Nursing a Pure and Steadfast Awareness

The first verses of the Dhammapāda tell us that everything we say and do is coloured by our state of mind just as the wheels of the cart follow the ox that pulls it. Virtue protects us not only from the seductive influence of sights, sounds, smells, and tastes but also the subtle undertow of craving, memory, obsessive thought, and idle musing that brew in consciousness.

Whatever ethical code we espouse–whether five, eight, ten precepts or more than two hundred monastic training rules–consistency and single-pointedness from beginning to end are essential. Any slack in these may hinder and cause us to turn back or go astray.

However sincere our commitment to mindful and harmless living, it does not preclude human error. There will be times when our choices are unwise and we unwittingly cause distress. Yet we learn from this: seeing the root of pain, how to avoid it, and the peril even of minor neglect or transgression. Now, more than ever, we resolve not to risk the slightest harm to anyone.

Still, merely conforming to ethical rules and conventions, sitting in meditative postures, notching up attendance at retreats, and appearing calm and composed will not make us immune to dark thoughts and feelings – and their paralyzing effects.

We must practise reining in the wandering mind to uproot unskillful tendencies. To discard such mental habits is not loss. As with moral commitment, its restraining action bears fruit. Less free to dissipate our energy in following desire, we nurse a pure and steadfast awareness.

In this silence of the mind, concentration–rightly called the axle of our vehicle–and wisdom deepen. Such a mind–open and still–is also stable, tolerant, and resilient and no pawn to desire, aggression, weariness, or doubt. Armed with equanimity, it steers us safely through the perils of our pilgrimage.

We know and see reality as it is, not just when we meditate but in everything we do.

This reflection by Ayyā Medhānandī Bhikkhunī is from the book Gone Forth, Going Beyond, (pdf) pp. 22-23.