Day 9 of Deepak Chopra's meditation ~ Limiting Visual Distractions ~ Showcase Life - Not Stuff

Day 9

Today's Centering Thought: 

My outer world reflects my inner world. 

Our Sanskrit mantra:

Sat Chit Ananda 

Existence, Consciousness, Bliss

I think a lot about the outer world and how distracting it is to me when when it is cluttered with things.  This isn’t limited to clutter I need to put away.  Obviously the dishes in the sink, the mail on the dining room table, the laundry waiting to be folded - these clutters detract from my inner peace because they are chores that need to be accomplished.  But even further, decorations, nicknacks, mementos from special occasions - even treasures can keep my mind from being at peace.  

When I think of the simplicity of the buddhist temples or other zen focused retreats I cannot help but notice the design is so soothing.  The lines of the space are not frantic with patterns or a zillion colors and decorations.  One or two beautiful aspects of nature is highlighted and the rest of the space fades away.  The simplistic design allows for life to be showcased.   

In my day job as a house manager for a wealthy family here in Philadelphia, I work in a beautiful home filled with many beautiful things.  

The space is kept very neat and organized, but so often I think of how much richer it would be if it wasn’t designed with so many details and filled with so many treasures.  The life going on inside the structure would be so much more apparent and beautifully displayed if the mind wasn’t being overwhelmed by all the visual stimulations in the background.  Even the china, though it is beautiful it does not  display the food (the life) as well as a plate simply decorated.  The ornateness distracts the eye from the vibrant green of the freshly steamed broccoli or the deeply sensuous nature of ripened fruit.    

Even treasures we’ve collected can become distractions.  As an experiment,  I watched my thoughts one day and was amazed at how much my visual intake contributed to my active mind.  

 I sat with my eyes open and let my mind wander.  Unconsciously, I noticed a picture of my girlfriend and I at the beach that hangs near a plant on a shelf.  I have looked at it countless times throughout the years it has hung on my wall.  In the span of maybe five seconds my mind thought, “I wonder how my girlfriend is doing…she didn’t like that picture of herself…but she liked the one on the bottom…I don’t like that one of me…I wish I could return that plant...Charlie is so cute…I need to wash his eyes…my house looks cluttered.” 

The plant was sitting next to the picture which is why that came into my thoughts, and my dog, Charlie, walked in at the moment I was noticing the plant.  That recount doesn’t even factor in the other things my eyes took in during my brain babble— “candle, books, blocks, bird painting, green, the sun is bright on my eyes, carpet fuzz...”   It is difficult to determine exactly, but I believe I noticed those thoughts going on underneath my other thoughts.  Layers and layers of thoughts throughout the entire day cause a ruckus in the mind.  How can we begin to feel peace, or connect to that quiet place inside when we have so much going on in our brains?  

A quote from the Katha Upanishad sums this up beautifully: 

“The senses, say the wise, are the horses; the roads they travel are the mazes of desire….When a man lacks discrimination and his mind is uncontrolled, his senses are unmanageable, like the restive horses of a charioteer.  But when a man has discrimination and his mind is controlled, his senses, like the well-trained horses of a charioteer, lightly obey the rein…The man who has sound understanding for a charioteer and a controlled mind for reins—he it is that reaches the end of his journey.”

I have noticed that out of all the senses, it seems that my eyes that cause the most restlessness in my brain.  Everything I take in visually seems to compute somewhere in my head, causing chatter (book, table, brown, empty glass, backpack) even if I am not allowing it to race on other subjects.   I don’t think I will be selling all of my belongings as of yet, but I am definitely working towards simplifying my home and shedding all the stuff I don’t need.