To radiate this calmness all around us,
we first need to find it within ourselves.
[From MN 2]
How does one attend to things proper for attention?
One attends to the things which make:
new outward desires to not arise,
and old outward desires to fade away.
These are the Brahmaviharas,
and the Four Resting Places of Awareness.
Because they are truly wholesome,
they are detached from all these fields of mental proliferations.
When we practice the Brahmaviharas,
in this radiant, boundless way,
what happens in the mind is,
that it has this quality of being completely open.
And therefore, there is not an opening
for the mind to flow toward the senses,
or to become angry at something,
because as soon as that happens,
then there is no more of that quality [the radiant calm],
or it is not completely boundless and immeasurable
like the Buddha so skillfully explains it so many times.
And similarly for the projecting in the future [distractions of becoming],
and the lack of discernment [distractions from carelessness].
And also, this lack of discernment can be seen as restlessness,
in a very tangible way in the here and now,
in the meditation practice.
This is how one attend to the things proper for attention.
Thus, not attending to the things improper for attention,
And attending to the things proper for attention.
New distractions do not come to be
And old distractions fade away.
And this is also the first step in Right Effort, Wise Practice.
Now, how does the Buddha tell us to attend on life, and on reality?
He says:
One wisely attends to things knowing:
“This is tension,”
One wisely attends to things knowing:
“This is the increase tension,”
One wisely attends to things knowing:
“This is the release from tension,”
One wisely attends to things knowing:
“This is the way to release the tension.”
These are the Four Awakened Understandings,
the Four Noble Truths.
And the Buddha here explains, once again,
his very pragmatic, down-to-earth, straight view that he taught:
That if we keep these four things in mind constantly,
we will continually move towards Nibbana.
MN 2 All the Distractions
https://heartdhamma.love/sutta/mn-2/