Equanimity occurs in a number of lists in the Buddhist teachings. And where it occurs it is almost always the last item on the list. I like to pay special attention to the first and last items on these lists. The first is usually the mind state or practice that opens the door to the other mind states on the list. And the last is usually the culmination of the practices and mind states that compose the rest of the list. See if this isn’t true in your own experience.
Equanimity is the crown and culmination of the four divine abodes of Loving-kindness, Compassion, Appreciative Joy and Equanimity (Brahma Viharas).The Brahma realm in ancient Hindu cosmology is a heavenly realm that exists even beyond the pleasant and beyond bliss. So residing here is quite a heavenly experience.
Equanimity is peace imbued with compassion and wisdom. But it also has an element of Loving-kindness and Joy. All these divine abodes contain components of each other and balance each other.
Here is what Nayanaponika Thera says about Equanimity:
“Equanimity rooted in insight is the guiding and restraining power for the other three states. It points out to them the direction they have to take, and sees to it that this direction is followed. Equanimity guards love and compassion from being dissipated in vain quests and from going astray in the labyrinths of uncontrolled emotion. Equanimity, being a vigilant self-control for the sake of the final goal, does not allow sympathetic joy to rest content with humble results, forgetting the real aims we have to strive for.
Equanimity, which means “even-mindedness,” gives to love an even, unchanging firmness and loyalty. It endows it with the great virtue of patience. Equanimity furnishes compassion with an even, unwavering courage and fearlessness, enabling it to face the awesome abyss of misery and despair which confront boundless compassion again and again. To the active side of compassion, equanimity is the calm and firm hand led by wisdom — indispensable to those who want to practice the difficult art of helping others.
In these and other ways equanimity may be said to be the crown and culmination of the other three sublime states. The first three, if unconnected with equanimity and insight, may dwindle away due to the lack of a stabilizing factor. Isolated virtues, if unsupported by other qualities which give them either the needed firmness or pliancy, often deteriorate into their own characteristic defects.
For instance, loving-kindness, without energy and insight, may easily decline to a mere sentimental goodness. Moreover, such isolated virtues may often carry us in a direction contrary to our original aims and contrary to the welfare of others, too. It is the firm and balanced character of a person that knits isolated virtues into an organic and harmonious whole, within which the single qualities exhibit their best manifestations and avoid the pitfalls of their respective weaknesses. And this is the very function of equanimity, the way it contributes to an ideal relationship between all four sublime states.
Equanimity is a perfect, unshakable balance of mind, rooted in insight. But in its perfection and unshakable nature equanimity is not dull, heartless and frigid. Its perfection is not due to an emotional “emptiness,” but to a “fullness” of understanding, to its being complete in itself. Its unshakable nature is not the immovability of a dead, cold stone, but the manifestation of the highest strength.”
The mind states of loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy (in the happiness of ourselves and others), and equanimity are the states of mind that can arise in response to the changing world we live in. None of us can escape the worldly dharmas of this life. And if we live our lives without insight and clarity then we are destined to be thrown about by the waves of worldly dharmas of pleasure/pain, gain/loss, fame/disrepute, praise/blame, joy/sorrow, birth/death,sickness/health. It is with the cultivation of equanimity that we can watch the worldly dharmas arise, manifest and fall away while experiencing their pleasantness and unpleasantness without aversion and suffering arising.
All beings are owners of their (intentional) actions (karma). Their happiness depends upon their actions- not upon my wishes.
We offer our good wishes for the happiness of others but we let go of the attachment to the outcome of our wishes. This is the balance of wisdom and compassion that is the mind state of Equanimity.
We all want happiness, don’t we? We practice equanimity because it is good for our own heart and mind as well as for others. It fosters non-reactivity.
The proximate (immediate) cause for equanimity to arise is the understanding of karma (our intentional actions and their results). All intentional ethical actions produce results. These actions and their accompanying results are karma. There are other theories of karma but this is the one that Buddha taught.
Skillful intentional actions produce skillful results (a skillful action is one arising from kindness, generosity, and clarity of mind).
Once an action is performed it can’t be recalled. Our past actions cannot be undone but they don’t determine our present actions. Although our habit energy from past actions often seems to push us in the directions of our past actions we always have the opportunity to act in a skillful manner in the present (when mindfulness is present.)
Our lives unfold because of countless and unknowable and innumerable causes and conditions.
The other proximate cause for the arising of equanimity is developing a sense of unselfishness. When we are attached to the outcomes of our wishes (even if they are loving, caring wishes) we will suffer if things don’t develop as we wished. We can love and wish for another’s happiness and even act on these wishes if we choose but all the while we realize that another’s happiness is related to their actions and is not dependent on our wishes.
Here is an Equanimity Meditation you may find of benefit:
Begin by sitting straight and breathing normally. Let your breathing just breathe on its own. Now find a place in your body where you feel a sense of safety and ease. It could be the sensation of breathing. It could be your hands. It could be in your heart space.
Call to mind a neutral person. This is someone who you don’t really know but you see from time to time. It could be someone at a store checkout counter, someone at work who you don’t know very well or even a neighbor. Visualize this person in front of you.
Reflect: All beings experience the effects of the changing world we live in. Reflect on the universal fact that all beings are affected by the worldly experiences of praise and blame, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, joy and sorrow, fame and disrepute, life and death, health and sickness. This person in our minds eye is affected by these worldly experiences just as we are. With our deepest compassion and kindness we say to this person “This is how it is for you”. All beings have their own journey. All beings are owners of their actions. All beings are heirs of their actions. Their happiness depends on their actions and not on my wishes.
Now turn our attention to our own heart in relation to this person. Notice as clearly as you can any sense of connection or possibly disconnection with this person. Notice as clearly as you can any understanding and compassion that may arise. Whatever arises or does not arise let it be known with equanimity, balance, and clarity. “This is how it is in my own heart right now.”
Know this with acceptance and clarity. If there is feeling—know it. If there is a lack of feeling- know that too.
Call to mind a dear friend, visualize this person and repeat the meditation above.
Now call to mind another friend with whom you would like to develop more equanimity and repeat the meditation above.
Now Call to mind a benefactor- someone who has helped you in the past, it could be a mentor, a teacher, or a loved one and repeat the meditation above.
Now call to mind a difficult person. If someone is too difficult then don’t reflect on them yet. Choose someone less difficult and repeat the meditation above.
Now move on to yourself. Remember something in your life that has been a particular challenge to you, possibly something to do with the worldly experiences of praise and blame, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, happiness and sorrow, fame and disrepute, birth and death, health and sickness. Hold that event in a space big enough to hold that experience. It can be a space as big as the sky- as big as the universe if you like. Hold that event there in that expanse of space.
May I accept how it is in my life right now- with balance, kindness, clarity. I am on my own journey.
Breathe in and out and relax the heart. Know clearly what your hearts response to this event is. Now put your life’s story to one side for a moment. May I accept how it is in my own heart in this present moment. May I accept how it is with equanimity… breathing in and breathing out relaxing the heart.
Ending this meditation we place the difficult person in this space- maybe in front of you. Next to them we place our dear friends or benefactors, our loved ones, and the neutral person. Offer to all of them your unconditional loving-kindness as much as you can. As I wish for my own safety and protection- I wish this for all of you. Now we wish safety and protection to all beings without preference. Just as I wish to be happy I wish this for all of you- to all beings.
I wish you all ease with the changing conditions of life. Breathing in goodwill we offer out goodwill, kindness and a wish for protection for all beings everywhere. May they be safe, happy and protected…all beings everywhere- young, old, healthy, sick, the known and the unknown, all living beings.
Now reflect for a moment on the benefit of a mind that has balance, peace and equanimity. Sense what a gift it can be to bring a peaceful heart to the world around you. Let yourself feel this inner sense of balance and ease for the remainder of your meditation period. This was based on a meditation led by Kamala Masters.
Here’s a poem by Donald C Babcock (1886-1986) published in The New Yorker magazine in 1947 called “The little Duck” that I think sums up equanimity practice in the simplest possible way.
“Now we are ready to look at something pretty special.
It is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the surf, and he cuddles in the
swells.
There is a big heaving in the Atlantic.
And he is part of it.
He can rest while the Atlantic heaves, because he rests in the Atlantic.
Probably he doesn’t know how large the ocean is.
And neither do you.
But he realizes it.
And what does he do, I ask you.
He sits down in it.
He reposes in the immediate as if it were infinity – which it is.
That is religion, and the duck has it.
I like the little duck.
He doesn’t know much.
But he has religion.”
May you be well, happy and peaceful, Floyd.
