Morning Muse 206 : Dealing with an Uneasy Mind
The uneasy mind is not an object to be fixed but an activity to be observed. Through Bodhidharma’s teaching, we learn that when we look within for the mind, it disappears. This simple act of awareness—looking without thinking—brings peace, as silence naturally replaces mental activity.
1/25/20262 min read
Osho often narrated a beautiful story of Bodhidharma to explain the nature of the restless mind. When Bodhidharma reached China, the Emperor himself came to meet him. With folded hands and a troubled face, the Emperor said,
“My mind is very uneasy, very disturbed. You are a great sage. Tell me what I should do to put my mind at peace.”
Bodhidharma replied calmly,
“You don’t need to do anything. First, bring your mind to me.”
The Emperor was puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
Bodhidharma said,
“Come tomorrow morning at four. Come alone. And remember—bring your mind with you.”
That night, the Emperor could not sleep. Again and again, he thought of cancelling the meeting.
“This man seems mad. How can one bring the mind?”
Yet something about Bodhidharma—his presence, his eyes, his stillness—pulled him irresistibly. At four in the morning, he found himself standing before the sage.
Bodhidharma looked at him and asked,
“So, have you brought your mind?”
The Emperor replied impatiently,
“What nonsense! My mind is with me. It’s not something I can leave behind.”
Bodhidharma smiled.
“Good. Then it is settled—the mind is within you. Now close your eyes, find it, and show it to me. I will put it at peace.”
The Emperor closed his eyes and searched deeply. He looked and looked, but the more he searched, the clearer it became—there was no solid thing called “mind.” There were thoughts, movements, waves of activity, but no entity he could point to.
Suddenly, the absurdity of the struggle became obvious. If the mind is not a thing but an activity, then nothing needs to be fixed. One simply has to stop participating in that activity.
He opened his eyes, bowed deeply, and said,
“There is no mind to be found.”
Bodhidharma replied,
“Then I have put it at peace.”
And he added gently,
“Whenever uneasiness arises again, just look within. Where is it?”
That very looking is meditation.
Looking is not thinking.
When your whole energy becomes a look, thought dissolves.
The same energy that creates thinking, when turned into awareness, becomes silence.
This Morning Muse reminds us:
The mind is not something to be controlled or repaired.
It is an activity that ends the moment we stop feeding it.
Peace is not achieved; it is discovered the moment we look.