The Tranquil Mind

Ashtavakra observed Janaka sitting peacefully, his breathing slow and even.

"Your mind has become tranquil, O King. This is natural when the truth is seen."

Janaka opened his eyes. "Yes, master. But I did not create this tranquility through effort. It appeared when I stopped struggling."

"That is the secret the seekers miss. They try to calm the mind through force—through concentration, through suppression, through endless techniques. But the mind forced into silence is like a spring pressed down. Release it, and it bounces back with equal force."

"Then what creates true tranquility?"

"Understanding. When you understand that the mind is not your enemy, you stop fighting it. When you see that thoughts are not threats, you stop resisting them. The mind settles naturally, like water when you stop stirring it."

"But thoughts continue to arise even now."

"Let them. Thoughts are not the problem. The problem was identifying with thoughts, believing you are the thinker. Now you see thoughts as appearances in awareness, no different from sounds or sensations. They come, they go. You remain."

"It is strange," Janaka said. "The mind was my greatest tormentor. Now it feels like... nothing special."

"That is liberation. The mind that seemed so powerful, so demanding, so essential—is revealed as a phantom. It was always a phantom. You gave it reality by paying it too much attention, by taking its content seriously."

"And what of important thoughts? Decisions that must be made?"

"They arise when needed. The tranquil mind is not absent—it is clear. Like a still lake that reflects the sky perfectly, the calm mind responds to life accurately. Action becomes precise, decision becomes effortless. This is not because you are trying harder, but because you are no longer obscuring your natural intelligence with mental noise."

"Some say the goal is to have no thoughts at all."

"They misunderstand. The goal—if we can call it that—is to be untroubled by thoughts. Thoughts may arise or not. A quiet mind is beautiful, but so is a thinking mind when there is no identification. The sage can engage in complex thinking without losing his peace. The content changes; the background remains."

"I have noticed this. I can attend to the affairs of the kingdom, debate with advisors, solve problems—and yet remain at rest."

"Because you have found the rest that is prior to activity. Activity cannot disturb what was never disturbed. You have stopped confusing the movement of the mind with the stillness of awareness."

"Is there anything I should do to maintain this tranquility?"

"Nothing. The moment you try to maintain it, you have created a maintainer—a subtle sense of 'I' who is responsible for the peace. This is the seed of future disturbance. Simply be as you are. If tranquility is present, let it be. If agitation arises, let that be too. You are not the state of the mind; you are that which is aware of all states."

"This is profound simplicity."

"It is the simplest thing in the world, which is why it is so easily missed. We look for complexity, for special experiences, for dramatic transformations. But the truth is ordinary—the most ordinary thing possible. It is simply what you are, without pretense."

Janaka smiled. "My teachers taught me many techniques for calming the mind. You have taught me that no technique is needed."

"The techniques were ladders to climb a wall that did not exist. Now that you see there is no wall, what need for ladders? Rest in your own nature. The mind will follow, or not. Either way, you are free."