THE FOUR INSIGHTS
Photo by Nicolas Cool on Unsplash
Ways of Being and Going About in the World
Enlightenment and deity religions serve the needs of populations interested in post-life liberation from karmic suffering or transgressions against divine law. Unfortunately, many of their followers knowingly act against their tradition’s better teachings by irrationally justifying discrimination and willfully condoning acts of unpeacefulness in all their forms. They’re often as intolerant, unpeaceful, violent, and warring as non-followers. While it’s not a pacifist practice, Sāntimāggā serves the needs of a population interested in present-day peace of mind and peaceful environments for everyone everywhere, a population intending to practice peacefulness first for themselves and then for others. Everyone can do it because it’s a practice and not a religion.
The Twenty-first century isn’t off to a good start. Totalitarian forces are ascending; we have multiple wars, and democracies are under assault in every land. A sense of global interdependence and responsibility for each of us to contribute to the universal common good are minority views. The prosperity gap between the haves and the have-nots increases with each passing year. We continue to fall short of urgent environmental actions to ensure a happy, healthy, and comfortable future. Greed-based market-driven consumption is exhausting our planet’s resources, destroying its life support systems, and contributing to chronic stress in all living beings. Opposing and unyielding political and economic beliefs and policies threaten global peace and human survival.
Addressing these challenges doesn’t necessitate the adoption of another ideology, dogma, or doctrine. Instead, we can use the knowledge provided by the social sciences, promote the expression of our innate compassion, and apply the standard good manners that contribute to civility and peacefulness. Sāntimāggā is a practical solution, a chosen lifelong endeavor centered on acknowledging and integrating Four Insights into one’s way of being. Unlike deity religions, which emphasize salvation, and Eastern traditions, which focus on awakening and enlightenment, Sāntimāggā emphasizes self-awareness and transformation. It’s taking responsibility for peace within ourselves and then with others wherever we are, doing whatever we’re doing as we’re doing it.
Experiencing these insights is crucial for achieving peace of mind and harmony with others. The first insight confirms that peace of mind fosters wholesome mental, physical, and emotional well-being and promotes peaceful behaviors that benefit the overall well-being of ourselves and our shared planet. The second insight reveals that, in the absence of mental illness and personality disorders, the cause of an unpeaceful mind is unwholesome, entrenched beliefs and destructive behaviors. The third insight assures us that we have the power to rid ourselves of an unpeaceful mind. The fourth insight provides a roadmap for achieving this.
There is the unpeaceful mind.
The task for this insight is to recognize and allow the presence of an unpeaceful mind and understand its stressful nature and its afflicting influences on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.There is the cause of the unpeaceful mind.
The task for this insight is to identify, investigate, and understand the entrenched beliefs and their associated irrational patterns of thoughts that form and bind unwholesome mental formations to unpeaceful feelings and destructive behaviors.There is the cessation of the unpeaceful mind.
The task for this insight is to dispute, let be, and let go of entrenched beliefs and their associated irrational patterns of unpeaceful thoughts, feelings, and destructive behaviors.There is a three-fold practice leading to the cessation of the unpeaceful mind.
The task for this insight is assimilating and integrating the Threefold Practice into our life to cultivate peace of mind wherever we are, doing whatever we’re doing as we’re doing it.First Practice — Choice-Making. Two behaviors serve this practice:
Clarifying Beliefs, Understandings, and Behaviors.
Knowing Our Thoughts, Feelings, and Emotions.
Second Practice — Seeking Insights. Three behaviors serve this practice:
Mindfulness and Serenity.
Introspection and Gratitude.
Allowing and Letting Go.
Third Practice — Being Peace. Four behaviors serve this practice:
Ethics as Intentions.
Listening and Speaking.
Empathy and Compassion.
Wise Livelihood and Consumption.