@ WendiKelly: I understand what you are saying. There is a much finer line between sanity and insane than most of us understand. Thank you for your open contribution.

@ Ellen: Oh my, I am no Roshi. I hope to point to teachers of many disciplines and help others find and perhaps understand the teachings a bit clearer. The Roshi, or Teacher, lives within each reader and will clarify and instruct. But, I am humbled by this and your other kind comments on the site.
Your comment about the homeless is very interesting. In my research for this series, I have been interviewing people who work in organizations that are working face to face with the homeless on a daily basis. Many of them don’t want a “place to live” as we define it, as their fears of confinement (which is the prision within) govern their decisions for comfort.

@SImon: WOW, yes so true. We fear being found out – even by ourselves. (Thank you for your kind compliment.)

@ Liara: Wonderful examples. Amazing stories too. The “lost mind” is often evident in the homeless environment, but just as common in the rows of homes on a suburban street. It is a mind that won’t allow freedom, keeps us running in circles, knots our dreams into fears. The key is to “lose our mind” the in a TRUE sense. More to come…

@Sterling – YES! Thank you. That is it! Please continue to share your stories in the upcoming series. I look forward to your contributions.

I say Namaste to each of you.

I think the most obvious conclusion was that I felt so much lighter and peaceful. So the bulk of my mechanical mind chatter must be fear and anxiety related if I feel much calmer when my thoughts slow down.

It’s almost insidious how our everyday thoughts seem so normal and harmless until we take time to really examine them.

Your blog will be a nice tool to help me continue the self examination. Much thanks!

Its meaningful to consider life stories of people such as Neal Donald Walsch, Joe Vitale, Chris Gardener (film: Pursuit of Happyness), Robert Kiyosaki, and others, who have all experienced homelessness during this particular life path. Each of them has been affected in different ways. How they have evolved inside influences their present decisions. You don’t have to be famous to learn useful things from life experience. Just be willing to open your heart and mind wider.

And I’ve just realized that there’s another question we’re also (secretly) asking ourselves. Do they think we’re insane? Because secretly we *know* that these chattering minds of ours are mad. That’s why we’re watching out backs, why we’re so scared to be ‘us’. We’re scared that someone else will find out…

I look forward to the rest of your series!

I admit I’m a very bad Zen student. But then I read somewhere that the very worst was not so bad.

It’s true what you have said here, that if we all did what we were supposed to do we would have “Big Mind” instead of little mind. But we are all made up of “little minds,” too, so it is a constant koan to us all.

Someone should be in charge of collecting all the homeless people and making sure they have a house to stay in. Something like homeless patrol. E

I am looking forward to the series.
I do a lot of meditation, which is a nice mind-vacation and believe me- I need those little mini exits!

There is also some mental llness in my family and I have a cousin out there wandering, muttering…

True mental illness as a sad, sad thing.
Sometimes I think my journaling and meditations help keep me grounded and sane. But I also kind of think I just got lucky and didn’t get dealt that ugly card.

Silent retreats, whether for a minute or a week are life-changing. I can only imagine the power of your realization. If possible, could you share with readers an example of a thought you became aware of, after you became more aware, and how “busy” and “nuts” it seems to your true self?

Thanks again for your kind visit and comments.

My favorite line is “empty your thought generator long enough to experience your real self”.

A couple weekends ago I attended a 3-day retreat of zazen meditation. After 3 days of letting thoughts slow down and settle, the “insanity” of my normal thought patterns was much more obvious.

Thank you for sharing these thoughts.