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Seven Factors of Awakening: Tranquility and Ease

Good day and greetings. Today is the fifth day of doing these talks on the seven factors of awakening. I'm very aware of what's happening in the world as I talk about these topics. For people who are concerned with the state of affairs in the world, it might seem that doing meditation, focusing, and becoming peaceful or at ease is counterintuitive at a time when there's so much distress, conflict, and suffering going on all around.

Actually, I think it's more needed. There are two things: what we do and how we are as we do it. The specialty of Buddhist meditation practice is to cultivate how we are—to cultivate a "how" that allows us to go back into the world in an effective way. It's no different than people on the frontline of health care or the frontline of social justice doing self-care to better be able to go out there and do the work they're doing. To eat well, to drink well, to sleep well. In the same way, we want to meditate well so that the inner heart, the inner life, is in a good, balanced place to be able to engage with the world around us. How we are is a big part of what we spread into the world. If we don't take care of ourselves and we end up acting from our frustration, anger, hate, greed, or even our confusion, that's what spreads outwards. We see lots of examples of this; those of us who are following the news see how this spreads and is contagious.

But if people come from places of non-hate, non-greed, and non-delusion, they come with a kind of peace, kindness, love, and tranquility. This allows the best parts of us to act in favor of and for the benefit of the world. This is kind of what we're doing here this week with the seven factors of awakening.

Today we come to the fifth factor, usually called tranquility. The fuller meaning of this is tranquility of the body. It's the first of the seven factors of awakening which are the calming factors: tranquility, concentration (samadhi^[1]), and equanimity. Sometimes it's said that those three calming ones should be in balance with the activating factors of awakening. Investigation, energy, and joy are the ones that bring more energy. Sometimes there's a balancing act that goes on in practice of bringing those into balance.

As practice deepens, there's also a natural quieting of mental activity. The activity of investigation, of discernment, the activity of effort, and even joy begins to quiet down. This has a lot to do with learning to just be mindful of what is and just see. It's like making breathing room, a space for experience. We're not reactivating the mind or continuing to be busy doing. There's a natural calming, and at some point, that calming of the system gets experienced as a very deep physical tranquility—tranquility of the body. It can be experienced sometimes as a suffusing of almost like ambrosia, almost like a medicine or something healing spreading through the body, some kind of peacefulness, ease, or tranquility. For me at least, sometimes it's like I've dipped myself into a very cool, refreshing pool of water on a very hot day. It just feels so good in the body.

When referring to tranquility as a factor of awakening, I sometimes like to use the word "ease." I find the word ease is broader and encompasses a bit more than tranquility. The sense of ease, as I use the word for myself, is that I can have ease with how there is unease. There are times I feel unease; I sit down to meditate and I'm uneasy about something. To hold that with ease, to not make it a problem, and to not try to fix everything, but to be open to it and allow it. To let the whole system—the Dharma^[2] system that we are, the inner psychophysical system and processes—settle on its own. We don't have to always be so involved with the doing of practice.

That's partly why we're in the fifth part of these factors of awakening. Momentum is being built. Mindfulness is getting stronger. The differentiation of states, the differentiation of dharmas of the second factor, becomes stronger. The ability to have a satisfying effort and engagement really becomes more established. There's a sense of goodness and joy to be here, because it feels good finally to be rooted in the present moment. All those together are factors and conditions that allow for very deep letting go or settling—a feeling of safety and ease, a sense that "this is a good place to be."

For me, the word for the tranquility factor of awakening is ease. I like to say the word "ease" periodically. I like these words when they are open-ended. There's not an agenda or an expectation for something to come out of them. It's more like saying the word and making room for the response to it. I liken it sometimes to dropping a pebble into a pond, allowing the rippling of water to go out from where the pebble fell in. Drop these words into your heart like a pebble, make room, allow, and notice how you respond. Independent of what we think about the meanings of these words, our subconscious and our hearts might have their own response. It might have to do with memories from early in life or experiences we've had. Or maybe we've met someone who seems particularly tranquil, calm, and at ease, and just having that word open up lets you feel the presence of that person. So just drop "ease" in, even when there's unease. Perhaps you'll notice that the struggle with the unease lets up. The unease might not let up, but the struggle with it, the reactivity to it, can let up, bringing in the movement of tranquility.

Joy is certainly wonderful; it is the fourth factor of awakening. It's noteworthy—I don't know if it's a paradox—that Buddhism puts a tremendous amount of importance on being present for suffering. So much so that I think there should be a bumper sticker that says, "I stop for suffering." We don't do this just to suffer better, but so that we can really address it and find the way beyond suffering. The process and practice that Buddhism offers is, in fact, one that brings a lot of joy, happiness, and well-being. The path to the end of suffering includes happiness. Joy is a bit of an active activity in relationship to happiness. As the system in meditation moves from joy, delight, and just being present, and becomes calmer and more settled, this tranquility factor is strongly associated with an embodied feeling of well-being and happiness. It is very sublime, very contented, and a very settled feeling of happiness.

Some people, because it's so physical, call it a kind of pleasure. But the word "pleasure" doesn't really represent well for me the sense of real contentment and well-being that this comes with. This tranquility factor is not just a matter of relaxing the body and the muscles. It's really allowing the whole system to tap into deeper currents of well-being. The remarkable thing about these factors of awakening is that they are natural faculties within us. They are natural capacities that can be unleashed, recognized, or allowed to germinate and grow into flower. It's not an engineering task; it's not something you have to do or expect. It has a lot to do with being here—the first factor of awakening—and allowing things to show themselves. As the Five Hindrances^[3] abate and preoccupations abate, it isn't simply letting go of our clinging. It's letting go and making room for this amazing goodness that is here. The amazing beauty that exists in each one of us, that amazing Dharma process that moves towards greater and greater freedom through these wonderful qualities.

So today, ease. Tomorrow and Sunday we'll do the last two factors of awakening. We'll meet at the same time, 7:00 a.m., on the same schedule that we usually have during weekdays. I'm looking forward to the chance to complete these factors of awakening with you. Thank you very much.