“As for us as meditators, in the very beginning it is only normal that we will have to be wrong. As long as we let ourselves be pleased and displeased in the development of merit and wisdom, we fall under the sway of the ways of the world (lokadhamma), and when we are under the sway of the ways of the world, we are shaken by pleasure and displeasure. This is called being shaken back and forth.
Where do the ways of the world arise? In ourselves. The ways of the world have eight factors, and the path that cures them has eight as well. The eightfold path is the cure for the eight ways of the world. Thus the Buddha taught the middle way as the cure for the two extremes.
Once we have cured ourselves of the two extremes, we enter the noble path, cutting across the currents of the world, making the mind ‘cago patinissaggo mutti analayo’ – relinquish, release, and rest easy.
To summarize: As long as the two extremes still exist in your heart, you are not on the right track. But when your heart gains release from the two extremes, you become unshakable: free from impurities and safe from the flood. This is why the meaning of the Wheel of Dhamma is very significant. When the Buddha explained the Wheel of Dhamma, it caused the elements of the world to tremble. And when the message is so significant, how could they help but tremble? The elements of the world are nothing else but this very body of ours. Our body is composed of the world’s elements and it trembles because the mind sees into something it has never seen before. The fact that the mind is released from the two extremes is what causes the elements of the world to tremble. They tremble because the mind is not coming back to give rise to them ever again.”
~ Ajaan Mun, excerpt from ‘A Heart Released’