Oakville Zen Meditation
As far as Zen is concerned, serenity has nothing to do with some sort of blissful state where everything is peaceful, rosy, cheerful, and happiness runs 24/7. It will never happen.
Serenity is a state of mind; it appears when equanimity is achieved, and stress level under control.
It means you are able to maintain a proper emotional balance between your positive and negative feelings. It is a state of contentment, accepting Life as it is, but w/o resignation since the search for better emotional equilibrium should always remain in the mind of Zen practitioners.
The opposite of serenity can be Dukkha meaning suffering, better translated as dissatisfaction.
They are 2 ways to achieve and maintain serenity:
The first one is the practice of daily meditation during which we learn not only to experience current concrete reality as opposed to daydreaming all day long, but also to control our mind.
The second one is to manage our hindrances against serenity. There are many of them in which
our ego plays a significant role as an inducer.
Many of them are causing stress, the nemesis of equanimity.
Here is a short list in non specific order that you hopefully know already.
1 The 3 poisons of suffering as defined by the Buddha himself:
Desire, Aversion, Ignorance (Illusion/ Delusion) I will elaborate later.
2 Attachment to whatever, whoever,
3 Mind-made hindrances are numerous: 7 here.
>>Not being able to differentiate realities from fictional worlds mostly mind-made.
>>Yo-Yo emotional rollercoaster: made of ongoing up and down excessive positive and negative
feelings triggered by trivial factors.
>>Over-thinking which is usually ego-driven, such as:
>> Information / data overloading is becoming a major cause of chronic stress.
>>Wrong thinking such as delusion / illusions already mentioned such as:
“I am in control”. “ things will last”, “ My thoughts, beliefs, judgments are truthful”, “
I more I have, the happier I will be”, “I am an independant, separate living being”, “
Past and future exist….only on pics and calendars”, “ Life is unfair”,
>>Living too often in the past generating regrets, anger, guilt, or too much in the future causing
unrealistic expectations, and worries,
>> Poor self-image or its opposite that is being too big i.e. egomaniac.
4 Multi-tasking, and the feeling of not having enought time .
5 Lack of patience.
6 OC Disorders.
7 Believing that happiness comes from the outside rather than directly from self.
"Happiness is not how much we have but how little we need,” said the Buddha:
How to achieve and maintain serenity?
As I mention proper equilibrium between our positive and negative emotional rollercoaster requires:
1- Being mindful of our hindrances against serenity previously listed.
I.e. Peek one every day and be mindful to it when you are facing it.
2- Proper and ongoing daily meditation practice not only to learn to control our mind but also
to experience the genuine concrete reality of the moment while meditating and during the day. TY
