What are the seven factors of awakening? Note that this Buddhist approach focuses on the positive rather than on the negative (the hindrances).
- Mindfulness. To maintain awareness of reality, in particular the teachings.
- Investigation of the nature of reality. (nothing is permanent, and all thoughts and feelings should be viewed as passing phenomena.)
- Energy also determination, effort
- Joy or rapture (you notice the natural wonder of the world; no need to fear becoming attached to joy or beauty!)
- Relaxation or tranquility of both body and mind (joy & satisfaction lead to calm, tranquility; through progressive relaxation and letting go.)
- Concentration a calm, one-pointed state of mind, or “bringing the buried latencies or samskaras into full view” (samādhi; easeful happiness, and finally profound stability and luminosity are prominent; daily life states of flow and effortless engagement outside of formal meditation, states in which pleasure and ease support sustained clarity of mind)
- Equanimity. To accept reality as-it-is without craving or aversion. (lack of struggle, less scared or worried in every circumstance; equanimity brings the love, compassion, and appreciation of the open heart to rest in a space of loving acceptance without judgment, attraction, or aversion. And as a wisdom quality, equanimity is very close to awakening itself, holding everything that happens in the perspective of the Four Noble Truths and the laws of kamma and conditionality. Equanimity knows that every experience arises and passes due to conditions, and that every being will experience the results of their own actions. As this deep perspective and nobility of heart grows, it brings together all the elements of the path into a way of being that is the manifestation of wisdom and liberation.)
One Seeker's Story 