Most people have aspirations for peace and clarity in their lives. Most of us have many aspirations for lots of things! But it’s one thing to have an aspiration (a wish) and it’s quite another thing to actually follow through with the aspiration and reach our goal. It’s worthwhile to examine how much of a gap there is between our aspirations and our follow through. How do we close this gap?
Buddhist teachings use the Paramis (perfections of mind) as one means to close the gap between our spiritual aspirations and our follow through. They are called Paramis (meaning perfections). The Chinese characters for Parami means “crossing over to the other shore” — or in contemporary language it could be translated “Closing the Gap”. The near shore is where we are now- and the metaphor is a rocky jagged shoreline not easily travelled (metaphorically our afflictive emotions, of greed, hatred, and ignorance). The other shore is calm, smooth and easily walked (the grips of afflictive emotions of anger, anxiety and self-referencing are released).These qualities are considered perfected when they are associated with Loving-kindness, Compassion, and Letting Go (Renunciation).
The 10 Paramis are: Generosity; Virtue (Ethics); Letting Go (Renunciation); Wisdom; Effort; Patience; Truthfulness; Determination; Loving-Kindness; and Equanimity.
Parami development is motivated by the heart to reach a goal to cross to the other shore – to close the gap between our aspirations and follow through. What should we be determined about? Buddha said there were 4 focuses for Determination.
• Truthfulness. We are determined to live our lives from a place of Truthfulness. We will not deceive others (and especially ourselves) either through our speech or actions or through our silence or inaction.
• Wisdom. We are determined to seek clarity. We use reflection, asking questions, taking a moment before we speak and act to examine our intentions.
• Generosity. We are determined to practice generosity. Over and over this quality is stressed. It is the first in the Parami list. Be generous with your time, and resources.
• Peace. We are determined to live a peaceful life. We resolve not to harm other beings with our thoughts, words or actions. We will resolve conflicts whenever possible.
Determination has an energetic quality that may unsettle the mind and striving may arise. It’s important to notice this and attend to the ways the mind reacts to different states-both pleasant and unpleasant. One of the qualities that settle the mind is the quality of Contentment; both external worldly contentment and internal contentment.
Can we investigate our internal contentment? Can we be content investigating Mindfulness, Investigation, Effort, Joy, Tranquility, Concentration, and Equanimity? If not, why not? What is pulling us toward wanting, toward more pleasure, toward excitement? What’s the draw here? We should investigate this aspect of mind. In order for the mind to settle during meditation we have to be content with our meditation object.
For those of you doing concentration meditation there should be contentment with the breath, with the body, with sensations, with thoughts that arise and pull our attention away from the breath. If we’re not content with these then our minds won’t settle. Examine this for yourself. And for those doing Insight practice /Choiceless Awareness, if you are discontent when the mind wanders off into a thought and is composing the great American novel for ten minutes, then that will set the tone for your meditation.
If we’re not content with the external worldly circumstances, then that will set the tone for our meditation. This is all interconnected. If there’s judgment, anger, discontent with external circumstances then there will be internal discontent as well. Why do we get irritated with the quirkiness of people? Don’t we know by now that people are quirky? Why does the quirkiness of people irritate us? Why do we react? Why can’t we be more content? Do we need to have an opinion about everything? Or is this another trap? Things aren’t going my way so I’ll object to it! We should investigate this! Investigating external discontent bears fruit in our internal contentment. We should investigate what makes us discontented! What is behind this discontent?
Buddha said a discontented and unsettled mind arises from one of 5 mental states and called them Hindrances to a calm and concentrated mind. The Hindrances are Sense Desire, Aversion, Sloth and Torpor, Restlessness and Worry, and Doubt.
This week we will examine Determination/Resolve and Contentment. The exercise for this week is to be determined/resolved to notice the tone of our mind when we are speaking. Speech is an important way in which we interact with others. We will keep it simple and pay attention to the tone of our mind and speech. This will take determination since we often speak without much forethought. Notice whether the tone of your mind is one of contentment or one that has the tone of discontent. Maybe it is neither. Notice that too. And when it is neither, is it more like contentment or discontent? What does the experience of discontent feel like in your own direct experience? What does the tone of contentment feel like in your own direct experience? Investigate this for yourself. May you be well happy and peaceful, Floyd
