Jason, I don’t understand how sitting meditation helps to develop a clear mind in daily life. How exactly can sitting meditation help us find a clear mind?
Great question—and there’s a lot to unpack here. But let’s start with the basics: What is a clear mind?
Defining Clear Mind
I think the best way to define clear mind is to express it.
The wall is white.
The floor is brown.
That’s clear mind.
Now, some people might hear that and think, “Huh? That’s it?” When I first began reading the teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn, I had a similar reaction. He often used examples like:
“The sky is blue. The tree is green. Dog barking—woof woof. Sugar is sweet.”
Simple, right? But here’s the difference.
Most of us don’t just hear dog barking. Instead, we think, “Ugh, that barking is annoying. It’s ruining my meditation. What kind of dog is that? I never want one like it.”
Clear mind simply reflects the truth of this moment, exactly as it is—without adding anything and without taking anything away.
Don’t Make Anything
Zen Master Seung Sahn often repeated this: “Don’t make anything.”
What does that mean?
In Zen, there’s a saying: “Don’t paint legs on a snake.” It means that when we perceive something, we tend to make something extra—adding our own narrative, preferences, judgments, or opinions. That mental overlay clouds our perception and keeps us from fully experiencing the present moment.
Sunday Morning Teaching
When I lived at the Providence Zen Center, there was a Sunday program for families. Parents would sit meditation while their kids did activities in another room, often led by volunteers. One activity really stuck with me.
The kids were given large eye glasses made of clear plastic and some markers. They were told: “Write down everything you’re thinking right now onto the glasses.”
So the kids scribbled away—pizza, their favorite video games, TV shows, what they did yesterday. Once they finished, they put the glasses on.
Across the room, a teddy bear was tied to a chair. The kids were told: “Go untie the bear.”
But the glasses were now covered in writing. Some kids couldn’t even see the bear. Others could see it, but couldn’t clearly make out the rope. Their vision was literally obscured by their own thoughts.
That’s what our mind is like. We already have a clear mind, but it gets clouded by what we write in our own mind.
So How Do We Get Clear Mind?
That’s the trick—we don’t get clear mind. We already have it.
The real practice is about letting go of our thinking, so we can simply see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and think—without adding anything extra.
Remember what I said earlier?
The wall is white.
The floor is brown.
That’s clear thinking.
Bringing Clear Mind into Daily Life
The other part of the question is about daily life. How do we use clear mind in the midst of our everyday routine?
Well, our daily life is just this moment. So maybe the better question is: How do we express clear mind right now?
Right now—this very moment—is our life. Not five minutes ago. Not five minutes from now. So ask yourself:
What do you see right now?
What do you hear right now?
Just perceive. Don’t add anything extra. Don’t filter through preferences, labels, or stories.
The Cause of Suffering
So much suffering in the world comes from this habit of “making something.”
“Those people from that country aren’t good.”
“That person has a different skin color—so I don’t trust them.”
“They’re have different ideas and beliefs, so I hate them.”
These thoughts are layers we add to the raw truth. Meditation helps us see through all of this. Most of the time, we don’t even notice we’re doing it. We just live with the results—disconnection, anxiety, judgment, suffering.
But when we see clearly and stop chasing our thoughts—when we don’t push them away or cling to them—we can wake up in this moment.
The Two Wings of a Bird
Clear mind is just one wing of the bird.
The other wing is function. Once we experience clear mind, we ask: Now what?
How does clear mind function right now?
What is happening right now?
How can I help?
The only time we can act with clarity is in the present—not in the past, not in the future. Right now is the only moment available for true response.
So just do it. Just perceive. Just respond—with clarity and compassion.
That’s the essence of Zen practice.
