Sunday, May 15, 2022

Cultivating "Beautiful Mind" (Beth Upton)

Beth Upton (bethupton.com); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda DMB (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cultivating a beautiful mind
(Beth Upton, May 8, 2022) Here is an explanation of how to cultivate beautiful states of mind (mental factors) that mutually support one another.

What are the "beautiful states of mind"? This list from memory differs slightly from the standard list of sobhana factors. So here are the two combined.
  1. Faith (saddhā), confidence, conviction that the practice is good and beneficial.
  2. Mindfulness (sati), our ability to not forget what we're doing, not forget the meditation object, and to return our attention to it again and again.
  3. Non-craving (alobha, non-greed), our contentment of mind, our ability to let things go, to not crave and not cling.
  4. Non-hatred (adosa), our loving-kindness mind, our accepting mind.
  5. Ethical conduct, our wish not to create harm in the world for ourselves or others [manifesting as bashfulness or moral shame (hiri) and
  6. Moral dread (ottappa)].
  7. Mental balance (tatramajjhattatā, equanimity).
  8. Tranquility of mind or mental factors (kāya-passaddhi).
  9. [Tranquility of consciousness (citta-passaddhi)].
  10. Lightness or agility of mind (kāya-lahutā).
  11. [Lightness or agility of consciousness (citta-lahutā)].
  12. Softness or elasticity of mind (kāya-mudutā).
  13. Flexibility or elasticity of mental factors (citta-mudutā).
  14. Proficiency or skill or adaptability of mind (kāya-pāguññatā).
  15. [Proficiency of consciousness (citta-pāguññatā)].
  16. Uprightness of mind (kāya’ujukatā), our authenticity or congruency.
  17. [Uprightness of consciousness (citta’ujukatā)] or wisdom, our capacity to see things clearly.
  18. Compassion.
  19. Capacity to rejoice for others [mudita].
These videos are only made possible by the generous donations of viewers. Please consider supporting Beth Upton's work at bethupton.com/support-my-work or patreon.com/bethupton. Find out more about this work at bethupton.com. Shot by Alexis P.N. @GuavaFunk: m.youtube.com/user/LaffCotchTV. Contact: alexispn777@gmail.com.

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