Equanimity For Tuesday Night Discussion

Upekkha is a difficult word for the person who has never heard of it before to comprehend however it is easy for those who have heard of it and who have practised meditation. Literally, Upekkha means Equanimity, to be able to face life in its entire vicissitudes with calmness of mind and tranquility. And without any disturbance. Some could easily misunderstand and think that Upekkha means that they ‘don’t care for happiness and unhappiness’. And so Upekkha must be accompanied with wisdom and right understanding.

One important thing about equanimity is that it is a state of mind which is freed from the slavery of good or bad, right or wrong, like or dislike; it is state of pure wisdom. It also means to understand things as they really are. The state of mind then, is neutral; not reclining to either side; good or bad, right or wrong, like or dislike. It is also ready to solve the problems of life at its cause and root. For example, if we see a person suffering, at first we have loving-kindness towards him and try to help him as much as we can out of compassion. When he is relieved, we rejoice with him in his happiness. On the contrary, if he cannot escape from suffering or his problem, even though we have tried very hard to help him, but all has failed. It is then that we should have equanimity, remembering that it may be because of his kamma. He has to pay for that in some way or it may be his own duty to have to do so and then we have to leave it to him, with our mind in a neutral state.

Another example is that parents look after their children with four sublime states of mind. They look after them closely, carefully, mindfully and so on. When the children come for help or guidance, they help them out of loving-kindness and compassion. When their children are successful in life, they rejoice with them in their success. And when they grow enough, the parents have to leave them to face and live their life independently.

In daily life, if we live a life abiding by the four sublime states of mind, it doesn’t mean that we have to worry about all people around us because everything goes on its own way. We should not forget about human kamma and look at things according to the cause and effect. We can be kind and compassionate towards others, help them out and rejoice with them when they are happy. When they are unhappy and we are not in a position where we can help them, then we just have to leave it to them, with a neutral state of mind. We should not worry so much that we cannot do anything; remembering that things go on their own ways.

In meditation practice, especially Vipassana, the Buddha said that a meditator should establish mindfulness in contemplation of Dhamma. So we can use Dhamma like loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity with any emotion or sensation. For instance, when anger appears we can observe it as it arises of its own accord. Similarly if other feelings happen, we observe them as they arise of their own accord. In Muchjima nikaya Upparipannasa, the Buddha said to Ananda, “Ananda, to perceive things by the five aggregates, the feelings; like or dislike or neutrality that happens to you. Those feelings spring from mental formation. If you have Upekkha Dhamma, all the feelings such as like or dislike will disappear and then neutrality can appear.”

So Upekkha is called ‘pure wisdom’. Upekkha is one of mental factors which are without prejudice. The entire problems which happen in life nowadays are because of the mind with its views, opinions and prejudices. If we can develop Upekkha, we can reduce a lot of problems in our life. We, with Upekkha, can see the cause and effect of things and understand things as they really are. Everything has its own kamma and goes on its way.