Wednesday Wisdom: The Buddha's Lesson on Balance


Daily Buddhist [Wednesday Wisdom]

By Pema Sherpa & Brendan Barca

Age-old Buddhist wisdom for modern living. Weekly insight loved by over 17,000 practitioners. 🙏

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The Buddha's Lesson on Balance

2,500 years ago, a monk named Sona was practicing meditation with great effort, believing that if he simply tried harder, he would make progress.

Instead, he became exhausted and discouraged.

Seeing this, the Buddha asked him whether he had ever played the vina.

Sona said he had.

The Buddha asked, “When the strings were too tight, did the vina sound beautiful?”

“No,” Sona replied.

“And when they were too loose?”

“No."

“But when they were tuned neither too tight nor too loose?” asked the Buddha.

“Then they produced a beautiful sound," said Sona.

The Buddha explained that meditation works the same.

Too much effort creates tension and restlessness. Too little effort leads to dullness and distraction.

The path is found in balance.

To be alert but relaxed.

Then next time you meditate , ask yourself: Am I holding the mind too tightly, trying to force an experience? Or have I become too loose, drifting wherever my thoughts take me?

See what it feels like to find the balance between effort and ease.

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Pema & Brendan

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