Defining a rest

Rest is very important in everyday life. If you ask me who is at a total rest, I will say anyone who is aware of their current status of mind are more likely to be in total rest. There are a lot of confusion to what is a real rest. As often we feel overwhelmed by our emotions and thoughts. Even relaxing activities might add on to the stress. As an example, how many times you have felt that the hobby you have taken disturb your peace instead of generating it?

Defining a total rest by means of what is not?

Let's discuss what is not a rest. Work is not rest. As the work needs your attention from both your mind and your body. It tends to be draining. Sleeping is not resting either. Sleeping soothes your body and freshen up your mind. Yet you're not aware of the process I cannot define it as a rest.

A total Rest

Thinking is not resting. In thinking you just try to force your mind in specific area of your life. It burns calories.

But there is another way. There is a saying that "All the man's trouble are due to him not being able to sit on a chair for 1/2 hour." What this statement indirectly implies is of a rest. I think we all should try this here and now.

Direct experience of a total rest.

I did try and this is my experience. I just sat on my couch, watching nothing, staring at nothing, doing nothing, thinking nothing, not sleeping, not expecting. I was aware of everything which comes to every door of the mind. I wasn't feeling energetic. I wasn't feeling drained. As I wasn't expecting thoughts to arise or go away. During the period, I was aware of thoughts pictures and sounds even feelings. Yet there was no chase no contemplation. There were thoughts of past and future, an urge to get up and do something about problems. Even a feeling of calm and peace at a time. But I didn't pursue any of it. I didn't want to stop this state of mind, neither I wanted to continue it. You can call it being mindful or meditating. Or even wasting time. But another name for it would be a rest.

Introns of existence.

At the end of this exercise, I was left with a pleasant experience of nothingness. It is different from any other experience as I wasn't gaining or loosing anything. It Is just like a DNA. In DNA there are specific sequences of nucleic acid base pairs, which code proteins. Which are important and useful for all the functions of a cell. However, there are areas there are no genetic information. These areas are called introns. They serve no specific function. Nobody pays attention to these areas. Nobody wants them. But they serve the function of bringing out the continuation and holding of space until next exon sequence arises. If not for these moments of nothingness the exons would not exist.

In this perspective the rest serves an important function. Giving a meaning to the action itself. So I wouldn't fill all my day with a busy schedule of actions. As if I do, after some time it would lead to malfunction of the whole process of living. Hence you should always have a definition to your own rest. And it doesn't have to be sitting on a chair. Even a walk would be fine. Understanding the ground zero of life greatly helpful in the process of the total rest.