RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Equanimity
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Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on equanimity,
all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)
Equanimity succeeds when it makes attraction and aversion subside. (Vm
9.96) Having touched a sensation with the body, one is neither
glad-minded nor sad-minded, but abides with equanimity, mindful and
fully aware. (AN 6.1)
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Desire can be
plotted on a spectrum from strong attraction at one extreme through
weaker forms of favoring to first mild and then very strong forms of
aversion. At the center point of this range is equanimity, which
involves looking upon things with awareness but without positive or
negative desire (attraction or aversion). This is not indifference! It
is the ability to see clearly, without the interference of desire.
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Practice
cultivating equanimity in the attitude you take toward the physical
sensations felt in the body. We are used to favoring the good ones and
opposing the bad ones. Instead, practice regarding both in the same way:
aware that the sensation is present, but not categorizing it into liked
or disliked. Notice what it feels like to just experience the sensation
in a pure way, without the distortions imposed on the mind by desire.
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Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness
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