Samatvam

[Guest guest]

Thanks for that great post Robert! Hey, can I borrow some of your Samatvam? :-).

Love

Harsha

Skyeryder

[skyeryder (AT) email (DOT) msn.com]Tuesday, September 05, 2000

8:28 PM Subject:

Samatvam

Samatvam Even Mindedness To always be even-minded,

regardless of the circumstances, is not an easy thing to do. Samatvam

seems not to be our nature, but if we work to cultivate this virtue

our lives are sure to be more peaceful and pleasant. The first

requirement is that we not allow ourselves to be caught in the web of

names and form (napa rupa). Seeing life as a constant changing process

one begins to accept pleasure and pain, fear and courage, joy and

\sadness and all aspects of life with increasing equanimity and

balance. “Anakula” is the Sanskrit term for a mind that

is free of disturbance. As insight deepens, wisdom and compassion

arise. We begin to see more clearly the totality of life’s

experiences.

No matter how good we may feel, that good felling will end. No matter

how sad we may feel, that sad feeling will end. “Shanti”

is Sanskrit for peace, the peace that Jesus described as “the

peace that passes all understanding.” Shanti cannot be

analyzed, it is just IS when it IS. Shanti can be a powerful

mantram… breathe in “shahn…; breathe out

“tee” … Shanti. Shanti with each breath in and each

breath out can bring you a comfortable calmness. It works quite well

as sitting and lying in bed waiting for sleep. It is good to start

your day with a few minutes of shanti.

Ashanti is the absence of peace, hence grief, worry, anxiety, anything

that disturbs your mind. When we truly look at ourselves –

yikes! – on all levels, when we look at our lives and into our

lives realistically, when we see others without bias, prejudice or

jealousy, it is easy to develop samatvam – even mindedness. We

see that everything follows the law of nature, the rising and the

falling, the appearance and the disappearance, birth and death.

Ashavara is “pleasant mindedness.” These three mind states

flow into one another, they are all aspects of the Spiritual Mind.

They allow us to make informed acceptance and informed rejection of

our thoughts. For example, when at college, we put a drop of sugar in

a petri dish of amoebas, all amoebas quickly scooted toward the sugar.

Then we put a drop of vinegar in another dish and all the amoebas

moved away from it. The amoebas consist of organic living material,

we are made of the same stuff. We move towards comfort and pleasure

and away from discomfort and displeasure. In today’s parlance,

the Buddha would say “Don’t go there!” Keep an even

mind.

When a loved one dies we feel sadness and grief. We miss the familiar.

We may begin obsessing: “I should have been more

considerate…I ought to have been more loving…I wish I

had… I wish I hadn’t…I ought to have…I ought

not to have.”

An uncontrolled mind will take us on many trips and lead us down blind

and darkened alley ways. The trips do not change a thing! we accept

the pain and sadness, then move away from it. All the obsessing in

the world is not going to change things. There is no way to escape

what is happening, no way to avoid it. It is futile to try to

manipulate life so that it is always pleasant. We cannot expect to be

comfortable all the time. Life is irritating some times… but,

life is also wonderful at times. Accept the moment to moment stuff,

whether it is pleasure or pain with an even mind, then move on. Do

not try to hold on to either, it is not worth the effort. Accept it

with samatvam, anakula, ashavara… an even, undisturbed,

pleasant mind, and you will find your peace. Let the disturbing

thoughts pass as a thunderstorm in the dark night, the sun will rise

again. Let the pleasant thoughts pass like a soft cloud in a clear

blue sky…they always do, you know.

Smiles… Robert/Gator – slightly submerged and watching the

cotton balls floating in the

sky.// All paths go

somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights, perceptions,

and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of

Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It

is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the

Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of

Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into It Self.

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