The Still Pond of the Mind
The mind is like water. When it is disturbed, it reflects nothing. But if it is still, it reflects everything.
Have you ever looked into a tranquil pond or lake and marvelled at how vividly it reflects the world around it?
The glassy surface perfectly mirrors the trees along the banks, the clouds drifting overhead, and the mountains in the distance. But then a pebble is tossed, sending ripples across the water, and the beautiful reflection shatters into a chaotic, distorted jumble.
This is an apt metaphor for the state of our minds. When our thoughts are still and calm, like an undisturbed pool, our minds have incredible powers of perception and insight.
We can clearly reflect on our circumstances and make wise, thoughtful decisions. Our peaceful awareness demonstrates the depth and complexity of the world around us.
Unfortunately, the human mind is easily angry, like the pond's surface. Negative emotions like anger, fear, or anxiety can act like that disruptive pebble, sending ripples of distraction across our consciousness.
Worries about the future or ruminations about the past can be equally disturbing currents. The more pebbles we metaphorically toss, the more violently our inner waters churn until all clarity and reflection are lost.
In this turbulent state, the mind is incapable of coherent thinking. We lose perspective, and our view of reality becomes fragmented and confused. Consumed by roiling thoughts and emotions, we struggle to make wise choices. The profound beauty and insight of the world are obscured.
This is why the wisdom traditions of Buddhism, Taoism, and others emphasise achieving inner stillness.
The visual representation of it is that, by calming the waters of the mind through practices like meditation, we allow its inherent powers of reflection and awareness to re-emerge. Peace and equilibrium return, and truth can be apprehended in that serenity.
“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” —Ralph H. Blum
Each of us has experienced moments where the depths of the universe seem to be revealed in perfect clarity—perhaps while losing ourselves in transcendent music, art, or nature. That sense of connectedness and understanding arises when our inner waters are unrippled, and our minds become perfect mirrors.
Far too often, we go through life with our minds in constant turmoil. The endless ripples of our anxieties and ruminations prevent us from seeing reality—and ourselves—with any accuracy. We thrash about, deluded by our misperceptions and fears, disconnected.
The antidote is to cultivate stillness of mind consciously.
We can calm the waters of our awareness through meditation, prayer, time in nature, artistic expression, and other calming practices. Only then can we reflect with wisdom and insight, and only then can we viscerally experience all things' profound interconnection and beauty.
The mind's true power lies in its ability to be a flawless mirror to the universe and our deepest selves when perfectly still. When the waters are disturbed, our potential for transcendent understanding is obscured.
Let us each take responsibility for preserving our inner ponds in states of tranquil repose so that we may adequately reflect all that surrounds us with naked, breathtaking clarity.
