Got Milk?
April 08, 2024
Try to keep your attention on the breath all the way in, all the way out. As for other things in the world, other things in your mind, you let them go, let them pass, because you need to develop some skills inside. One of them is learning what things to say Yes to, and what things to say No. If you say Yes to the wrong things, No to the wrong things, it’s like someone trying to get milk out of a cow by twisting the horn. No matter how hard you twist, it’s not going to work. Of course, the harder you twist, the more you harass the cow. So then you decide to stop twisting the horn. It’s much more relaxed—it’s much easier than twisting the horn—but you still don’t get the milk. You’ve got to figure out what exactly needs to be let go of, what needs to be maintained, and how to do it in a skillful way. It’s in this way that you learn about your mind.
You’re not going to learn about cause and effect until you try to change things and see what your changing does. This is how scientists learn about the world. They don’t just sit there and watch things. They don’t just sit there and watch cows. They try to get the cow to do this, get the cow to do that, and see how the cow responds.
So you have to interfere sometimes with the flow of the mind. We talk about going with the flow as being a good thing. But the Buddha always says there are dangers in a lot of these flows. There are whirlpools; there are alligators; there are rapids down the line. It may be a pleasant river for the time being, but you’ve got to think about what’s going to happen down the line. We’re not here just to be in the present moment. We’re here to develop qualities that we’re going to need further on.
So for the time being, make up your mind you’re going to stay here with the breath. It’s a good place to be. You can learn how to make the breath comfortable and how to be comfortable with the breath. Those are two separate things, you know. Sometimes the breath can be comfortable, but you’re not comfortable with it. Other times the breath may not be all that good, but you find a way of making yourself comfortable with it. That’s a skill you need to learn. You learn it by experimenting. You learn it by trial and error until you finally arrive at trial and success.
So believe the Buddha when he said that Dhamma is nourished by commitment and reflection. He does say that listening to the Dhamma is an important thing, but if you’re really going to learn about it, you have to commit yourself to it, to doing it. Then you reflect on your actions, and then learn from what you’ve reflected on.
In that way, you finally find out where on the cow you pull and how to pull so that you’re not harassing the cow but you get the milk that you want.