Virtue Equanimity
Saboteur Anxious
If you are riding on a wave of life, you can be sure there is another one to follow.
Equanimity is a state of being where joy spontaneously arises within us. This can happen even in a very dark moment. This feeling of joy is not experienced as happiness, you know what I mean like, relief, giddiness, yummy. Joy is more like contentment, it’s enough. The feeling of having being satiated. It’s hard to understand that we can feel this way even if we are on the losing end of something.
To get to equanimity we must practice mindfulness. We hear this term a lot these days. When we’re not being mindful we’re being mindless. Mindfulness and equanimity are experienced intuitively. I realize people intellectualize these ideas. There’s much talk about consciousness, the nature of consciousness, super consciousness and so on. This is all good, of course, but attaining the state of equanimity is an intuitive experience. Let me explain.
If you had never read a book about consciousness or attended any seminar about it you could still attain a higher level of consciousness than you have right now. As we get quiet in our inner world we can sense that there is peace in there. We sense that fears and regrets are like giant boulders in front of the door to our heart. Sensing the boulders and sensing the peaceful heart is all you really need to know. It’s there, yes it is, peacefulness. You know it is. You strive for it. You study about it, you meditate on it. Obviously its there.
You already know that hard fast opinions disrupt your peace, yet you still listen to hard fast news shows. You know that gossip spins your emotions and yet there we are participating. You already know that hurling insults at other drivers only escalates the situation. You already know that an ounce of patience will keep a pound of regret out of your life. You already know that peace is inherent and you already know that we avoid it. Why is that anyway?
Bad habits is all. Really, the secret to a good life is to know that the mind is made of habits. Some of these habits are hundreds of years old. Some habits are very good
and some of them are very bad. So there’s no sense in thinking you’re bad because you have some bad habits to uplift, because you’re not bad, only the habits are bad. You already know this too. Its not a very well guarded secret. We just think its going to be a lot of work to change and even if we do the work, then those with the bad habits may win everything and all we end of with is peace anyway. Huh? Weird but true.
Peace or equanimity is the place within you where you’re at your strongest. This is the place where you will always make your best decisions and where you will cultivate the best memories. It’s always easier to live mindfully than to live anxiously and mindlessly. The only hard part is parting ways with our bad habits.
Use your intuition and follow its sage advice. The next time it tells you, “This isn’t a good idea,” try listening and following your own sagacity. Use your intuition as your best friend, your guardian and inspiration. Be of the heart, be wise and true to your own humanity. Listen and obey your own conscience.