RIGHT EFFORT
Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
Whatever a person frequently
thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of their mind.
If one frequently thinks and ponders upon unhealthy states, one has
abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then one’s
mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19)
Abandoning ill will, one abides with a mind free from ill will,
compassionate for the welfare of all living beings; one purifies the
mind of ill will. (MN 51) Just as a person who had been bound in prison
would get free of prison, so would one rejoice and be glad about the
abandoning of ill will. (DN 2)
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Ill will, along
with its synonyms hatred and aversion, can be likened to a disease from
which we need to recover. It roils the mind like the boiling of water,
preventing us from seeing clearly what arises in the mind, unlike water
that is calm and therefore reflective of whatever stands before it. Here
ill will is compared with being in prison: hatred has a way of trapping
the mind and denying it the freedom it is capable of when unbound.
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When ill will
comes up in your mind, abandon it. Just let it go. Anger and hatred are
only sustained if we feed them. Since all mental and emotional states
are transient, we need simply to allow them to pass through the mind
unhindered. Normally we ruminate on what someone said or did and thereby
sustain and amplify our ill will. Instead, watch ill will come up,
notice that it is unhelpful and unhealthy, and let it go.
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Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna
One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States
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