The protected and guarded mind
leads to ease of being.
Though subtle, elusive and hard to see,
one who is alert should tend and watch over this mind.
Dhammapada v. 36
When we watch over this heart/mind we cultivate inner light. When light in our outer world is dim, we are inclined to trip over things. Perhaps we mistake a piece of rope for a snake and run away in a completely unnecessary panic. A lack of inner illumination similarly causes us to react in crazy ways, destroying our heart’s natural sense of ease. It is because we don’t see states of mind clearly that we react and make things worse. For example, perhaps we feel hurt by something which happened years ago and have dwelt on bitterness ever since because we didn’t see the truth of our reaction.
Forgiveness is not a synthetic virtue with which to paste over our bruises. Although the memory of what happened might remain, we always have the choice of whether or not to invest that memory with resentment. This practice is subtle and hard to see but it is worth the effort.
With Metta,
Bhikkhu Munindo
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