John E. Coleman - The Quiet Mind

A Question of Conflict

I N all life there is conflict. A plant has to thrust its way through the soil to reach daylight, a newborn baby has to yell to fill its lungs with oxygen. A wild animal must kill to eat or go hungry: either way there is conflict for the animal. As human beings we meet it every day and in everything we do, for conflict is part of living.

And as humans we are very accomplished at providing ourselves with various forms of relaxation or diversion to help us ease up on the pressure.

Whatever form our relaxation takes we ask one of two things from it. If life has been hectic we want peace and quiet, if our routine is dull and uneventful we demand to be taken out of ourselves. We dont have to look far to satisfy these commonplace requirements, and we are not overanxious to notice just how temporary are their revitalizing effects.

What many people today want to know, and what I was determined to find out, is: can there be a condition, a pool of quiet where the active, restless mind can completely switch off, opt out of the conflict, and still remain purposeful, wholesome, communicative and creative?

In this report I have recorded my search for this condition. I have recalled the circumstances which set me off on the search, traced its progress and described its results.

Part of the mystery of the Far East lies in the fact that in that part of the world the kind of questions to which I wanted answers do not bring raised eyebrows and impatient protests of nonsense. Meditation, strange religious practices designed to free the mind, even faith in occult powers which throw light on the more obscure mental processes, are not dismissed as unfruitful areas of research.

On the contrary, I found the outlook of the people and their approach to daily life provided just the right atmosphere for my search and, probably because of the novelty of a Westerner showing an interest, many wise and respected people helped.

Not only was the atmosphere right and the people helpful, I had plenty of opportunity to follow my inquiries. My business in the Far East was import-export or, rather, that was the name it went under. I was employed as an espionage agent by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

While stationed in Bangkok under my business cover I was assigned to the Thai Ministry of the Interior as an advisor to the Thai Police Department on national security and antisubversive matters. My duties brought me into close contact with a wide range of people including senior government officials, members of royalty, civic leaders, educators, the social elite, religious leaders, professional and business people, labourers and peasants. Altogether a pretty representative section of the community, which gave me an excellent and valuable insight into Thai life and mentality.

And some of my duties involved considerable travel both inside Thailand and throughout the Far East and South East Asia, with the occasional trip to Washington for training and debriefing.