So,
Good morning everyone.
Today is the fifth day of doing these talks on the seven factors of awakening.
And today we come to the fifth factor.
Usually it's called or it's translated as tranquility.
So the factors that lead up to this fifth one.
Mindfulness,
Getting here,
The activity of investigation,
Seeing what is here,
The activity of effort,
Choosing to stay with the body,
The breath,
The activity of even the joy of yes to these experiences,
Yes to what's here.
All of these first four factors,
They begin to quiet us down.
And so many,
So much of these factors come as we learn just to be mindful,
Just to see what's here.
It's kind of like making breathing room for whatever the experience is.
When we're not actively,
You know,
Activating the mind or continually just being busy and planning.
There's a natural calming.
And at some point that the calming of the system gets experienced as a very deep tranquility and ease.
It can be experienced sometimes like medicine,
Something that's kind of healing that spreads through the body like a healing balm,
Like a peacefulness or deep ease.
So this tranquility,
This is the fifth factor of awakening.
And the word that I like to use and Mary Oliver in her poem pointed to this is the word easy.
Easy.
I can be easy with whatever's happening.
I can have ease with how things are.
I can have ease with how things are uneasy.
Sometimes I sit down to meditate and I'm uneasy about something and then I just hold it with ease.
Not making it a problem,
Not trying to fix anything.
Kind of ease into my life even open to it and let the whole system,
The whole dharmic system that we're in,
This kind of inner psychophysical system that we are,
Allow it to settle on its own.
With these factors of awakening,
There's a momentum that begins to build.
Our mindfulness is getting stronger.
The differentiation of states is becoming stronger.
Just the ability to engage right here and choose right here instead of getting lost in thought.
That's the differentiation that becomes stronger.
And then there's this sense as we become more established just here of saying yes,
Okay.
Yes,
There's goodness in just being here.
It feels good.
And then we can settle and be easy with it.
So what helps in remembering is to say this word ease or easy periodically.
Easy,
Easy.
Not like there's an agenda or an expectation but rather it's more like saying the word and making room for what responds.
You know,
Like the,
I like the image of like dropping a pebble in a pond and then seeing the rippling of the water going out where the petal,
Like the where the pebble fell.
So you sort of drop this word ease or easy into our heart,
Into our body and then make room to notice how we respond to the word.
Try it right now,
You know,
Perhaps you'll notice.
Easy,
Easy.
The struggle with uneasy lets up a little bit.
Or maybe the uneasy doesn't let up but the struggle with it does.
The reactivity to it can let up a little bit.
This Buddhist practice puts a tremendous amount of importance on being present for suffering.
So much so that we could,
You know,
There could be a bumper sticker that said I,
You know,
I stopped for suffering.
We stop for suffering.
Not so that we can suffer better.
But so that we can really work with it and address it and find ways beyond it.
Easy.
And the process that our practice offers,
It can bring a lot of joy and well being.
The path to the end of suffering includes happiness,
Joy and well being.
It includes it.
It's not all suffering all the time.
So this tranquility factor is not just a matter of relaxing,
But it's really allowing the whole system to tap into the the deeper currents of well being.
And the remarkable thing about these factors of awakening is that they're actually natural faculties within us.
They're natural capacities that are unleashed or recognized.
And they grow.
Starting with mindfulness,
They grow.
So it's not an engineering task.
It's not something that you have to do.
It's a lot about just being here,
Which is the first factor of awakening being here,
Allowing things to show themselves,
Allowing them to be here.
So the specialty of this Buddhist meditation practice is the cultivation of how we are,
How we are,
That allows us to go into the world in an effective way.
So our practice is really this cultivation of curiosity,
Of peace,
Of kindness,
Of easy so that the best parts of ourselves can act in the world for the benefit of ourselves and others.
Our daily practice is making room for this amazing goodness,
This amazing beauty that exists in each one of us.
So that's what we're doing here with these seven factors of awakening.
And next week,
We'll,
We'll complete these seven factors with concentration and equanimity.
So thank you for your your kind attention this morning.
And if you have any questions,
Now is a great time.
