Sublime

Rather than noticing the differences between oneself and others, the meditator trains him- or herself to notice the similarities.

How do you keep going in your efforts toward change, when immediate success is not in sight, when you’re awfully tired, when you’re frustrated? Do you have a refuge in something bigger than the current circumstance? Where can we connect to something larger than what’s in our immediate experience, larger than the small-minded views the world may be

A practice needs commitment, discipline, and an intention to take some time just for ourselves.

You can be with, watch, and take interest in the thing instead of immediately reacting to it. You also develop compassion for yourself and for others, realizing how hard it can be to maintain a measure of equanimity amidst the torrent of thoughts, feelings, and urges that occur during just fifteen minutes of formal meditation, let alone a decades-l

We can choose not to make an enemy of our feelings, as intense as they may be. Instead, we can expand our awareness and allow those feelings to come up. And we can allow them to move and shift. That space brings the wisdom that keeps us from getting lost in immediate reactivity. That freedom is the essence of equanimity.

Buddhist mindfulness practices, on the other hand, taught me to simply open and allow the changing stream of experience to move through me. When a harsh self-judgment appeared, I could recognize it simply as a passing thought. It might be a tenacious and regular visitor, but realizing it wasn’t truth was wonderfully liberating.