Again and again I have been quoting Bodhidharma....

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He went to China and the emperor of China went to see him. And the emperor said,

"My mind is very uneasy, very disturbed. You are a great sage and I have been

waiting for you. Tell me what I should do to put my mind at peace."

Bodhidharma said, "Don't do anything. First, you bring your mind to me."

The emperor could not follow. He said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "Come in the morning at four o'clock, when nobody is here. Come alone

-- and remember to bring your mind with you."

The emperor couldn't sleep the whole night. Many times he canceled the whole

idea: "This man seems to be mad. What does he mean, 'Come with your mind, don't

forget?'" But the man was so enchanting, so charismatic that he couldn't cancel

the appointment. As if a magnet were pulling him, at four o'clock he jumped out

of the bed and said, "Whatsoever happens, I must go. This man may have

something, his eyes say that he has something. Looks a little crazy...but still

I must go and see what can happen."

So he arrived, and Bodhidharma was sitting with his big staff. And he said, "So

you have come? Where is your mind? Have you brought it or not?"

The emperor said, "You talk nonsense. When I am here my mind is here, and it is

not something which I can forget somewhere. It is in me."

So Bodhidharma said, "Okay. So the first thing is decided -- that the mind is

within you."

The emperor said, "Okay, the mind is within me."

Bodhidharma said, "Now close your eyes and find out where it is. And if you can

find out where it is, immediately indicate to me. I will put it at peace."

So the emperor closed his eyes, tried and tried, looked and looked. The more he

looked the more he became aware that there is no mind, that mind is an activity.

It is not something there so you can pinpoint it. But the moment he realized

that it is not something, then the absurdity of his quest became exposed to him:

"If it is not something, nothing can be done about it. If it is an activity,

then don't do the activity; that's all. If it is like walking, don't walk."

He opened his eyes. He bowed down to Bodhidharma and said, "There is no mind to

be found."

Bodhidharma said, "Then I have put it at peace. And whenever you feel that you

are uneasy, just look within for where that uneasiness is."

 

The very looking is anti-mind, because a look is not a thinking. And if you look

intensely your whole energy becomes a look, and the same energy becomes movement

and thinking.

 

Yoga is the cessation of mind.

 

This is Patanjali's definition: when there is no mind you are in Yoga, when

there is mind you are not in Yoga. So you may do all the postures but if the

mind goes on functioning, if you go on thinking, you are not in Yoga.

 

Yoga is the state of no-mind. If you can be without the mind without doing any

posture, you have become a perfect yogi. It has happened to many without doing

any postures, and it has not happened to many who have been doing postures for

many lives. Because the basic thing to be understood is: when the activity of

thinking is not there...you are there when the activity of the mind is not

there. When thoughts have disappeared -- they are just like clouds -- when they

have disappeared your being, just like the sky, is uncovered. It is always there

-- only covered with the clouds, only covered with thoughts.

 

Yoga is the cessation of mind.

 

 

 

 

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