David Allen defines "Mind like water"
a “mind like water” - the state where we can focus on the work right in front of us without getting distracted by competing thoughts.
Sönke Ahrens • How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking
A famous analogy in Zen compares the mind to a pool of water. This is a helpful way to think about the training and goals of meditation. If the water is agitated, churned up by wind and currents, it doesn’t provide a clear reflection nor can we see to the bottom. But as the water calms, the debris that made the pool muddy begins to settle, and the
... See moreCuladasa John Yates • The Mind Illuminated - A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science
Daniel Wentsch added
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. —Shunryu Suzuki
David Allen • Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Only if we know that everything is taken care of, from the important to the trivial, can we let go and focus on what is right in front of us. Only if nothing else is lingering in our working memory and taking up valuable mental resources can we experience what Allen calls a “mind like water” - the state where we can focus on the work right in front
... See moreSönke Ahrens • How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers
The word "ordinary mind" is a word of Buddhist origin, and there are many such words in Chinese, such as "精进” (dedicating oneself to refinement or progress) and "想入非非” (daydreaming). The definition of "ordinary mind" in the encyclopedia is: "to remain unbiased and not paranoid under all circumstances and in all actions". In modern psychology, there
... See moreKevin Xu • Zhang Yiming’s Last Speech: Part I
Have a mind that has no dwelling place but continues to flow ceaselessly and ignores our limitations and our distinctions. Do not strive to localize the mind anywhere but let it fill up the whole body; let it flow freely throughout the totality of your being. Do not let the mind be grasping or sticky. Don’t look at “what is” from the position of th
... See moreShannon Lee • Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee
When the mind is free of any thought or judgment, it is still and acts like a mirror. Then and only then can we know things as they are.
W Timothy Gallwey • The Inner Game of Tennis: The classic guide to the mental side of peak performance
Water is present to its circumstances and surroundings and therefore ready to move in any direction that allows it passage. That openness and pliability means it is in a constant state of readiness, but a natural readiness because it is simply being wholly itself. To be like water, then, is to realize your most whole, natural, and actualized self w
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