Success vs. Joy
- LV -
Mental Equilibrium
That evening S.N. Goenka, who conducts these courses through audio and video discourses, told us about mental equilibrium. That, he said, is the one trait that enables us to maintain our cool. When we are angry or ecstatic, we tend to lose our mental equilibrium.
Mental equilibrium allows us to dispassionately view the events around and within us. Goenka asked us not to become paranoid about the pain. He inspired us to believe that all events are temporary and that this pain is also temporary. He asked us to focus on the pain. We were to just observe it and be detached from it. And, most important, we were to let our mind be in control of the pain.
It was sound advice and the second time I sat for the athistan – sitting without moving – I managed it effortlessly. I sat continuously for one hour 20 minutes. The pain was acute, but my mind was sharp and was viewing it dispassionately. After one hour, the pain almost disappeared. Mental equilibrium had allowed me to be dispassionate to the intense pain.
I believe the one quality that we need at a crucial point of a match is this mental equilibrium. We cannot allow the event to dominate our mind. We must be dispassionate.