Saturday, July 20, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Effort: Abandoning Arisen Unhealthy States

 


TRICYCLE      COURSE CATALOG      SUPPORT      DONATE
RIGHT EFFORT
Abandoning Arisen 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 the unhealthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to unhealthy states. (MN 19)

Abandoning sluggishness, one abides free from sluggishness; one purifies the mind of sluggishness. (MN 51) Just as a person who had been gravely ill, suffering, with no appetite and weak in body, would recover from that illness and regain their strength, so would one rejoice and be glad about the abandoning of sluggishness. (DN 2)
Reflection
Some mental and emotional states drag us down into suffering and obstruct our ability to see things clearly, and some states move us away from suffering and enhance our ability to see what is really going on. Sluggishness is unhealthy—not wrong or bad but unhelpful to the project of understanding and diminishing suffering. Whenever it arises, it is worth making an effort to abandon it by stirring up and applying some energy.

Daily Practice
Focus your attention on that moment when you recognize you are sleepy or lazy or otherwise feeling sluggish and counter it with an upsurge of energy, whether physical or mental. There is a transition point at which the mental state of sluggishness is met with the mental state of energy, and your experience is thereby transformed. Learning to be aware of such nuances in experience is the essence of mindfulness practice.

Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Feeling and Abiding in the Second Jhāna
One week from today: Developing Unarisen Healthy States

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions?
Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.



Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning.

© 2024 Tricycle Foundation
89 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

No comments:

Post a Comment