The body moves, but the mind is still. How does the mind not move? By not having any wandering thoughts.

• When water is calm we can see everything in it clearly. But when it is agitated and in motion we see nothing. Today, we cannot see true reality because our minds are not in a state of tranquility.

~ Based on the teachings of Venerable Master Chin Kung