STAGE II: CULTIVATION OF GOOD THOUGHTS
The Five Good Thoughts
The five good thoughts to be cultivated are actually five stages in the process of transformation of the mind. In other words, they are five parts of a cycle of change, which ultimately becomes five aspects of the same final state of mind.
In-sight – Gaining the Harmonious Perspective.
Dispassion – The harmonious perspective leads to the giving up of self-centered desires.
Compassion – When selfishness disappears, one is able to take an interest in the welfare of others.
Happiness – When self-absorption and worry about oneself is no more, there is the experience of happiness.
Tranquility – The experience of selfless happiness is not an excitement, but a state of tranquility.
In-sight – Tranquility results in the mind settling within, when true introspection becomes possible. Introspection leads to the experiencing of experience, instead of existence, which is a paradigm shift. This results in Awakening from the “dream of existence”. This is liberation or emancipation (vimutti) from the emotional cause and existential suffering.