Undisturbed like the earth
Today, when something lands on you, receive it the way the earth receives a footstep.
- Read · about 2 minutes
Whose faculties have become serene,like horses tamed by a charioteer,…Undisturbed like the earth,true to their vows, steady as Indra’s pillar,like a lake clear of mud;…Their mind is peaceful,peaceful are their speech and deeds.Dhammapada 94–96 · chapter 7, “The Perfected Ones” · tr. Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0)
From the text
The verses describe someone whose faculties have become serene, like horses tamed by a charioteer, who is undisturbed like the earth, true to their vows, steady as Indra's pillar, and like a lake clear of mud. Their mind is peaceful, and so are their speech and deeds.
In everyday life
'Faculties' here means the senses and the mind, the ways things reach you. The verses pile up images of steadiness: tamed horses, the earth, a firmly set pillar (the verse calls it Indra's pillar), a lake clear of mud. Take the earth. People walk on it, dig it, spill things on it, and it does not flinch. It simply holds. One way to take this image is as a way of meeting praise and blame: both land on you, and neither has to move you. Notice that the verses tie this inner steadiness to speech and deeds that are peaceful. That is the kindness in it. On that reading, someone not easily stirred is easier to be around. Today's sit is about arriving, and the ground is part of it: feel the floor or chair taking your weight before you do anything else. Then, when a remark lands during the day, find that support again before you answer.
- Sit · 3, 5 or 10 minutes
Arriving and Settling
Sit upright on a chair or cushion, hands resting in your lap. Read each cue as it appears; between cues you may close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Live · during your day
Today, when something said to you stirs you, pleasantly or not, feel the floor, chair, or bed taking your weight, and let that support register before you say anything at all.
- Reflect · this evening
When today were you steady like the earth, and when were you stirred up, if at all?
Answer on paper, or in the app’s journal, which stays on your iPhone.