The Unyielding Mind

A world without perception, without paying attention to those around – looks, non-looks, almost bumping into and almost not bumping, too close, not too close – all these things become irrelevant, like the trickle of a wild boar's piss on a thousand-year-old tree. Or perhaps this is wishful thinking.

A voice directed toward you is ignored, not out of rudeness but indifference. A complaint, a praise – what does it matter? How does it change your being? Insulted, so what? Praised, so what? Does any of this change the core? It affects the surface, the shallow level exposed to the external world. But does a heart deep within truly feel sorrow and insult? Who came up with this obscene idea that a blood-pumping muscle feels anything but the flow of blood? Only the mind feels.

The mind is the instigator, the definer, the believer, the feeler. An insult on Tuesday is unfelt, yet one on Wednesday hurts to the core. So, what happened to the heart on Tuesday? Surely, it was the mind that was weak on Wednesday. A strong mind doesn’t care if the world is being built or falling apart, if money is made or not, if security exists or not, if it is the last day on earth or not. All these issues stem from a weak mind, an unbaked mind. But does a truly strong mind exist?

It’s easy to be balanced and mature when everything is okay, under control. But that little child within screams in despair when it all falls apart, unaware of the inner strength of the self. The greatest physical tortures may reach deep enough. A tortured body shows its scars and sorrows, and the spirit may change, become weakened and bothered. Not all will emerge with a stronger mind; not all of us benefit from adversity. Some will be broken until the grave, the final relief.

The mind is the living nightmare or the living paradise. And even as you swim in the ocean of uncertainty, it is the mind that will give you adventure or horrifying fear. When death feels near, again, it is the mind that decides the level of horror and fear – always the mind. And how can a mind be strengthened without adversity and chaos? And what if there is much adversity but a lack of needed genetics? From darkness, man is created, and from darkness, reborn. For a walk in a rose garden never prepared anyone for war.