The Hygiene of the Quiet Mind

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Hygiene of the Quiet Mind

11 n .1 HE Quiet Mind may be regarded as the highest product of mental ■ H ’ hygiene,” says Lord Border, the eminent physician. “This qual- ■ ity of mind’is one which is wuthin the reach of the great majority JI, of mankind who start with a modicum of capacity, and yet which

is capable of very great influence both upon its own life and upon the lives of'others. It is a quality in the mind which balances intelligence with energy and gentleness with fortitude. On this foundation a diligent search for, and a strict adherence jo, Truth builds the house. The coping stone Is control. In the course of history there have passed down to us the stories of many whose minds have shown this quality. When you have heard my brief selection you will perhays say, ‘lt was character these men and women had.’

“Well, I admit that the Quiet Mind, as I portray it, bulks very largely in the attribute to which we give this name. Confucius seems to have been of this nature. A statesman asked for a hint on the art of governing. The Master replied: ‘Set the example of diligent toil.’ Asked for a further hint, he said, ‘Be patient and untiring.’

“The prophet Isaiah must have radiated this particular quality if we maj judge from his recorded utterances Witness his advice to Ahaz, who seemed very badly to need it: ‘Take heed and be quiet; fear not.’ As a corrective to an arrogant nation he tells them that ’their strength is to sit still.’ And to his own'people: ’ln quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’

“He regards ‘quietness and assurance’ as the best end-results of a right ecus life. The prophet Daniel clearly showed this quality: the lions recog nised it; animals do. Paul of Tarsus must have had a bitter struggle to attain what degree of the Quiet Mind he eventually achieved. But he gave the Thessalonians a piece of advice which at least shows us what he thought of its value. ’Study to be quiet and to do your own business,’ he said, and there could be no better text to govern mental hygiene....

“The apostle Mark, in his matter-of-fact way, explains that the reason

Jesus bade the disciples to ‘come into a desert place' was because ‘there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure.’...

“There are many ways of attempting an escape from the rigours attaching to mental hygiene, and there are many ways of escaping the responsibilities of using our minds in the service of others....

“An Individual, or a group, may excuse himself, or themselves, from participation in what may, and not without reason, be called a dog-fight in which others are engaged. But in most, though not in all, .dog-fights there is an un-der-dog, and this is a point that is so often conveniently overlooked. ‘But who is my neighbour?’ ... ’A certain man . . . fell among thieves.’ “A nation may preserve an isolationist attitude on the ground that a landslide in international probity elsewhere is sufficiently remote to excuse expression of non-approval. But if a stand for integrity in international dealings is only made when it is clearly seen that the vested interest of that nation is directly and immediately concerned, the momentum gained by another nation that finds no opposition to methods of ‘violence and illegitimacy’ may have become irrestible. .

“Any force is strong whose enemy is weak. That is what makes dictators strong. They are negative forces; they batten on the weakness of others. ‘For this reason they are essentially transitory—which does not necessarily mean that their stay will be short’

“What a disservice we shall be doing to the future if our children, who will form it, reflect the unquiet of our own minds. We dare not escape this individual responsibility of mental discipline and of the attainment of the Quiet Mind.

“None of us can remain spiritually isolationist; none of us in this country has, thank God; but our maintenance of the Quiet Mind is unfortunately conditioned, especially just now. by things as they are in the world. . “All the more vital is it that we should hold on to the spiritual values, and harbour them, not in ‘the old unquiet breast,’ but in a mind that strives all the more for ‘plainness and clearnesss without shadow of stain,’ because these values have gone temporarily awry elsewhere."