BLUE | ᴛᴀᴇᴊɪɴ ✔

10 | The Mind

This afternoon, Taehyung was excited to tell Seokjin the answers, he was feeling a sense of accomplishment.

He sat there waiting for Seokjin, getting impatient, wondering what was taking him so long.

Taehyung waited for a long time till it was time to leave. After waiting for a few more minutes, he left.

He came back home, feeling down. He really wanted to meet Seokjin and tell him those answers.

Now he was just walking around, doing nothing. This day, he had nothing much to think about. For the past few days, he was getting used to recalling the events of the afternoon or finding the answers to some questions. But this night there was nothing to do or recall.

The next day when he woke up, he tried to tell himself that he was improving so he couldn't waste time, that every day was important. He should think about doing something. But it wasn't easy.

Soon, it was afternoon and he went to the sea.

Just after a few minutes, Seokjin came and sat beside him. "Looks like you've found the answers,"  Seokjin could make it out from Taehyung's face. So, he asked those questions once again.

"What time is it?"

"Now"

"Where are you?"

"Here"

Taehyung got anxious when Seokjin didn't say anything for a few seconds and just looked at him with a blank expression.

Then Seokjin smiled and put his hand forward for a handshake, "Welcome Back!"

Taehyung smiled and shook hands.

"I tried to apply what you said earlier. And things felt a little different. I'm in, to know more, to learn more.

I get it now that the moment right now matters. But there are a lot of things that we are unsure about, there's a lot to think about, we cannot just think about the present moment and miss out on planning ahead. So how?" Taehyung asked.

"There's nothing wrong with planning ahead. But the time that we spend on it should be almost none. If you're really aware in the moment, you'll see that there's no need to even plan much, the things will come to your mind one way or the other. But that is not the thing that I wanted to tell you.

How about a simple question –If you wanted to meet your friends right now, what would you do? Teleport? Or Keep thinking about your meetup that is going to happen the next day?" Seokjin asked.

"No. The only reasonable thing I could do right now is to call them and tell them about it first," Taehyung answered.

"So you're saying that you wouldn't have wasted your time just thinking about the future, the next day. Instead, you would have used some action, right?" Taehyung nodded and Seokjin continued, " And does the mind carry out the action, I don't mean the signals through the nerves, I'm talking about the real action", Seokjin asked.

"No, it's the body that does it," Taehyung was certain about it.

"Right. So action is something that always happens in the present because it is an expression of the body. And an expression of the body can only happen in the present. Here and Now", Seokjin said.

"I'm starting to get it now. So, you're saying that the mind is the problem?", Taehyung looked at Seokjin curiously.

"Yes. I'm not talking about the brain, but the mind, they're both different things. The mind is like a phantom, it is illusory. It only lives in the past and the future. And the only power that it has over us is to draw our attention from the present. So, you've to lose your mind before you come to your senses."

Taehyung thought about it a little, trying to recall those words once again, "If the mind is a problem, then we only need to control it, we need to control those emotions to get back to our senses. But it is not that simple, right?"

"You don't need to control your emotions or your thoughts. Because you can't. Just like you cannot control the passing weather, the same way you can't control emotions, they are natural. There are some you need to just let go of and some, you can use for constructive action.

Like the fear and the sadness you feel right now, you could use it to fight back. But if you try to control it or hold it, there would just be a loop, without action. But that is not what you want right?", Seokjin asked.

"Yes. That makes sense but then, I need to know how to let emotions pass, how to use them, and how to not let my mind wander", Taehyung was waiting for Seokjin to tell him a way to do it.

Seokjin smiled, "There isn't just one way, there are many. Different kinds of people would want you to believe theirs but there really isn't any one way. But if you still want to learn one of them, then I can show you right now.

Do you think that focusing on breathing is old-fashioned or something boring?"

"No. I mean if I can try if you are saying that it helps," Taehyung replied.