The Seven Factors of Awakening 

1.  mindfulness, awareness, remembering (sati)  

2.  investigating, examining, looking into (vicaya)

3.  enthusiasm, energy, effort (virya)

4.  pleasure, delight, joy (piti)

5.  calming, ease, flexibility (passaddhi)

6.  stable, collected, unified awareness (samadhi)

7.  equanimity, steady, balance (uppekka)

The seven factors are sometimes said to unfold in that sequence. But it’s likely that over time, you’ll find yourself developing particular factors, while other factors will be elusive.

Too much calming, stability, and equanimity lead to dullness and passivity.

Too much investigation, energy, and joy lead to busyness and tripping.

So try balancing the three arousing factors and the three stabilizing factors:

• Investigation and calming balance each other.

• Enthusiasm and unified awareness balance each other.

• Joy and equanimity balance each other.