Cattāri Brahmavihārā

So far I have managed to keep up a rather good discipline with regard to my formal meditation and chanting although I missed the uposatha completely due to travelling all day (I owe a friend’s blog for reminding me that I’d missed) and was too tired to chant the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta the last two nights. So, this morning I decided to strike while the iron was hot and chant the Dhammacakka sutta before meditating.

I don’t know if it was a result of the extra chanting or simply just the freshness of the night air and the sound of the crashing surf but my sitting today actually contained some moments of concentration  More than anything else I was just happy to b able to practice and felt a sense of ease that has been pretty elusive of late. At any rate, there is definitely something to be said for discipline as keeping to my resolves as best as I can (without too much recrimination when I can’t) brightens the mind on its own without further need of reflection.

Yes, there are certainly times when chanting the sutta or sitting for 45 minutes can seem inglorious or even downright torture but, really, what ese would I be doing with the mind? Nothing good to be sure. Anyway, may we all resolve more firmly to practice the Dhamma regardless of external circumstance so that we can be as ready as possible for the moment of our death. Bhavatu sabba mangalam!

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