The Great Secret of Mind

people regret that the investigation was not done properly. In car accidents, even a
slight distraction of mind allows a fatal accident to happen. Or, in construction of a
building, if a slight error occurs in the measurement of the horizontal level, a huge
difference in the proportion of the structure can result. Likewise, when we are
afraid and anxious and become overexcited and lose our cool, grave disaster can
strike just at that moment. In the same way that we cannot see what is at the
bottom of the pail if we stir the water, and just as the more we rub our eyes, the
less we can see, when mind is overstimulated and overexcited when solving a
problem, the work stops, and we are left unable to proceed, without a sliver of
attention remaining. Just as when we wind a thread too tightly, it will break, so if
we put too much pressure on the mind, its continuity will break, and we will be
left in utter puzzlement. The root error here in all these situations is an absence of
knowledge about mind. If our mind is at ease and at the same time alert, then any
work we perform happens with mindfulness and acuity, and our mind will
remain unchanged. If we perform our work with unchanging and unfailing
concentration, the result must always be excellence.
Once there was man called “Riklhun” who one day was returning to his house
through the forest when two men suddenly attacked him. One caught him from
behind and the other, standing in front of him, took out an axe and struck out at
his head. Riklhun reacted like greased lightning, bending his head just enough so
that the axe struck the man holding him from behind, killing him. The axe man
fled. Riklhun laughed and continued on to his house. Later, the would-be
murderer, though Riklhun’s enemy, praised his courage.
Riklhun’s slight but fast movement of the head saved his life. Whatever the
emergency may be, it is mindfulness that makes the big difference. Another
example: at the moment of being carried away by floodwater, we need
mindfulness to keep ourselves from panic and save ourselves from drowning.
Once, in Nepal, the prime minister, Man Mohan, was flying in a helicopter with
his four escorts to an outlying destination. While the helicopter was is in the air, its
tail fan stopped working, and within two or three minutes, there was a danger of
fire. The prime minister ordered the pilot to throw out all the gasoline from the
helicopter and to land immediately. The pilot did as he was told, and the
helicopter landed safely on the ground; thereby the pilot saved his own life as well
as the others’. Later the prime minister gave a press conference, saying that a
quick decision was needed in the couple of minutes during which their lives could
be saved, and that decision, together with the resolve of the pilot, saved their lives.
If a firm mind is required in a practical situation, then how much more so is it
needed in taming our minds, and how great a benefit could accrue from that in
this lifetime!
The best method of stabilizing the mind—realizing its unchangeable aspect—is
the Dzogchen meditation of nonaction. Not only does it facilitate the
accomplishment of mundane activities, it also releases us from the sufferings of
samsara. Anyway, we need to attain constancy in pure presence.