Sadhana 3 - Maintain Equanimity

Sadhana for Week 3

Mind - Maintain Equanimity.

Count each day how many times you lost equanimity & note it

Quote:

Let not the storms of your heart cover the Sun in your head.

Don’t be depressed in autumn and elated in spring

Anecdote:

United Nations conferred an award on Poojya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda for his contribution towards empowering lives with Knowledge and Peace.  He was not able to receive it as his itinerary was already planned well in advance.  The award was in the form of a citation and it was received by some members of Chinmaya Mission Chennai.  Some CHYKs (Chinmaya Yuva Kendra Members)from Chennai were coming to Mumbai. So the citation was sent with them.  The CHYKs arrived in a train to Dadar station and took a cab to Powai ashram.  In excitement to meet Poojya Gurudev, they left a bag in the taxi. Poojya Gurudev welcomed them with a lot of love.  The CHYKs said that they have brought the citation of the UN given to them by the elders to give it to Poojya Gurudev.  Suddenly they realized that the bag in which it was kept, was left  in the taxi.  They were very embarrassed and thought that Poojya Gurudev would get angry.  When they informed Poojya Gurudev, he laughed it off and enquired - “You lost your bag. Do you have enough clothes and money for your stay?”   Neither was he elated on receiving such a prestigious award from the UN, nor sad/angry on losing it.  Om SamabuddhayeNamah

How to?

Maintain Equanimity means don’t get very excited and don’t get very depressed.  Our moods tend to swing and can be quite extreme, like a pendulum swinging from one end to another.  Equanimity is to reduce the oscillations and maintain a peaceful balanced frame of mind.

Count each day how many times you lost equanimity & note it.  This will make us aware of the oscillations and this awareness itself will reduce the oscillations. 

When the mind is getting excited or depressed remember that “Even this will pass..” and it will help to regain balance.

Watch the video of Swami Chinmayananda on Equanimity - Click here.  http://youtu.be/Z6qgyOde7PY

What to do when we are disturbed?

PAUSE:  You can use any of the following or our own methods to stop, pause and think prior to the response.

•       Deep breathing (10 times)

•       Repeat a mantra fast mentally

•       Drink a glass of cold water

•       Move away from the situation

•       Sleep over it

Identifying why one loses equanimity:

·         Identify the trigger mechanism that sets you off. All of us have a set of values that we are most attached to eg: respect, love, acceptance, etc If any one of these values is denied that is when we lose our control over our emotions. Identifying the trigger is the 1st step. Most of us are not even aware of our triggers.
 

·         Taking things personally: Sometimes we take certain things very personally and feel hurt.  Example: if my idea is rejected, I feel rejected. 
If my son does not listen to me, I feel hurt that he didn’t listen to ME.  Taking things functionally and impersonally is a great help to maintain equanimity. 
If someone is upset and gets angry, understand that It could be they are having a very bad morning, or problems at home, or perhaps they don’t understand the issue very well. Don’t take it personally. 
 

·         Learn to distinguish between facts and opinions. Ask yourself if something that you are thinking is a fact or an opinion/assumption.
 

·         Acknowledge that these feelings are temporary. Don’t over react and blow them out of proportion. Tell yourself – even this will pass! It is just a phase, nothing is constant.

·         Learn to Forgive: Greater the attachment, greater the anger. Learn to let go, to forgive and to move on. Holding onto petty grudges and ego issues will only increase the agitation within and resolve nothing.

Benefits:

1.    Heathier Body : Lower emotional reactivity keeps our blood sugars lower and fewer stress chemicals circulating in our bloodstream. Higher reactivity wreaks havoc and causes unnecessary inflammation and physiological harm. 

2.    Stronger Mind : When the mind is calm, intellect is sharp and our decisions are rational, right and rewarding.  A mind at rest is a temple of joy.  By being mindful of our thoughts and feelings we are controlling our responses to experiences that are brought into our life through the various stimuli.

3.    Master of your destiny: We are in charge of our life. It is always our choice how we react to what others say or do, or to circumstances in our lives.

                                                                                                                                     “Don’t leave the key of your happiness in someone else’s pocket”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                              - Swami Chinmayananda

4.    Meditation:  A balanced mind is far more meditative and contemplative.  It can ‘see’ the Changeless Truth within rather than getting carried away with the changing world.  Still waters reflect the sun clearly and brilliantly.

Beginners and Advanced:

Beginners: Be aware of how many times you lost the equanimity and see if you can reduce the count by using the steps to PAUSE. 

Advanced seeker :

1.    Be aware of how many times you lost the equanimity and see if you can reduce the count by using the steps to PAUSE. 

2.    Find out the cause of the disturbance using the section “Identifying why one loses equanimity”

3.    If you cross 5 times a day, then deny yourself something you really love and that is difficult for you to keep away from, for example “no mobile phone for X hours” and promise yourself you will remain peaceful during this time. 

                                                                                                                    UNTO HIM OUR BEST