Mind of the Hawk From "Crossing the Water" by Paul Ferrini I The mind that finds fault with this moment slips into sadness, the mind judges or condemns its own experience or anyone else's experience in this moment. The mind that dwells on past or future wanders about distraught, building fences where no animals graze. The mind that seeks outside itself is always running from its own fear like a rabbit moving in the shadow of some bird of prey. Yet outside thought, there is nothing but clear sky. The hawk sits on the branch Leaning out Over the abyss. II In this moment, Reality is fully present. Nothing is lacking. In this moment, there is nothing to judge, nothing to fix, nothing in particular to think or to do. Here in the fullness and precise certainty of this moment thought interferes, the perception of inadequacy begins: Life is not good enough Other people are not good enough I am not good enough Something is wrong Something needs to change for me to be happy. These thoughts lead to negative feeling states as quickly as a knife cuts through soft butter. There is no challenge here. To be compassionate with self means to accept these feeling states without empowering them, to let the wave pass through even as you stand your ground, to stand in the truth even as you feel sadness. Feelings pass. They linger only when you identify with them or resist them. Neither identifying with feelings nor resisting them, feelings wash through, and the thoughts behind them subside, like waves breaking on the sand. As you become present, you rise above all mental and emotional states, because who you are is beyond all states, beyond all definitions. In the unconditional acceptance of here and now the dream world of symbols, interpretations, meaning, comes to an end. There is no more seeking. No more striving. No more finding fault. Nothing apart from simple attention in the moment to the situation at hand. |