Search results for: "Equanimity"

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  2. Determined Goodwill
     … Even when we go through all the brahmaviharas and get to equanimity, the reason we use equanimity is for the sake of mature goodwill, realizing that there are areas where we would like to see people do what’s skillful and to experience the results of skillful actions, but for one reason or another, it’s not going to happen. If you have genuine … 
  3. The Four Jhanas
     … relaxed and equanimous. In the Canon the distinction between these two levels is described in terms of two different images. One is of a lake fed by a cool spring: That’s the second jhana. There’s a sense of upwelling, a movement of the waters. The cool water from the spring spreads to fill the whole lake effortlessly. There’s no conscious effort … 
  4. Relating to Results
     … One is if we realize that certain things are beyond our control and so we develop equanimity. We want there to be peace, happiness, justice, and well-being throughout the world, but it’s the nature of human society that there will be a lot of unrest, unhappiness, and injustice. There may be areas where we can make a difference, but for the most … 
  5. Strength of Mindfulness
     … You’re not just here looking at things, accepting whatever, I was reading recently an article saying that mindfulness is basically a matter of watching with equanimity. Well, equanimity sometimes is a good thing to have on hand, and sometimes it’s not. If it makes you complacent, if it makes you indifferent, makes you apathetic, then that’s the wrong quality of mind … 
  6. Peace of Mind
     … You know when you’ve improved the mind in terms of its virtue, in terms of its kindness, in terms of equanimity when equanimity is needed, discernment when that’s needed, powers of endurance, patience, peace. These are things we can develop within. And doing this is not a selfish project. We’re not just sitting here gazing at our navels. When you develop … 
  7. Determination
     … This is the kind of endurance and equanimity the Buddha’s talking about, like the endurance and equanimity of a soldier. Sometimes in the battle he has setbacks. Sometimes he has to endure hardships. But he can’t let himself get upset by them. At the same time, he doesn’t give up. He keeps wanting to gain victory. But he realizes that it … 
  8. Perceptions of Earth & Space
     … You need to develop some equanimity and some patience. That’s what this perception of earth is supposed to supply. When the breath is uncomfortable, you don’t get upset. You watch it for a while and try to figure out, “Why is it uncomfortable?” We’re making the mind like earth not so it can be just a clod of dirt sitting there … 
  9. An Even Keel
     … This quality of equanimity and having an even keel depends on several other qualities that are really worth developing. One is just that: your ability to take the long view on things. You realize, for example, in your practice that there are going be ups and there are going to be downs, and there are going to be up-agains and down-agains. And … 
  10. Suppressed Emotions
     … Just be equanimous. Don’t get excited. Don’t get worked up about things.” And then you try to convince yourself that that’s what’s actually happening. You see ideals of what an enlightened person is like — very calm, peaceful, equanimous — and you try to clone the calm, to clone the equanimity. Remember, though, that Right Cloning is not one of the factors … 
  11. Everything Gathers Around the Breath
     … The pleasure can get more and more refined until it’s just a sense of equanimity— balance, equilibrium—and as you do that, you’re working with the mind. You’re gladdening the mind. Working with pleasure and equanimity, you’re making it more steady. And at the same time, you’re releasing it from, say, the heaviness of rapture. Or even before the … 
  12. Attachment vs. Affection
     … So here you have to exercise equanimity, realizing that sometimes affection can draw you into unskillful mind states that you’ve got to watch out for. This is why the brahma-viharas don’t contain just unlimited goodwill, compassion, and empathetic joy, all of which basically come down to goodwill. Compassion is what goodwill feels when it encounters suffering. Empathetic joy is what goodwill … 
  13. A Meritorious Heart
     … And you develop equanimity in areas where things can’t be changed, accepting the fact that there’s a lot of unskillful karma going around in the world, so there are going to be some negative consequences there. Or when things have already happened that were unfortunate, you have to have equanimity about them. The next question is: What do you do about them … 
  14. Goodwill Without Limits
     … Then there’s equanimity for the times when you can’t make a change in other people’s behavior, or there are things in your own mind that you can’t change yet. You’re equanimous about them, but that doesn’t mean you give up on them. You certainly don’t give up on yourself. It means simply that you learn to have … 
  15. Make the Most of What You’ve Got
    When the Buddha taught meditation to his son, Rāhula, he started with some lessons in patience and equanimity. He said, “Make your mind like earth. When people throw disgusting things on the earth, throw trash on the earth, the earth doesn’t pull away in disgust. “Make your mind like water,” he said. “When people use water to wash away disgusting things, the water … 
  16. Why We Practice the Way We Do
     … The more deeply it goes into the concentration, it finally arrives at a state of equanimity where it’s really solidly based. It’s not easily shaken by anything. It’s on that basis that you can look at things really clearly in the mind. The Buddha divides these seven factors for awakening—mindfulness, the analysis, right effort or persistence, a sense of refreshment … 
  17. A Skillful Heart
     … Endurance, equanimity when equanimity is needed, determination, truth: All of these perfections are needed to make sure that your goodwill is not just a floating idea, but that it actually informs everything you do and say and think. That way, your heart is not just a good heart, and you’re not just a good-hearted person. You become a skillful-hearted person. That … 
  18. Determined to Stay with the Breath
     … patience and equanimity. Equanimity is when you’re able to just watch what’s happening and no react. Patience is your ability to endure. If something comes up, and you say, “I can’t stand this any longer,” ask yourself, “Is this killing you?” Well, no. The things the Buddha has you endure are basically physical pain, uncomfortable situations, and unkind words. You have … 
  19. Listening to the Practice
     … There’s also compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. You need all four in order to keep things in balance. For example, when you’re practicing goodwill for yourself, a good way to practice is right here with the breath. You’re perfectly free to breathe in whatever way feels good. It’s a very immediate, very visceral way of showing goodwill for yourself. Instead … 
  20. Determined to Make a Difference
     … Then we come to equanimity—there’s no may there. Everything else is may this, may that, may this, but there’s no may with equanimity. It’s* *simply a statement of fact: All living beings are the owners of their actions. One of the implications of that statement is that there are a lot of things that you can’t change—given people … 
  21. Head, Heart, & Gut
     … When you can think in those terms, then it’s easy to maintain your calm, to be patient and equanimous. You’re patient with the difficulties—the sore knees and the sore backs—and the frustrated desires, and equanimous when you think about how long it’s going to take. That’s where it’s helpful to think of how long samsara is if … 
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