"Mind": Trained By Senses

Count the black dots (or here:
http://208.56.173.213/learningctr/dots2.htm):

From the Institute of General Semantics site:http://208.56.173.213/learningctr/dots3.htm

If we 'see' black dots when there are
only white dots ... what else do we 'see' that's not
there? At home, at work, in our relationships,
among friends, etc. Can you recall a situation in
which you saw what wasn't there; heard what wasn't
said; understood what wasn't intended?

Will: Unfocused

Want ad in the Washington Post last week for an opening on the Post staff:

Lifestyle Designer
RESPONSIBILITIES
The designer will work with managers and producers, representatives from sales, marketing, and technology, as well as other designers to build and evolve content and products.

Having one would certainly relieve some of the burden on my monkey-mind.

Eyes: Distracted by Beauty

Consider the lilies of the pond. . .

Lotus - Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD

They grow from the mud, but they are not mud-covered. Seek first the sun above and the showers will cleanse you and make you splendid to behold. Remember yourself though, because your roots and seeds always depend on the mud. But don't worry about any of it — — it's all taken care of.

Heart: Busy

From: Remember The Sabbath, by Wayne Muller, at http://www.spiritwalk.org/muller.htm#writings:

As Brother David Steidl-Rast reminds us, the Chinese pictograph for "busy" is composed of two characters:
heart and killing.

THOMAS MERTON:

There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence...
[and that is] activism and overwork. The rush and
pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most
common form, of its innate violence.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude
of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many
demands, to commit oneself to too many projects,
to want to help everyone in everything, is to
succumb to violence.

The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work
for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for
peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work,
because it kills the root of inner wisdom which make
work fruitful.