Three sources of every deed

From the text

The passage names three sources that give rise to deeds: greed, hate, and delusion. It then names three other sources that give rise to deeds: contentment, love, and understanding.

In everyday life

The passage is not about deeds themselves but about where they come from. Greed is wanting more; hate is pushing away; delusion is acting without seeing clearly. Their opposites are contentment, love, and understanding. One way to take the passage is that the same outward deed can come from either list. You can send a message out of understanding or out of irritation, buy a gift out of love or to be liked, tidy a room out of contentment or out of a wish to prove something. The deed looks the same; the source is different. On that reading, it invites you to look one step further back. Today's sit with the breath is good training for this: while watching the breath you will feel small pulls, toward comfort, away from boredom, into fog, and you can learn what each feels like from the inside. Then take one deed from the day and trace it to its source.

Breath Awareness

Sit comfortably upright, hands in your lap or on your knees. After reading a cue, you may close your eyes and rest with the breath until the next one appears.

Start the timer hereAbout this session

Pick one thing you did earlier today. Trace it back honestly: was it born of wanting, of pushing away, of not looking, or of contentment, love, or understanding? Then choose one thing to do later today from the second list.

Which of the six sources did you notice most behind your actions today?

Answer on paper, or in the app’s journal, which stays on your iPhone.