Cabin in the Woods

Imagine if each of your thoughts had its own personality. And imagine that your mind is like a cabin in the woods on a cold dark night.

There is a knock on the door. There is a nice woman (i.e. a nice thought) wanting to come in. You let her in.

There is another knock at the door. This time it is an angry man. You slam the door in his face, but he doesn’t go away. He runs around the outside of the house banging on the windows trying to get in. But you keep saying no.

Another person comes to the door. This time it is a sad man. You say no and he joins the angry man banging on the windows outside.

Another knock at the door. It is a prostitute. You slam the door with moral indignation.

Another knock and it is an arrogant man and his worthless wife. You slam the door.

All these people are outside your cabin clamouring to get in. But you won’t let them in.

The noise gets louder and you worry about your safety. You can’t sleep. You can’t think straight. There is no rest.

It gets unbearable. In an attempt to get some rest you pick a book off the shelf. It says: let them in.

Out of desperation you go against what is natural for you and you open the door.

All the people outside come in and sit down quietly by the fire. There is no more noise. All is peaceful.

Moral of the story: It is the rejection of your own thoughts that makes your mind noisy and makes your life restless. You create the thought and reject it.

The rejection of a thought ceases when you consider how it can be accepted. If you ask over and over, “How does this thought/person benefit me”, then you stop fearing and rejecting it. It stops being an enemy and becomes a friend. You let your friends in.

It reminds me of a quote from Abraham Lincoln that goes something like this: “I don’t like that man, which means I don’t know him. Though I am sure that if I get to know him, I will like him.”

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Passively witnessing thoughts works too, but I suggest that an active and passive approach is best for taming the mind.

So we create the world and then reject it. I find this to be a fascinating study of Brahman. If I see something and say, “That is not me.” Then I have rejected it. It is separated from me in time and space.

But if I say, “That is me.” Then I I have accepted it and illusory senses that perceive time and space give way to the illuminated knowing of the purified intellect which is timeless and spaceless.