Someone outside is abusing you; so long as the abuse is beyond the range of your sense organs, you are not in any way affected by it. But once the abusive words reach your ears, you become enraged and excited beyond control. What is the reason for your being upset like that? To take a contrasting example: someone outside is praising you, extolling your admirable qualities. So long as you have not heard his words of praise, you derive no joy, nor do you entertain a feeling of endearment towards him. But once his words of praise have reached your ears, you rejoice in them and develop great love for the speaker. What is the reason for the hatred in the first example and for the love in the second one? It is only the contact between the senses and their objects. Thus, it becomes clear that the senses can enjoy peace only when they do not come in contact with sense objects. Or, one should be able to maintain equanimity in spite of the contact between his senses and their objects and irrespective of whether the outcome of such a contact is pleasant or otherwise. It should, however, be recognised that it is neither easy nor always possible to prevent the senses and their objects from coming into mutual contact. On the contrary, it is possible, with some effort, to develop an attitude of equipoise. – Summer Showers, May 23, 1990