Revoked

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Equanimity

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Equanimity

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 is like a mother with a son who is busy with his own affairs, for she is not worried about what he does. (Vm 9.108) When a person, touching a sensation with the body, is not attached to pleasing sensations and not repelled by unpleasing sensations, they have established mindfulness and dwell with an unlimited mind. For a person whose mindfulness is developed and practiced, the body does not struggle to reach pleasing sensations, and unpleasing sensations are not considered repulsive. (SN 35.274)

Reflection

The image of a mother with a grown son is invoked to describe the quality of mind called equanimity, for we understand that she still loves and cares deeply for her son but is not invested in the superficial details of his daily activities. You can stay attentive, intimate, and deeply engaged with your affairs without being caught up in and afflicted by them. The image is one of a person who is at ease in their affairs without struggling.

Daily Practice

In working with physical sensations, as we do when we practice mindfulness of the body, the idea is to be fully aware of sensations without being attached to or repelled by them. Notice that when mindful the mind is said to be unlimited, and when it lacks mindfulness it is considered to be limited. Equanimity, the active ingredient in mindfulness, is the tool that is used to unbind the mind and set it free from aversion.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness

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Death Is the Setting Sun

Once you see that life is like the rising and setting of the sun, you will not be afraid of dying; it is like the setting of the sun.

Phra Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto, “Meet a Teacher: Phra Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto”

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