In this talk Subhana helps us to work skilfully with both our minds and emotions. The meditation instructions of mindfulness of mind include; thought, cognition, concepts, stories, ideas, perceptions and consciousness itself.  The practice is to notice what are the 10 top tunes that go through your mind and how not to get hijacked by those familiar deep-seated patterns of thought-emotion cycle.  Practicing opening the hand of thought.  The nature of the mind is to think, it is not about suppressing thought, nor indulging or being carried away by thoughts or letting the mind control your experience.  Zazen is stabilising awareness.  With steady awareness, we can realise that, thoughts are the thinker.  There is no thinker back-stage other than the triggering of more thought.  Mind makes a terrible master but a great servant.  When there is a wise relationship to the mind, it is then in service to our essential nature.  Includes an ancient story of the 2^nd Patriarch of Chan, Huike seeking wisdom from Bodhidharma. 

This talk was given by Subhana Barzaghi, roshi at Autumn sesshin 2025 at Kodoji