Hello,
My name is Silas Day.
Today we will be engaging with the last of the Brahma Viharas,
Or the four sublime attitudes as I have sometimes heard them called.
Find yourself on your cushion or chair and start to notice the breath,
Or bring the attention to whatever object of meditation that you are using.
Notice the body,
Notice the floor,
Or notice the chair beneath you.
With the next out-breath,
Try and release any tension that you're holding in your eyes.
Release the shoulders,
Relax your jaw,
Let go of your forehead,
And find comfort in your back.
Find a good center,
Even if it means you need to sway a little forward and a little back.
Just listen to my voice with honest and open ears,
Seeing thoughts and sensations come and go,
But listening all the same.
This meditation done with the eyes open can be a form of concentration meditation,
And done with the eyes closed can be an investigative insight meditation.
So do what is needed in your practice.
This is a meditation on equanimity.
Equanimity is that quality of mind which is impartiality,
Neutralness,
And evenness of consideration.
It is also an aspect of both the jnana and vipassana trees of meditation,
So it is something to be thoroughly looked at and understood on our journey and practice.
The thing which keeps us from equanimity is its opposite,
Our constant reactive nature to stimuli,
Our reactive mind,
And infinite symbolic labeling.
Equanimity is that quality within our practice of existence which receives all things equally and levels all objects of attention to an equal plane without having preference for one or another.
Equanimity is directly pointed at well by the third patriarch of the zin tradition.
He says,
The great way is not difficult for those who have no preference,
And in a further line he again says,
To return to the root is to find meaning,
But to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
A mind in openness,
A mind in receptivity,
A mind that is impartial,
Has tremendous strength and skillful ease in this happening of life.
People sometimes think that equanimity is about distancing,
Pulling away from or separating yourself from the quality of arising and passing that you pierce with awareness.
This is indifference,
Which is a close enemy to equanimity.
It looks like equanimity,
But is really an escape and aspect of distancing yourself from this present awareness rather than being open and receptive to it.
So,
In this meditation today,
We will take all things as equals and use our breath to anchor our awareness,
Bringing that great power of equanimity with us and summoning that great strength of wisdom front and center.
It is a direct seeing of things,
Just as they are,
Either through direct perception or qualitative investigation.
In this practice today,
Simply sit in the space of awareness and try not to bring a preference to any aspect,
Thought,
Mood,
Mind state,
Or sensation that arises.
Just see them,
Just notice them,
Let them come and let them go.
Every now and then,
I will say a phrase to bring us back to the root of this practice.
And at the end,
There will be a bell.
This direct awareness is how things are beyond any definition or preference we apply.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
A steady breath keeps us anchored,
And still eyes keeps the mind still.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
All beings,
Including ourselves,
Ourselves are the heirs of this present infinity.
So rest and smile in just this space of awareness.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
Finding that place of balance and attainment,
A simple place of openness and evenness,
Of equanimity,
Just here,
Just now,
Among all things and places.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
One thing.
All things.
Move among and intermingle without distinction.
One voice,
One essence,
One constant moment of here and now.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
Emptiness here.
Emptiness there.
But the infinite universe stands always before your eyes,
Infinitely large and infinitely small.
No difference,
For definitions have vanished,
And no boundaries can be seen.
In this space,
Know all experience as one taste,
Not as separate instances,
But one continuous now.
Relax the face,
Find the center,
And keep the eyes still.
One thing.
All things.
With a single stroke,
We are freed from bondage.
Nothing clings to us,
And we hold to nothing.
With a single chime of the bell,
All is empty,
Clear,
Self-illuminating,
With no exertion of the mind's power.
Thank you for sitting with me today.
It truly does make me happy.
I hope you find balance,
Peace,
Concentration,
And wisdom in this moment of today,
And I hope you enjoyed sitting with me in equanimity.
This is Silas Day,
And until our next sit together.
