lbb

About that cool, placid surface of the mountain lake: Pema Chodron once observed that many people come to meditation in search of that image, more or less -- in the belief that meditation will help calm the waters and make their mind like a still, calm pond of water. And it does that, she said...and then you get to see the old tires and refrigerators and skeletons and other junk that's contained in the pond.

"Calm" is good precisely because it forces that vision on you...but not everyone does the right thing and deals with the junk they see lying at the bottom of the pond. Some people put their energy into cultivating an ever smoother, glassier, more reflective surface. Smiling faces, just like the song says...