Morning Muse 217 : Cooling Down the Fire Within
Inner discomfort during meditation is the choong—the reaction that occurs when pure awareness meets buried mental heat. By staying equanimous and brave, without escaping, these impurities surface and dissolve. With sustained observation, the inner fire cools, and suffering gradually loosens its grip.
2/5/20261 min read
In many Eastern homes, food is cooked over a brazier filled with burning charcoal. Once the cooking is done, the fire is no longer needed, yet the charcoal is saved for later use. To extinguish it, a handful of water is thrown onto the burning coals.
The charcoal is intensely hot, the water cool. When they meet, there is a sharp reaction—choong. Each time water is poured, the same sound is heard. Only when the charcoal cools and comes closer to the temperature of the water does the reaction stop. Then, even a bucketful of water causes no disturbance.
The difficulties and discomforts experienced during meditation are much like this choong. In an hour of practice, there may be only a brief moment when the mind rests fully with the breath—simply observing inhalation and exhalation as they are. In that moment, there is no imagination, no ignorance, no craving for more breath, and no aversion toward it. The mind is equanimous, attentive to reality.
This moment of purity, however small, comes into contact with the accumulated impurities lying deep within the mind—old habits of craving, aversion, and ignorance. Their meeting produces a powerful reaction, a kind of inner explosion. It may appear as pain in the legs, the back, or the head, or as intense restlessness and discomfort. The meditator may feel an urge to escape, believing the practice to be harmful or unsuitable.
In truth, nothing is going wrong. This reaction is part of the healing process. Unlike a physical operation performed under anesthesia, this is an operation of the mind that must be faced consciously, without numbing or escape. What is required is courage—the courage to observe whatever arises, with understanding that it is for one’s own good.
By remaining equanimous and aware, we begin to change the deep-rooted patterns of the mind. Each calm observation cools the inner fire a little more. Over time, as the accumulated heat diminishes, life’s challenges lose their power to disturb us. This is how the fire within is gradually cooled, and the mind learns the path to freedom.