ataraxia
/ˌæt əˈræk si ə/
1. a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquillity.
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My mind is blank.
Empty. A still, clear pond. Oh geeze, my leg’s asleep.
Whack!
Damn
it! How does he know? Seriously, is he some kind of mind
reader? If I do this, will I be able to
read minds too? Oh man how awesome—
Whack!
God…dang it, that
hurts.
“Do you
really have to hit me?”
“Yes.”
Seriously? That’s it?
“Can I
ask why?”
“It
seems you can.”
I hate
it when he does that.
“Okay,
why do you have to hit me?”
“Your
mind wanders. I am merely pointing this
out.”
“Does
it have to be painful?”
And now
he goes silent. Of course he does. Okay, let’s try this again. No thought.
Complete tranquility. Free of any
emotion and thought…I have to pee.
Whack!
“Seriously! Do you have to hit me that hard? I mean, wouldn’t a gentle tap be good
enough?”
“No.”
“But
why not?”
“A
gentle tap would be an annoyance. It
would cause your mind to wander more.
Hitting you as I am disrupts your thoughts. It interrupts you and makes you aware that
you are thinking. That your mind is
wandering. Without this method, you
would never achieve your goal.”
I guess
it makes sense. Kind of.
“Okay,
fine. Doesn’t mean I have to like it
though.”
“Of
course not. But the only way to get me
to stop is to succeed. Free your mind of
all impurities. Seek the freedom of
empty thought. The pure tranquility that
comes from emptiness.”
How
many times have I heard that? Must be at
least a dozen now. Well, I’m not going
to get anywhere like this. Might as well keep going. What’s that word that shows up in all the
shows and movies? Oh right, Ohm. No idea what it means, but hey, it’s a start,
right?
Ohm. Funny word.
No idea how people can repeat that over and over without—
Whack!
“I
almost had it!”
“No, no
you did not.”
“How do
you know? It’s not like you can read my
mind.” God I hope he can’t. Somehow it
wouldn’t surprise me if he could though.
“I do
not need to. It is obvious that your
mind is unfocused. Any novice can tell.”
“So,
what, you’re looking at body language? Eye
movements?”
“If it
will make you feel better, then yes, that is what I am doing.”
Damn
it, he’s not using my body language.
Okay, yeah, that was a stupid thought anyway. I’m sitting down and not moving much. And my eyes are closed when I try and do this
tranquility thing. He can’t be using
that. So what is he using?
“Do not think about how I know about your
wandering mind. Do not let it bother
you. Let go of such frustrations. They will only hinder your progress.”
“You
know, maybe if we changed spots for a bit it’d help. You know, let me see a master at work.”
“Perhaps it will. Very well.”
Hah! Yes!
Now I get to do the hitting!
Huh. This thing’s a lot lighter
than I thought it’d be. With how much it
hurts, I thought it’d be at least two or three pounds, but I don’t think it’s
even one. What’s it made out of? Probably bamboo. They make everything out of that here. Doesn’t look like bamboo though. I’ll ask later. For now, take this!
Did…did
he just? Yup, he blocked it. How did he block it? He can’t see me swing, so how? Maybe he heard it? Yeah, he probably heard it. Let me try and be quiet. Maybe not a full swing hit, but something
smaller. A nice light poke.
He did
it again. How did he do it again? I didn’t make a sound. And yet, he stopped it dead. What’s going on here?
“Do you
see now? Do you see why inner
tranquility and silence of the mind is so important?”
“Uh,
not really, no. How’d you do that
anyway? I mean, I get the first swing
made noise and stuff, but the second one didn’t. So what’s the deal?”
“The
deal is exactly what I’ve been telling you to do. My mind was clear and still, and so your
movements were visible to my mind, even if my eyes and ears could not detect
your actions.”
“Huh?”
“You will understand when you have succeeded. Now, try again.”
“You will understand when you have succeeded. Now, try again.”
Okay,
let’s see what I can do. Mind is
blank. Peaceful. Still pond…
Whack!
Damn
it!
***************************************************
Do you hear the sound of the universe breathing? What is the sound of one hand clapping? If a tree falls in the forest, does a bear s*** in the woods?
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