In Monday’s post, I shared the first four of eight qualities Shantideva lists that prevent us from employing skillful means. They are: confusion, distraction, being too easily influenced by others, and complacency. The next four are:
- Procrastinating
- Lacking Discipline to Break Bad Patterns
- Fearfulness
- Worldliness
Procrastination
Much like the paramita of heroic perseverance, skillful means asks us to stay the course. Things don’t change overnight, and when we are wise, we act with the long view in mind. When we procrastinate, our hesitation overrides any intentions we have for positive change. Wisdom isn’t reactive, but it isn’t overly slow, either. To employ skillful means, we can’t put off the work we’re here to do.
Lacking Discipline
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that many of these qualities line up with other paramitas. The paramita of discipline encourages us to do the work we need to break bad patterns in our lives. Which only makes sense, right? Skillful means is the exact opposite of a bad habit. It’s rightly-applied wisdom. The habits of skillful means lead to good things.
Fearfulness
We don’t act from a place of wisdom if we allow our fearfulness to take over. When we are fearful, we become selfish almost immediately. We hunker down in protection, rather than opening up to others. We think small, rather than expansively. We relinquish our service to others and think only of ourselves. Fear is natural, but a posture of fearfulness will keep us from wisdom.
Worldliness
Worldliness in this sense means being too enamored with money, fame, success, and other outside influences. When we are overly “worldly” in this way, we act from greed or desire rather than wisdom. We act hypocritically, and without integrity. Not being overly invested in our image means we have the freedom to do the right thing at the right time, no matter the consequences.
As I said in the previous post, sometimes the best way to practice skillful means is to see what may be keeping us from it. Which of these final four qualities resonates most with you? How can you practice bringing yourself into a place filled more with wisdom?
This post is part of the Paramita Project, where I’m practicing one of the ten paramitas each month. You can read all my posts on skillful means here.
