Equanimity
Equanimity:
tatra-majjhattatá: 'equanimity, equipoise, mental balance' (lit., 'remaining here and there in the middle'), is the name for a high ethical quality belonging to the sankhára-kkhandha (s. khandha) and is mostly known by the name upekkhá. In its widest sense it is associated with all pure consciousness (s. Tab. II). "Tatra-majjhattatá is called the 'keeping in the middle of all things'. It has as charactcristic that it effects the balance of consciousness and mental factors; as nature (function; rasa), that it prevents excessiveness and deficiency, or that it puts an end to partiality; as manifestation, that it keeps the proper middle" (Vis.M. XIV). (App.).
urbandharma.org
"Neither a thought nor an emotion, it is rather the steady conscious realization of reality's transience. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as "abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will."
Guy Fronsdal "Equanimity" Insight Meditation Center.
My Definition:
Equanimity includes a diminished sense of self as we realize that our actions and decisions are not the ultimate factor or condition in existence- merely one of an infinite number. Similarly, with equanimity an individual sees the life and experience of another person as equal to their own- thereby fostering loving-kindess, and compassion, both to self and others.
My Journal
As an American, equanimity is one of the most difficult terms to understand. The simple acceptance of reality through the understanding of anicca (that everything is transient) is hard to perceive because in English cultural semantics equanimity is a state of uncaring. In life it is seen as nihilistic or harmful to be uncaring about events. However, in Buddhism equanimity springs naturally from wisdom and compassion. The individual recognizes the transience of events, and the conditions which create each moment (interdependence co-arising), through this they understand the dharma and that reality cannot be other than what it is. Because of this, individuals are able to accept "what is" without disillusionment created from unmet expectations.
I need to develop my understanding of dharma and dukkha more before I will be able to have equanimity toward events in life. At the moment, I continue to create stories which lead to disillusionment and dukkha in life. With equanimity, I expect that a person would be very calm toward "tense" moments of existence because they would recognize both the transience of it (even if it is a painful moment it will pass) and it's inevitability due to conditions.
Feb 22, 2013:
Within this past year I have developed a greater patience toward myself and a better understanding that reality is "what it is" and cannot be other than what it is. Unfortunately my habits are still "unskilled" in that I react with panic toward stressful events. However, today I recognized that I react to certain events with greater equanimity than others. Today, I was forced to react with my ex-fiance. Rather than anger or annoyance that I normally feel when I interact with him, I felt a more calm sensation. Through my new relationship I have recently recognized the conditions which influenced my past relationship. Though I am still telling a "story" of my relationship with my ex-fiance, I am slowly becoming able to recognize my own false creations within the tale. While reacting with my ex- today I accepted the situation in which I was placed and was not bothered. I felt that this was a huge step.
It is difficult for me to understand the difference between equanimity and passivity. For me, I believe that passivity is often characterized by the refusal to "deal with" an event or moment of existence. Rather than recognizing the five aggregates which make up existence, we refuse to acknowledge that it affects us at all. This is an unskillful habit because it causes us to reject the conditions which make up the experience and limit us from understanding our reactions and reality. The individual often "grasps" at the lack of caring as a sense of strength. Equanimity is the recognition of all conditions and the understanding that while our feelings and desires are valid they are part of the moment. In this, the person is able to be intimate with the experience and acknowledge it's conditions and influences while simultaneously allowing it to be let go.
tatra-majjhattatá: 'equanimity, equipoise, mental balance' (lit., 'remaining here and there in the middle'), is the name for a high ethical quality belonging to the sankhára-kkhandha (s. khandha) and is mostly known by the name upekkhá. In its widest sense it is associated with all pure consciousness (s. Tab. II). "Tatra-majjhattatá is called the 'keeping in the middle of all things'. It has as charactcristic that it effects the balance of consciousness and mental factors; as nature (function; rasa), that it prevents excessiveness and deficiency, or that it puts an end to partiality; as manifestation, that it keeps the proper middle" (Vis.M. XIV). (App.).
urbandharma.org
"Neither a thought nor an emotion, it is rather the steady conscious realization of reality's transience. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as "abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will."
Guy Fronsdal "Equanimity" Insight Meditation Center.
My Definition:
- Feb 7, 2013:
- March 14, 2013:
- April 2, 2013:
Equanimity includes a diminished sense of self as we realize that our actions and decisions are not the ultimate factor or condition in existence- merely one of an infinite number. Similarly, with equanimity an individual sees the life and experience of another person as equal to their own- thereby fostering loving-kindess, and compassion, both to self and others.
My Journal
- Feb 14, 2013:
As an American, equanimity is one of the most difficult terms to understand. The simple acceptance of reality through the understanding of anicca (that everything is transient) is hard to perceive because in English cultural semantics equanimity is a state of uncaring. In life it is seen as nihilistic or harmful to be uncaring about events. However, in Buddhism equanimity springs naturally from wisdom and compassion. The individual recognizes the transience of events, and the conditions which create each moment (interdependence co-arising), through this they understand the dharma and that reality cannot be other than what it is. Because of this, individuals are able to accept "what is" without disillusionment created from unmet expectations.
I need to develop my understanding of dharma and dukkha more before I will be able to have equanimity toward events in life. At the moment, I continue to create stories which lead to disillusionment and dukkha in life. With equanimity, I expect that a person would be very calm toward "tense" moments of existence because they would recognize both the transience of it (even if it is a painful moment it will pass) and it's inevitability due to conditions.
Feb 22, 2013:
Within this past year I have developed a greater patience toward myself and a better understanding that reality is "what it is" and cannot be other than what it is. Unfortunately my habits are still "unskilled" in that I react with panic toward stressful events. However, today I recognized that I react to certain events with greater equanimity than others. Today, I was forced to react with my ex-fiance. Rather than anger or annoyance that I normally feel when I interact with him, I felt a more calm sensation. Through my new relationship I have recently recognized the conditions which influenced my past relationship. Though I am still telling a "story" of my relationship with my ex-fiance, I am slowly becoming able to recognize my own false creations within the tale. While reacting with my ex- today I accepted the situation in which I was placed and was not bothered. I felt that this was a huge step.
- March 1, 2013:
It is difficult for me to understand the difference between equanimity and passivity. For me, I believe that passivity is often characterized by the refusal to "deal with" an event or moment of existence. Rather than recognizing the five aggregates which make up existence, we refuse to acknowledge that it affects us at all. This is an unskillful habit because it causes us to reject the conditions which make up the experience and limit us from understanding our reactions and reality. The individual often "grasps" at the lack of caring as a sense of strength. Equanimity is the recognition of all conditions and the understanding that while our feelings and desires are valid they are part of the moment. In this, the person is able to be intimate with the experience and acknowledge it's conditions and influences while simultaneously allowing it to be let go.
Equanimity continues to be a difficult concept for me to grasp. Although I recognize that Equanimity required acceptance of the moment as it is, I continue to be unable to separate it from American concepts of inaction. I continue to attempt to "feel" equanimity while practicing yoga or meditation- essentially negating the practice in this respect.
Equanimity is inherent in the practice of the Bodhisattva; the Bodhisattva recognizes that all other individuals and their experiences are as valid as his own. By examining conditions and the moment in terms of the Dharma, equanimity is achieved through attempts to lessen dukkha for all individuals by demonstrating objective reality.
As I approach the end of semester, I become more and more aware of my inability to change certain actions or decisions in my life. After graduation I will be separated from my boyfriend for a year- though this is a long time there is little I can do to change it. I must accept this fact, live with it in the moment, in order to be happy. In order to complete the final weeks of school- I must therefore be present in the moment and accept the condition as it is otherwise I will be miserable from missing him. |
Flourishing/ Happiness
Flourishing/ Happiness:
sukha: pleasant, happy; happiness, pleasure, joy, bliss. It is one of the three feelings (s. vedaná) and may be either bodily or mental. Happiness is an indispensable condition for attaining concentration of mind , and therefore it is one of the 5 factors (or constituents) of the 1st absorption and is present up to the 3rd absorption inclusively. "The mind of the happy one has concentration as its fruit and reward" (A.X,1). - "In him who is filled with happiness, right concentration has found a foundation"
urbandharma.org
My Definition:
Flourishing/ Happiness: the result of becoming awakened through understanding of dukkha and the recognition of impermanence and conditions in life.
The ability to move beyond self-created limitations of dukkha and embrace the moment and experience as it is without expectations.
A feeling or emotion that becomes habitual due to a trained awakened mind.
The theoretical "opposite" of dukkha.
My Journal:
Happiness and flourishing appear to be separate elements within sukha which build off each other. An individual who is flourishing will often be happy- similarly a happy individual will have an easier time flourishing. Like a plant that is watered and nourished, the person will grow more quickly with conditions that create a feeling of happiness.
However, is it possible to have an end goal in Buddhism of being happy? Doesn't this just create an expectation which will create dukkha if the individual does not meet? For me, it seems that it is necessary to follow the path of Buddhism for it's own sake in order to gain a greater understanding of reality and ourselves. Happiness is then a secondary benefit rather than something which is looked for. Like relationships- happiness often comes when we are not looking for it.
Happiness in Buddhism follows understanding dukkha. Does the understanding of dukkha make happiness more apparent for the Buddhist practitioner? As chocolate becomes more sweet after biting into a lemon, is the understanding of dukkha a catalyst for the realization of the individual to the happiness apparent in each moment?
Last year, my mom had a surgery which almost cost her life. After my mother recovered, I became closer to her because I feel I recognized the possibility of her loss more acutely and the blessing which her presence gave. The dukkha created by the conditions of her surgery made my relationship with her better in that I recognized each moment as a gift.
Happiness is the result of the cessation of dukkha through an awakened mind. However, equanimity is also found in the awakened mind. Is it possible to have equanimity while having happiness? I believe yes, equanimity is the acceptance of the moment as it is, happiness is a feeling (one of the five aggregates of existence). As long as the individual does not cling to happiness in an attempt to deny anicca it is possible to be happy in the moment- we cannot raise happiness as a ultimate goal.
As the semester has progressed, I have found that I am the most "happy" in moments in which I am not focusing on anything in particular- when I am living in the moment. This does not mean that I am drinking and having no responsibilities over anything- rather it occurs when I am at the gym, or doing homework, or sitting and cuddling with my boyfriend. It comes when for a split second I stop concerning myself with what is going to happen and merely exist. I am happy when I am nothing but myself, in the moment.
Flourishing- due to Western perspective and definition - is a difficult term for me to apply to my practice of Buddhism- including equanimity and causality. For me, flourishing is the best that I can possibly be, in my education, physically, with my friends, in my relationships - and living in the moment and paying attention to each moment as it happens is contrary to what I've always been taught- that if you work hard you will get ahead. However, Buddhism actually causes Flourishing in all these aspects. Attempting to work hard to get ahead leads to craving, grasping, and dukkha- while living in the moment promotes healthy habits.
With the interdependent co-arising of beings and events through conditions, I have come to realize that without other individuals experiencing happiness and flourishing. I will be unable to experience happiness and flourishing because I will be aware of their pain. For example, when my boyfriend is stressed and upset I want to help him or work with him n order to reduce his pain- when he flourishes I do as well. Similarly, in my family this is also true - I merely need to appy this concept to all individuals in order to promote the end of dukkha and awakening in all lives.
sukha: pleasant, happy; happiness, pleasure, joy, bliss. It is one of the three feelings (s. vedaná) and may be either bodily or mental. Happiness is an indispensable condition for attaining concentration of mind , and therefore it is one of the 5 factors (or constituents) of the 1st absorption and is present up to the 3rd absorption inclusively. "The mind of the happy one has concentration as its fruit and reward" (A.X,1). - "In him who is filled with happiness, right concentration has found a foundation"
urbandharma.org
My Definition:
Flourishing/ Happiness: the result of becoming awakened through understanding of dukkha and the recognition of impermanence and conditions in life.
The ability to move beyond self-created limitations of dukkha and embrace the moment and experience as it is without expectations.
A feeling or emotion that becomes habitual due to a trained awakened mind.
The theoretical "opposite" of dukkha.
My Journal:
- Jan 22, 2013:
Happiness and flourishing appear to be separate elements within sukha which build off each other. An individual who is flourishing will often be happy- similarly a happy individual will have an easier time flourishing. Like a plant that is watered and nourished, the person will grow more quickly with conditions that create a feeling of happiness.
However, is it possible to have an end goal in Buddhism of being happy? Doesn't this just create an expectation which will create dukkha if the individual does not meet? For me, it seems that it is necessary to follow the path of Buddhism for it's own sake in order to gain a greater understanding of reality and ourselves. Happiness is then a secondary benefit rather than something which is looked for. Like relationships- happiness often comes when we are not looking for it.
- Jan 31, 2013:
Happiness in Buddhism follows understanding dukkha. Does the understanding of dukkha make happiness more apparent for the Buddhist practitioner? As chocolate becomes more sweet after biting into a lemon, is the understanding of dukkha a catalyst for the realization of the individual to the happiness apparent in each moment?
Last year, my mom had a surgery which almost cost her life. After my mother recovered, I became closer to her because I feel I recognized the possibility of her loss more acutely and the blessing which her presence gave. The dukkha created by the conditions of her surgery made my relationship with her better in that I recognized each moment as a gift.
- Feb 28, 2013:
Happiness is the result of the cessation of dukkha through an awakened mind. However, equanimity is also found in the awakened mind. Is it possible to have equanimity while having happiness? I believe yes, equanimity is the acceptance of the moment as it is, happiness is a feeling (one of the five aggregates of existence). As long as the individual does not cling to happiness in an attempt to deny anicca it is possible to be happy in the moment- we cannot raise happiness as a ultimate goal.
- March 14, 2013:
As the semester has progressed, I have found that I am the most "happy" in moments in which I am not focusing on anything in particular- when I am living in the moment. This does not mean that I am drinking and having no responsibilities over anything- rather it occurs when I am at the gym, or doing homework, or sitting and cuddling with my boyfriend. It comes when for a split second I stop concerning myself with what is going to happen and merely exist. I am happy when I am nothing but myself, in the moment.
- April 1, 2013:
Flourishing- due to Western perspective and definition - is a difficult term for me to apply to my practice of Buddhism- including equanimity and causality. For me, flourishing is the best that I can possibly be, in my education, physically, with my friends, in my relationships - and living in the moment and paying attention to each moment as it happens is contrary to what I've always been taught- that if you work hard you will get ahead. However, Buddhism actually causes Flourishing in all these aspects. Attempting to work hard to get ahead leads to craving, grasping, and dukkha- while living in the moment promotes healthy habits.
- April 18, 2013:
With the interdependent co-arising of beings and events through conditions, I have come to realize that without other individuals experiencing happiness and flourishing. I will be unable to experience happiness and flourishing because I will be aware of their pain. For example, when my boyfriend is stressed and upset I want to help him or work with him n order to reduce his pain- when he flourishes I do as well. Similarly, in my family this is also true - I merely need to appy this concept to all individuals in order to promote the end of dukkha and awakening in all lives.