The mind, my prized possession, my pride and palace… How differently it looks once it is truly seen! An onslaught of images and chatter; a golem wrought of fear and desire, of memories and dreams.
The most spiritual of practices—the watching of the mind—feels anything but spiritual when first we attempt it. Lift the lid of this boiling mentation, and the pungent smell of lust, vanity, and hatred drives away every last bit of self-content. The watching of the mind, yes, reveals who we are, but not until it kills who we think we are. It is loss, disillusionment, and a death… And yet it is the way, the truth, and the life.
With humility and patience, we persist in our watching, and slowly the miracle becomes known. We perceive we are abiding nowhere in the mind, and neither are we found outside it. We perceive there is no watcher apart from the watching.
Where once we used to be, now only love remains. And the frightened, hungry mind is held like a babe in its mother’s embrace.
May we persist in our watching and see,
Simeon
“By love may He be gotten and holden; but by thought never.”
— The Cloud of Unknowing
Suggested Reading
Seeing That Frees by Rob Burbea
Rob Burbea was a senior teacher at Gaia House and widely respected for his depth, precision, and humility. In Seeing That Frees, he guides us into the quiet dismantling of perception itself, where the watcher softens, the world thins, and love remains without a center.
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