Empty Mind

I'm thinking of my Dad this morning. He passed away last February. If he were alive today would be his 85th birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad, wherever you are!

I think I may have finally acquired "Empty Mind". Unfortunately I do not think it is the empty mind of the Buddha. I think it is the empty mind of someone who is momentarily incapable of deep thought. In many ways it is quite liberating. I think I have lost the desire to figure everything out, to understand it, and to share my understanding with others. I take more delight these days in simple pleasures and simple living than I do in the consumption of books and endless intellectual wandering. Maybe my "monkey mind" is just tired and is forcing me to take a break. Sometimes I think the pursuit of understanding or greatness is just a veiled attempt to prove one's worth. We all want to impress everyone else. We all want to be loved but perhaps even more, we want to be valued by others. Many have doubts about their value and whether they will be loved simply for who they are. Therefore they try to earn love and admiration by impressing others with their gifts and successes. So today I am going to resist the urge to understand my current state of "Empty Mind" and to impress you with how well I can articulate my experience. I will simply enjoy this time of traveling with a lighter load and less baggage. It will make my movement through the ongoing journey of life much easier. I will simply wander through the woods like the monks pictured above. I won't care how the flowers grow. I will simply stop and smell them.