What is the fastest routine to achieve equanimity (Vipassana is not the fastest)?

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My most recent epiphany revolves around what I’m calling the physical self. We have multiple selves that serve to limit possibility. If possibility were not limited, then we would be God, so what defines us as individuals is the particular limitations that our selves give us.

The physical self derives from the physical world. If you are hungry, that constrains the space of possibility such that I can make a good assumption that you will be eating something soon. The physical self includes the brain, as well as what is called in the West personality disorder. Anything that constrains the space of possibility on account of matter in the world is part of the physical self.

Selves, as a product of their operation, produce something we call meaning. This meaning is itself another self. The meaning that the physical self produces, I call the pattern self, also called ego. The ego sees patterns and wants things as a result of those patterns. It is not aware of higher meaning. “Cindy is always blabbing on about her ex, why can’t she just get over him already!”

The meaning being produced by the pattern self forms insight, and so we can name the next self the insight self. Insight informs the patterns and gives the deeper meaning that the pattern self missed. You need your pattern self to operate over and over again so that the insight self can see what’s going on and produce it’s particular wisdom. The insight self is the bridge between what’s commonly termed the lower self and the higher Self.

The higher self can really only operate on and with the meaning produced by the insight self. This is why the physical self is so constraining, if you ignore it too long, your mind fails to produce insights so the sense of being starts to suffer. This is what makes homelessness so pernicious a threat. Higher aspects of mind just shut down. And what makes personality disorder so debilitating.

And so the quickest way to obtain equanimity, even mind, is first to ensure that the physical self’s needs are met, and then secondly, to ensure that the insight self isn’t being shut down by the pattern self.

If you feel you are not of even mind, the first thing to look for is a generalized feeling of agitation. This indicates that your pattern self is instructing you to ignore your physical self. Look for something deep and primal you want to do. Connect that back to something physical. Do you want to be alone, do you want to be with others. How, what do you want to do? Separate the physical causes from the pattern causes.

Recently I discovered that spending time with a friend was causing me to be agitated. I felt trapped by the interaction, suffocated. I had to ignore my pattern self telling me that the rules of friendship required me to do anything other than simply end the interaction abruptly. I did that and immediately felt better. I’ll have to deal with him later but I was able to get insight from that experience that I didn’t have before.

If your lower selves are in harmony, then the insight you produce will be even and composed. It’s folly to think that the higher mind can command the lower to produce composure. There’s a lot “more” lower mind than there is higher. The lower self will take over if you ignore it long enough. Think about a peasant revolt. You might have a army with better weapons, but if the peasants just stop working, you’ll soon stop being able to fund it.