The Mind Is Like The Blue Sky
What This Means and How To Apply This Concept To Your Life.
When teaching meditation classes I keep coming back to this analogy - the mind is like the blue sky. I first came across this idea 13 years ago when I started meditating using the Headspace app. It is a concept from the Buddhist tradition and the more I explore it the more meaning I find in it.
So let’s first explore what it means. The clear, vast, expansive sky represents our mind. The clouds represent our thoughts and emotions. Sometimes the mind is so full of thoughts, maybe some days we feel like we are in the eye of a storm, and we forget about the clear, expansive sky. But if you have ever been on an aeroplane on a cloudy day, you will know that as the plane ascends above the clouds the expansive clear blue sky is there, and it was there along.
This can help to remind us that…
1. You are not the clouds, you are not the weather, you are not the storms. You are the clear blue sky, the container for it all.
2. So then, what is the nature of the sky? What is the nature of your mind? If you are not your thoughts and emotions, who is it that you really are?
3. Just as our thoughts come into our mind, they also go out again. Despite what they may seem, thoughts are not an endless stream of consciousness. Just as the clouds can often seems like an endless stream, but there is always a break in the clouds. All thoughts and emotions arise and then dissipate, just like clouds. Can you begin to notice the space between each thought?
4. We cannot stop the clouds, we cannot change the weather. Maybe you have planned a family barbecue and the forecast is for rain. As much as we wish for sunshine it is out of our control. So rather than resist, can you allow it to be? This analogy teaches us that we can allow it all to be, in the knowing that it will pass. The clouds will pass, as will our thoughts and our emotions. Can you allow yourself the pleasure of a complete thought knowing that it will pass? Or do you cut yourself off with judgement? Can you allow yourself to feel all of your emotions knowing that they too will pass?
5. We can only see they sky that is above our heads or outside our window, we are in our own world and can forget that he sky is much vaster than we can comprehend. Similarly our thoughts are limited. They come from our deeply ingrained perspective of the world. There is always a wider perspective.
It is not easy to fully incorporate the above concepts into your life and it takes practice. For me the practice is seated meditation either with a mantra, a focus or in silence. It brings us into this state as described so beautifully by Toni Carmine Salerno,
‘Beyond the clatter of your mind there is a place of calm; a space between your thoughts that is the gateway to your heart, a space where the eternal wisdom of your soul dwells.’
Meditate with me: Wednesdays 12:25-12:55pm and Fridays 1:30-2pm | £6 per class | In Stanmore.