The Gears of the World

Ajaan Suwat, when he would give meditation instructions, would start out by saying, “Start with an attitude of confidence, feeling inspired by the opportunity you have to do something really good like this, to meditate. You’re lifting your mind above its ordinary concerns.” The image they give in the Canon of someone who’s meditating and has developed wisdom is that you’re like someone standing up in a tower looking at the world below. You can see all that’s going on in the world, but you don’t have to go down and get involved. You can lift your mind above that. Otherwise, you spin around with the world.

And as the world spins, there’s gain, and there’s loss; there’s status, loss of status; praise and criticism; pleasure and pain. Things that seem solid dissolve away. Things that seem reliable?—they’re not so reliable after all. If you look for happiness there, you’re looking in the wrong place.

When the world turns, it doesn’t turn innocently. It’s like the gears in a machine. They have teeth. If your clothing gets caught in the teeth, then they pull you in, pull you in. You get eaten up by the teeth. The Buddha says that we feed on the aggregates, but the aggregates also feed on us. We have to lift our minds above things like this, so that we’re not eaten by the teeth of the gears.

So find an independent source of happiness inside, something that things outside can’t touch. The first step in that direction is to get the mind to settle down, because only when it’s settled down can things begin to appear for what they are. Otherwise, we’re like a muddy pool of water. You stir it up, stir it up, and as the mud keeps getting stirred up, you can’t see what’s in the water. When the mind has a chance to settle down, the water gets clear as the mud settles out. The mud is still there, but you’re able to see at least something inside that’s of greater value than the things outside.

So. Let the mind settle down and find that source of brightness and stillness inside. That way, you won’t feel so tempted to go running after the things of the world. Otherwise, as Ajaan Fuang would say, “When you follow around with the world, whenever the world’s stupid, you’re stupid along with the world.” And the world tends to go to stupidity more than anything else. So lift your mind above all that and be happy that you have the chance to do this.