A calm mind is wonderful. I have found that with practice my calm mind is readily available, something akin to the blue sky above the clouds or calm waters beneath the ripples on a lake. Suzuki Roshi said he could sit peacefully forever, but that getting up was part of practice. A calm mind also means a calm body. In Zen the body-mind aren't separate. When the body becomes still in meditation the mind usually follows.
If a calm mind becomes your goal in meditation you can become easily frustrated, because any goal is a detour and trap in Zen. However, if you stay close to your breathing and allow thoughts to come and go, eventually they quiet down and a sense of spaciousness can arise. In zen we say to neither think or not-think, which is another way of saying just allow your mind to settle naturally. I also think of calm as not meddling with things, and the less I meddle the more still I become. Sometimes meditation is 'just saying no' to anything mental, emotional, or physical, and not allowing yourself to be distracted.
Do you value calm? Even if you do, are you willing to make time for it? This may seem like simplistic questions, but many have lost their appreciation of inner peace. Others have never been taught how to cultivate stillness. When I get caught up in things I am surprise at how easily I can forget to meditate or exercise or maintain the discipline and commitment it usually takes to keep calm at the center of your life.
Finding Calm Mind
