Aim for the Cessation of Suffering

Please aim for the cessation of suffering.

Question: I am currently doing my best to maintain awareness every day, and I notice that my thoughts are becoming fewer. However, I must not become complacent in my awareness.

Occasionally, a moment of unconscious relaxation can lead to the emergence of thoughts. You have mentioned that practice primarily focuses on awareness rather than thoughts.
The arising and ceasing of thoughts have nothing to do with me; as long as I keep observing, is that enough? When thoughts do not arise, is it sufficient for me to remain vigilant?

The purpose of practicing awareness,
is to cultivate a habit of mindfulness;
developing a habit of mindfulness,
is aimed at fostering an equanimous heart.
An equanimous heart is the main factor in eliminating suffering,
while a mindful heart is merely an important supporting condition;
without mindfulness, it is impossible to have equanimity,
and without equanimity, true liberation cannot be achieved.
The important goal of cultivating both mindfulness and equanimity
is to cease your habitual reactions;
when habitual reactions cease,
there will be no need to intentionally maintain mindfulness and equanimity.
In the beginning, merely maintaining mindfulness
without cultivating equanimity is insufficient;
if you indulge in ignorance and distinctions and continuously follow those distinctions,
even with mindfulness, you cannot cease suffering.
A mindful heart is like a lamp inside a house,
while an equanimous heart acts as the police officer on duty inside;
having the light on in the house serves to watch for any thieves attempting to commit crimes;
if you see a thief but there’s no officer present to stop them, it’s all in vain.
Mindfulness counters ignorance—delusion,
while equanimity counters greed and aversion.
It is necessary to eliminate greed, aversion, and delusion simultaneously;
merely eliminating one or two of these is not enough.
Both mindfulness and equanimity must develop in balance;
otherwise, your practice cannot truly be powerful or effective;
without mindfulness, you live in darkness,
without equanimity, you lack a shield against the arrows of Mara.
Equanimity and mindfulness are like two wings of a bird;
if the wings are unbalanced, the bird cannot fly freely;
equanimity and mindfulness are like two wheels of a vehicle;
if one wheel is big and the other small, the vehicle will only spin in place.
When developing mindfulness, please aim at cultivating equanimity;
when cultivating equanimity, please aim at cutting off habitual reactions;
once habitual reactions are completely severed, suffering will cease;
complete cessation of suffering is the primary goal of practice.
No matter what practice you engage in, please make this your goal.
Awareness, observation, watching thoughts… please aim for the cessation of suffering;
on the path of spiritual practice,
do not forget why you set out just because you’ve come so far.

by – Taiwan Fearless Tathagata Buddhas’ Complete Zen Meditation Center