Graf & our body as a vast tool for understanding the effect of our emotions - Simple Awareness Isn't Tiring at All

The insight below from Doug McGill coincides w/ comments from Shelly Graf on Wed, Jun 18:

 

"Thich Nhat Hahn encourages the slow, slow, slow step, step, step of  'steady intentionality' which itself is a kind of right effort...it is wisdom embodied in the body, in stepping, in breathing.

 

Shelly: "Quoting from Sharon Salzberg's chapter on Faith in 'A Heart as Wide as the World'.. Shelly reminds us the practice requires trust, or as Salzberg describes it: requires faith...not the faith of mindless obeisance to doctrine but faith in our steady personal experience and steady attention to our bodies and thoughts and feelings...through awareness. 

Also becoming aware moment by moment of our emotions, our emotional state (taking responsibility for our emotions.

 

 

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. June 20, 2025   Simple awareness isn't tiring at all. It's not about exerting yourself, it's about being steady. The Buddha said the energy of right effort is "ar- dent and resolute." Try to bring forth these qualities while remaining com- pletely relaxed, steady, and calm.   To subscribe to The DailyTejaniya, click here.     To support Sayadaw's freely- given teachings, click here.  Sayadaw's website is here. Wisdom's  Roar compiles quotes and resources.  Photography by Tuck Loon Hor  An archive of The Daily Tejaniya since 2015 is here. The editor's website is www.dougmcgill.com. Queries: doug@dougmcgill.com  Unsubscribe

Hugh Byrne - May 19, 2024 - on Equanimity

Summary of May 19, 2024 Live Session: Dear Friends. It was good to be with you today for our Live session. The theme was ‘Cultivating equanimity in the face of life’s eight worldly winds.’ Here are some of the main themes, poems, and quotes from today’s session:

I began by reviewing some of the main themes from our last session, including: 

• The important role that equanimity plays within the Buddha’s teachings as one of the four heart practices (brahma viharas, or ‘divine abodes’): loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity; and as the seventh of the ‘awakening factors’—qualities that lead us to freedom and the end of suffering: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. 

• How with equanimity, the mind can become our greatest friend, rather than a source of suffering for us—and can allow us to meet life’s ‘ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows,’ with a balanced and steady mind that is free of clinging and resistance.

I highlighted a central Buddhist teaching on equanimity, called the Lokavipatti Sutta, or ‘Discourse on the failings of the world.’ In this teaching, the Buddha taught that the world is beset by eight worldly conditions: pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame, and fame and disrepute. These conditions, also known as the ‘eight worldly winds,’ affect everyone, even the Buddha. But not everyone suffers in the face of these conditions. 

The Buddha explained the difference between the response of a run-of-the-mill person and a dedicated follower of the Buddha’s teachings. The former, without training, tends to cling to the pleasant—gain, praise, pleasure, and fame—and resist what most people see as negative conditions—pain, loss, blame, and disrepute. In resisting life as it is, they experience contraction and suffering. 

The trained follower of the dharma also experiences these conditions but does not cling to the pleasant, nor resist the unpleasant or difficult, and hence, does not suffer. They see the impermanence of all things and find peace in the midst of the joys and the sorrows of life. 

There is not any problem in enjoying pleasant experiences or changing difficult or unpleasant ones where it’s wise to do so. The ‘problem’ arises when we cling to how we want things to be and resist life as it is. For example, if we experience pain and can open to how it feels, letting it come and go and knowing its impermanence, it may still be difficult, but we are not adding resistance to the experience. When we resist, we add a ‘second arrow’ of suffering to the first arrow of pain.  As the aphorism goes, ‘pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.’

We find peace in the midst of life’s pleasures and pains when we open to our experience just as it is—to all that is arising in the body, heart, and mind, without resistance. In the words of Dorothy Hunt, “Peace is this moment without judgment // This moment in the heart space // Where everything that is is welcome.”

We can also cultivate equanimity in meditation--and in daily life--using phrases such as: “Breathing in, I calm my body… Breathing out, I calm my mind… May I be balanced. May I be at peace…  May I learn to see the arising and passing of all things with equanimity and balance. May I be open and balanced and peaceful…”  (These phrases are taken from Jack Kornfield’s book, The Art of Forgiveness, Loving-kindness, and Peace.)

Poems and quotes I shared include:

• A story of Ajahn Chah saying of a cup he liked to drink from, ‘I see this cup as already broken.’ So when it breaks or cracks, there is no suffering. It is simply the impermanence of life. 

• William Blake’s poem Eternity: “He who binds to himself a joy // Does the winged life destroy // He who kisses the joy as it flies // Lives in eternity’s sunrise.”  

• The comparison of equanimity to a mountain that experiences rain, hail, sleet and snow, but remains unmoved: “Just as a rocky mountain is not moved by storms, so sights, sounds, tastes, smells, contacts and ideas, whether desirable or undesirable, will never stir one of steady nature, whose mind is firm and free.” (Anguttara Nikaya)

• And a verse from early Buddhist awakened nuns: 

“If your mind becomes firm like a rock

and no longer shakes

In a world where everything is shaking

Your mind will be your greatest friend

and suffering will not come your way.”

Wishing you a good week ahead and I’ll see you next on Sunday, June 9 at 9am eastern time—I’ve uploaded some new live sessions that should be on the Insight Timer app in the coming days. Warmly, Hugh

Practice

He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king. ~ John Milton

Milarepa on the nature of Mind and Death

In horror of death, I took to the mountains.
Again and again, I meditated on the uncertainty of the hour of death,
Capturing the fortress of the deathless, unending nature of mind.
Now all fear of death is over and done.

-- Milarepa

Awareness practice is like any other skill-building activity. It is not meant to be casual, or occasional, or reserved for only when convenient.     - Les Kaye, "The Time is Now"

All the “spills” we create—not just with our hands but in the ocean of personal relationships as well—begin in our own mind. Distracted by the many things we have to do in a brief time, our attention wanders away from taking care of the activity in front of it, becoming concerned instead for finishing the task as quickly as it can so it can move on to another item on its list of priorities. Giving in to distraction, we give up caring about the activity we are doing. And in a subtle but real way, when we do that we also give up caring about our self, about the value of the effort we are making with our life.

Perhaps like never before, a major concern these busy and stressful days is for the lack of time—time to do everything that needs to be done, to do it “on time,” and to do it in a quality way. But the real problem for us is not about the scarcity of time— which we can, after all, learn to manage through a variety of strategies. Instead, the real source of suffering is the feeling that “I must get on to something else; this activity is taking too much time.” When we have this attitude, we really don’t know what we are doing—our mind is somewhere else, not focused on what it earlier decided it needs to take care of. If we don’t know what we are doing, how can we be our self? If our mind is somewhere else, it means we are trying to be someone else, not who we are in the present moment. However, by practicing awareness, we can train ourselves to respond to distractions in a positive way and increase our capacity to give full attention to the task or relationship before us.

The quiet, empty space of zazen reveals the mind’s addiction to imagining the future and reminiscing about the past. It helps us understand how dwelling in a time other than the present starts to churn the ego: anxieties arise, desires become distractions, and to do things well is nearly impossible. But when there is no idea of time, there are no expectations, and desires do not become a problem.

Meditation teaches us to be wary of allowing ideas of time to interfere with our activity. Through experience, we discover how not to lose our self, but instead to be fully engaged in the “doing” of whatever it is we decided that we must do. Awareness practice is like any other skill-building activity. It is not meant to be casual, or occasional, or reserved for only when convenient.

By setting aside ideas of how productive or efficient we are in our use of time, we can take time to take care of ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Meditation is the best way to “manage” time, the best way to prevent spills. Spilling something and making a mess can be a signal that we are too concerned about time and all the things we have to do. Developing the skill to recognize that we are distracted and to return the mind to awareness of the present moment enables us to appreciate our self in all activities.

From Joyously Through the Days by Les Kaye, © 2011. Reprinted with permission of Wisdom Publications.

The Power of Presence

Presence has no measurable product except positive feelings, feelings of support, intimacy, and happiness. When we stop being busy and productive and switch to just being still and aware, we ourselves will also feel support, intimacy, and happiness, even if no one else is around.

-- Jan Chozen Bays, "The Gift of Waiting"

When we are forced to wait, say in a traffic jam, our instinct is to do something to distract ourselves from the discomfort of waiting. We turn on the radio, call or text someone on the phone, or just sit and fume.   Practicing mindfulness while waiting helps people find many small moments in the day when they can bring the thread of awareness up from where is lies hiding in the complex fabric of their lives.   Waiting, a common event that usually produces negative emotions, can be transformed into a gift, the gift of free time to practice. The mind benefits doubly: first, by abandoning negative mind-states, and second, by gaining the beneficial effects of even a few extra minutes of practice woven into the day.

As you undertake this practice, you learn to recognize early the body changes that accompany impending negative thoughts and emotions such as impatience about having to wait, or anger about “that idiot” ahead of us in the checkout line.   Each time we are able to stop and not allow a negative mind-state to come to fruition (say, getting irritated at the traffic or angry at the slow cashier), we are erasing a habitual and unwholesome pattern of the heart/mind.   If we don’t let the cart of the mind keep running down the same deep ruts, down the same old hill, into the same old swamp, eventually the ruts will fill in. Eventually our habitual states of irritation and frustration over something like waiting will dissolve.  It takes time, but it works.  And it’s worth it, as everyone around us will benefit.
Many of us have a mind that measures self-worth in terms of productivity. If I did not produce anything today, if I did not write a book, give a speech, bake bread, earn money, sell something, buy something, get a good grade on a test, or find my soul mate, then my day was wasted and I am a failure. We give ourselves no credit for taking “being” time, for just being present. “Waiting” is thus a source of frustration. Think of the things I could be getting done! 

And yet, if you asked the people you care about what they would like most from you, their answer is likely to be some version of “your presence” or “your loving attention.” Presence has no measurable product except positive feelings, feelings of support, intimacy, and happiness. When we stop being busy and productive and switch to just being still and aware, we ourselves will also feel support, intimacy, and happiness, even if no one else is around. These positive feelings are a product that is much desired but that cannot be bought. They are the natural result of presence. They are a birthright that we have forgotten we have.

From How to Train a Wild Elephant by Jan Chozen Bays © 2011. Reprinted with permission of Shambhala Publications.

The one who knows the better way to live alone

So the Buddha observed:

Do not pursue the past.
Do not lose yourself in the future.
The past no longer is.
The future has not yet come.
Looking deeply at life as it is,
in the very here and now,
the practitioner dwells
in stability and freedom.

We must be diligent today.
To wait until tomorrow is too late.
Death comes unexpectedly.
How can we bargain with it?
The sage calls the person who
dwells in mindfulness
night and day
'the one who knows the better way to live alone.'


from Thich Nhat Hahn in The Awakening of the Heart

Maintaining a Steady Practice

Like a Dragon in Water

What can we do when our monkey minds pull us off the cushion? Simple, says Sensei Pat Enkyo O'Hara: Just practice.

Sensei Pat Enkyo O'Hara

Now if the practice is so good for us, why is it so difficult to maintain a steady practice? It may be that the notion that practice is 'good for us' is the very impediment—we all know how we can resist what is good for us at the table, at the gym, and on the Internet. This mechanical notion of practice, 'if I practice, then I will be (fill in the blank),' leads to discouragement because it is not true that practice inevitably leads to happiness or anything that we can imagine.     - Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara, "Like a Dragon in Water"

Thinking about steadiness in practice reminds me of when I was a little girl and would swim in the great breaking waves of the Pacific coast of Baja California. The surf was ragged, and sometimes treacherous, but for those who were accustomed to its rhythms, it was possible to swim through and around the currents, to bob up from under the fiercest waves. I think a key to this ability was sensing that one was part of the ocean and that to play in it was to let go into the wave, sometimes swimming under, sometimes alongside it. There were days when the ocean was utterly calm and days of wild intensity, and for a child, no matter what, there was that fish-like ease and joy of play.

Perhaps most of us enter meditation practice with the hope of finding that kind of natural joy in our lives, in the hopes of experiencing each moment fully, with the freshness of moment-to-moment awareness. And in the initial stages of our practice, many of us manage to find the quiet space that opens us to our spaciousness and spontaneous nature. Buoyed by this experience, our practice gratifies us and propels us along for a while.

And then the inevitable distraction or doubt or difficulty arises. Whether it is a subtle change in our schedule or a disturbing loss of faith, we lose our footing, drop our practice, and often completely forget for weeks at a time that we even had a meditation practice! And it is so difficult to come back, to actually stop and sit down and practice again.

We know that we should “just do it,” but our ever-subtle and tricky “monkey minds” make that “should” and that “just” infinitely difficult, even interesting, and distracting. Instead of sitting down on our cushion or going to our meditation center, we think and talk and distract ourselves with all the reasons why not to do it. Or we simply “forget” to practice.

Now if the practice is so good for us, why is it so difficult to maintain a steady practice? It may be that the notion that practice is “good for us” is the very impediment—we all know how we can resist what is good for us at the table, at the gym, and on the Internet. This mechanical notion of practice, “if I practice, then I will be (fill in the blank),” leads to discouragement because it is not true that practice inevitably leads to happiness or anything that we can imagine. Our lives, like the ocean, constantly change, and we will naturally face great storms and dreary lulls.

How, then, to put our minds in a space where practice is always there, whether tumultuous or in the doldrums? It requires a completely radical view of practice: practice is not something we do; it is something we are. We are not separate from our practice, and so no matter what, our practice is present. An ocean swimmer is loose and flows with the current and moves through the tide. When tossed upside-down in the surf, unable to discern which way is up and which is down, the natural swimmer just lets go, breathing out, and follows the bubbles to the surface.

And so it can be with our practice. Seeing our practice as our life, we just let go and do it. We just practice a steadiness in our daily meditation. Without expectations of any kind, we just practice, day in and day out, through the high points and the low. “I really doubt this practice is helping me. Okay, still, it is time to sit, right through this doubt.” Or, “Oh, I didn’t sit all week! Okay, right now I’ll sit for twenty minutes.” And each time we come back to our practice, we experience it as more inherent to our life. Maezumi Roshi, based in Los Angeles, would often use the Spanish expression for “little by little” to indicate this patient quality of practice: “Being one with the practice, you are transformed, poco a poco.”

This understanding of our practice is expressed by the great thirteenth-century Japanese Zen teacher Dogen, when he says that our meditation practice “is not step-by-step meditation; it is simply the dharma gate of peace and joy. It is the practice-enlightenment of the Ultimate Way....When you grasp this, you are like a dragon in water, or a tiger in the mountains.” ▼

If you liked this article, you might be interested to know that Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara is currently leading an online Tricycle retreat throughout the month of May. Watch her first dharma talk and ask her a question here.

Sensei Pat Enkyo O’Hara is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Maezumi Roshi’s White Plum Sangha and received dharma transmission from Bernie Glassman. She is a founding teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order.                     

Image from a blog titled 'Water Dissolves Water'   

The mind is restless

The mind is restless, unsteady,
hard to guard, hard to control.
Wise is the one who makes it straight
like a fletcher straightens an arrow.

It is good to rein in the mind,
which is unruly, capricious, rushing wherever it pleases.
A mind so harnessed will bring one happiness.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you
as much as your own unguarded thoughts.
A well-directed mind creates more happiness
Than even the loving actions of a parent.

Shakyamuni Buddha

-from Water Dissolves Water, a blog