I dropped by a favourite lakeside park of mine after work today to enjoy a few moments in the sunshine, and perhaps to experience some inspiration.I was immediately struck by the incredible clarity of the water near the shoreline, and in the narrow stream that flowed out into the lake at this point. Having spent a lot of time in this very spot, I knew how often it is that the shallows are churned up, and the water cloudy with silt.
As I looked at the surprisingly turquoise water of the lake, and the clearly visible patterns of stones on the bottom, the phrase - "It's calm - All the way down," came to mind.
In a heartbeat, these words had grown to become a keen insight about my own life. The kind of clarity I was seeing in this water meant that there was a stillness in it - and not a momentary one - It was one that had held for a period of time. As it did so, the particulate that had previously clouded it had settled to the bottom.
So too, my mind. A randomly applied moment of quiet, as lovely as it may be, is not enough to lastingly settle the mental clutter that gives rise to the habitual, undefined state of unrest that sometimes plagues me. A more persistent state of quiet, maintained over time, is what makes a real difference.
So often, aware of the things I can do to bring myself peace, I am able to calm the surface - but this can be merely cosmetic. True mental clarity in the depths requires discipline. It is not a matter of pleasing some external deity by performing acts of devotion - a paradigm that was drilled into me in my youth... but rather it is simply the pragmatic mechanics of how the mind works. I can choose to do what needs doing... or not.
