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.
Whatever a person frequently thinks about and ponders, that will become the inclination of their mind. If one frequently thinks about and ponders healthy states, one has abandoned unhealthy states to cultivate healthy states, and then one’s mind inclines to healthy states. (MN 19)
Here a person rouses the will, makes an effort, stirs up energy, exerts the mind, and strives to maintain arisen healthy mental states. One maintains the arisen awakening factor of joy. (MN 141)
Reflection
Maintaining healthy mental and emotional states that have arisen in experience sometimes takes effort. It is worthwhile effort, because the mind will incline in the future toward whatever states are most often manifesting in the present. By sustaining healthy states as often as you can for as long as possible, you are not only blocking unhealthy states but creating the conditions for a healthier mind in the future.
Daily Practice
When you are joyful in a healthy way, find ways to sustain that joy. One way to do that, when the joy comes from noticing the good fortune of another, is to remind yourself of it continuously. Repeating to yourself phrases like “May they be happy” and “May their good fortune continue” is a simple way to reinforce the basis upon which the joy is established. Remember, it is good for you to feel joy, so cultivate it as much as you can.
Tomorrow: Establishing Mindfulness of Mental Objects and the Fourth Jhāna One week from today: Restraining Unarisen Unhealthy States
Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media #DhammaWheel
True compassion just does what needs to be done because it’s the only thing to do—just because it’s natural and ordinary, like smoothing your pillow at night.
Roshi Joan Halifax, “The Wooden Puppet and the Iron Man”