How Do I Deal with Aversion? — Ajahn Martin’s Practical Guidance

# Quick story summary Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo answers a student asking how to handle strong aversion. He locates aversion not primarily in ideas but in bodily felt experience—especially in a tightening or hardening around the physical heart. His approach is concrete: notice the heart, accept the feeling, investigate its qualities, and cultivate calm concentration so a non-conceptual knowingness replaces thought-driven reactivity.

# Where aversion shows up

# A three-step practice for dealing with aversion 1) Notice the bodily signal. If you can't stay with the citta (heart/mind) directly, look at the physical heart and watch for contraction or tension.

3) Investigate calmly. Ask what the aversion feels like and learn its texture. When you can observe it without immediately reacting, you open the possibility of a deeper, non-conceptual knowing.

# The difference between thought and knowingness Ajahn Martin draws a clear line between thought and knowingness. Thoughts are loud and changing—like an express train. Knowingness is quiet and steady—like a small bird. When thought is dominant, that quieter knowingness cannot be experienced. The moment you chase an intellectual solution or think you have an "aha," that knowingness disappears. The practice is to reduce the volume of thought through calm concentration so the knowingness can be accessed directly.

# Role of samadhi (meditative absorption) The method for accessing knowingness is not more thinking but more calm. Longer periods in samadhi weaken habitual thought and memory, and with that reduction comes ease: happiness and clearer insight arise when thinking subsides. Ajahn Martin emphasizes patience—answers come as a quiet knowing rather than a conceptual breakthrough.

# Practical notes for meditators

• Expect difficulties: tiredness, restlessness, pain, and worry are common tricks of the defilements (kilesas).
• Treat restlessness differently: it lacks a single focus and can be harder to work with than definite pain.
• Use early-morning checks: sometimes the heart hardens on waking—use that as a prompt to investigate what you are avoiding.

# Bottom line Aversion is primarily a felt contraction that closes attention. The skillful response is to notice and accept it, investigate its felt quality, and cultivate calm concentration so a quieter knowingness can emerge in place of reactive thought.