A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
RIGHT EFFORT Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States
Whatever a person frequently
thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their
mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders unhealthy states, one
has abandoned healthy states to cultivate unhealthy states, and then
one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19)
Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts
the mind, and strives to restrain the arising of unarisen unhealthy
mental states. One restrains the arising of the unarisen hindrance of
restlessness. (MN 141)
Reflection
We all have the
capacity for restlessness, especially as inhabitants of a culture that
seems to thrive on it. We are so often encouraged to multitask, to
spread our awareness so widely that, like spilled water, it gets
increasingly thin. This tendency can be resisted by exercising some
restraint. It requires not giving in to the forces that seek to pull us
off center and preserving the experience of inner calm and composure.
Daily Practice
Resist the
arising of restlessness by cultivating a more focused and peaceful way
of inhabiting your world. Don’t jump at everything that demands your
attention, don’t allow your awareness to be hijacked by random events,
and protect your mindfulness as a sentry might guard a gate. It takes
effort to preserve a sense of inner serenity—not the kind of effort that
tries harder but that stays centered and is not pulled off balance.
Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Body and Abiding in the First Jhāna One week from today: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States
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The
way we do anything can reflect the way we do everything. It’s useful to
see whether our lives outside of meditation practice are congruent with
our lives as we sit.