Equanimity
The third of the brahma-viharas, or “Four Sublime
Abodes”, that I’ll be taking up here is upeksha,
a Sanskrit word that is usually translated as equanimity (Sangharakshita, 1980, p. 144; Schuhmacher &
Woerner, 1994, p. 394), but which might also be translated as evenmindedness (Conze, 1964, p. 315), impartiality (Conze, 1967, p. 302) or equipoise (Yoshida, 1994, p. 70). Generally
speaking, upeksha (upekkha in Pali) is a state wherein the
mind is in equilibrium, having transcended all distinctions – suffering and joy
alike (Schuhmacher & Woerner, 1994, p. 394). We will be well-served,
however, by digging just a little deeper into some of the more specific uses of
the word.
Conze (1967) discusses aspects of upeksha ranging from those transient states fortuitously experienced
throughout the course of our days, or perhaps more routinely by the adept in
the course of deep meditation, to those enduring traits of the buddhas and arhats. With respect to the former, upeksha can refer simply enough to the feeling
of neutrality toward sensations or objects of consciousness that are experienced
as neither attractive nor aversive. It can also refer to the “attitude of serene unconcern” (p. 89) characteristic
of the third of the four primary stages of meditation (dhyana in Sanskrit, jhana
in Pali) – a stage in which all
arising phenomena are received with the same calm state of mind (not merely
those to which we are otherwise karmically predisposed to receive without reactivity).
With respect to the latter, trait-like
aspects (independent of circumstance or meditative absorption), upeksha “denotes the final stage of
‘worldly’ wisdom, just before the
Path is reached, when evenmindedness
towards all conditioned things is achieved” (p. 89). Thus, upeksha comes to be an enduring quality embodied by buddhas and
arhats who remain mindful and unmoved at all times. And this brings us to upeksha’s inclusion in the brahma-viharas, those states of mind
that should be cultivated in order to aid in the liberation of others (Schuhmacher
& Woerner, 1994, p. 46). Cultivation, after all, is what takes us from upeksha the state-like quality that appears fortuitously or only within the
context of meditative absorption, to upeksha
the trait-like quality – unshakeable
and omnipresent. At the risk of stating the obvious, it is our repeated
exposure via the practice of meditation to the more state-like quality of equanimity that allows us, over time, to
actualize it with greater regularity and eventually embody it as a buddha does.
As we work toward the cultivation
of equanimity, however, we need to be wary of its near enemy (remember those?) lurking in the shadows – indifference. Please see the first post
in this series, The Four Sublime Abodes (and the Enemies Close at Hand) for
more on the near enemies. Unlike equanimity,
its near enemy, indifference, is either
“not preceded by intelligent reflection” or it results from one having “close[d]
one’s mind to the sufferings and joys of others” (Conze, 1967, p. 89). Stated
in this way, it would seem rather easy for us to recognize when we’re
exhibiting indifference rather than equanimity. Ah, but is it?
Isn’t it sometimes the case over
the course of our information-saturated days that we find ourselves tuning out stories
relating the hardships of others for the simple fact that we’ve grown sick to
death of hearing bad news? At such times the life and death struggles of our
neighbors might seem just plain boring to us, our compassion-fatigue having
made us indifferent to their
sufferings. In order to protect our fragile egos from feelings of anxiety or
helplessness we might then affect an unmoved demeanor, as if, in our “advanced
wisdom”, we recognize that this is just the way of the world and we’ve grown to
accept it. In such a way indifference
might masquerade as equanimity. On
the other hand, perhaps a wiser and more compassionate course of action would
be to choose wisely the nature of or otherwise limit the volume of our
information bombardment – without limiting it so much that we end up becoming
uninformed, mind you. Perhaps then we would be able to maintain the energy
necessary to act wisely and compassionately; and then, after having acted as wisely
and compassionately as our capabilities allow, we might abide in a state of
calm equanimity as to the outcome,
knowing that we’ve done all that we could.
Just as equanimity is something
that we can cultivate over time, allowing us to move from a more fleeting, state-like manifestation of equanimity
to a more enduring, trait-like
manifestation, so it is that with practice we can arrive at a state of
equanimity with respect to hardships in our lives that have us behaving in
every way but non-reactively. Of
course, this became especially apparent to me during the course of wrestling
with all of the tumultuous “self-changing” realities of bringing a marriage to
a close and adjusting to its aftermath: loss of companionship, meaning,
financial security, structure, sense of future, etc. Please see The Bardo Realm of Grief for further exposition of what I mean by “self-changing”.
Perhaps the first step towards
arriving at equanimity (becoming equanimous) is to recognize that whatever
negative emotions we are experiencing are the result of our clinging tightly to
relationships, things, circumstances, and ideas that can no longer be, and
being fearful of whatever relationships (or lack thereof), things,
circumstances, and ideas will or might take their place. This is, of course,
samsara. Now, we would probably not be fully human if we had the ability to
instantly move on after the death or departure of someone dear to us, but an
ability to recognize that this is simply the nature of this worldly existence
might help us remain open to whatever might next arise in our lives.
There is possibility in whatever
hardship might transpire. In contemplating the possibility of being alone for
the rest of my life, I came to realize the beauty of solitude and the creative
potential that dwells therein. In contemplating the possibility of having to
sell the house that I’d lived in even prior to my marriage in order to satisfy
whatever legal judgment might be handed down, I came to recognize the freedom
that the simplicity of an apartment-dwelling lifestyle might allow. In
contemplating my feelings of “stuckness” at having to remain on my then-present
career path in order to maintain the financial stability required for the
positive disposition of future transactions, I realized the spaciousness of not
having to expend energy toward making an occupational change. In contemplating how
the perfect storm of all negative outcomes might have me losing all at once my
marriage, my house, and my job, I came to know the exhilaration of having to
set off into the unknown – like an explorer embarking upon a grand and glorious
journey. Isn’t that what life is, after all, a grand and glorious journey?
Okay, only one of the "Four Sublime Abodes" remains - that of metta, or loving-kindness. Recall that its near enemy is attachment. Ah, now this might take some time for a newly romantically involved Buddhist to wrap his head around, so please bear with me!
References
Conze, E.
(1967). Buddhist thought in India Ann Arbor
Paperbacks, The University
of Michigan
Conze, E.,
Horner, I. B., Snellgrove, D., & Waley, A.
(1964). Buddhist texts through the ages. Harper Torchbooks, The Cloister
Library, Harper & Row, Publishers.
Hamel, S.,
Leclerc, G., & Lefrancois, R. (2003). A psychological outlook on the
concept of transcendent actualization. The International Journal For The
Psychology of Religion, 13(1), pp. 3-15.
Khantipalo,
Bhikkhu (2010). Practical advice for meditators. Access to Insight, 7 June
2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel116.html
Kornfield, J.
(1993). A path with heart – A guide through the perils and promises of
spiritual life. Bantam Books.
Maslow, A.
H. (1987). Motivation and personality, 3rd edition. Harper &
Row, Publishers, Inc., as excerpted in Notable Selections in Human Development,
2nd Edition (Diessner, R. and Tiegs, J., eds.) McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.
Sangharakshita,
Bikshu (1980). A survey of Buddhism, 5th edition. Shambhala
Publications, Inc. in association with Windhorse Publications.
Schuhmacher,
S., Woerner, G. (1994). The encyclopedia of Eastern philosophy and religion.
Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Thanissaro,
Bhikkhu (2011). Head & heart together: Bringing wisdom to the
brahma-viharas. Access to Insight, 17 April 2011, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/headandheart.html
Yoshida, R.
(1994). No self: A new systematic interpretation of Buddhism. The World Sacred
Text Publishing Society – Tokyo.
Image Credits
Head
of Buddha In Tree
by
Kittikun Atsawintarangkul:
The Children
– Victims of Adult Vices
by Lvova
Anastasiya:
Copyright
2012 by Maku Mark Frank
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