Get'in Your Mind Right

In the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, the Captain of Road Prison 36 (played by Strother Martin in a memorable performance) explains to Luke (Paul Newman) upon his arrival at the prison that, “You run one time, you got yourself a set of chains. You run twice you got yourself two sets. You ain't gonna need no third set, 'cause you gonna get your mind right.”  The implication is clear; either conform to prison life on the chain gang--or else.  

Off the silver screen, “gettin’ your mind right” is a somewhat different matter.  As we mature our ego tends to strengthen and our mind can become muddied like the waters of a southern bayou.  From this perspective it is often difficult to see clearly and we lose our way.  In so doing we sometimes forget our connection to the Universal Mind, or “Infinite Intelligence” (as it was referred to by Napoleon Hill).  You know the feelings: confusion, disorientation, and general uncertainty.  Can anything good be accomplished when the mind is in such a state?

During times of “muddled mind,” it can be helpful to recall what it was like to be a child.  In my home, we refer this to being like the "Goo" (our 8-year old daughter).  In Zen Buddhism this state of mind is referred to as Shoshin or “Beginners  Mind.” Shunryu Suzuki succinctly explained this approach in one of his talks which was compiled in  Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind .  He said, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.”

Along similar lines, in the Christian tradition we have the parable of Jesus and the little children. The Apostle Mark describes a scene in which “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” (Mark 10: 13-16)

In the words of Dragline (George Kennedy) describing Luke’s death to his prison mates at the end of Cool Hand Luke, “He was smiling. That's right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke. He was some boy.”  

So how are you going to get YOUR mind right?