Equanimity with Sayadaw U Pandita

U Pandita (Tricycle: The Buddhist Review); Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly 

According to the Buddha, the way to bring about equanimity is wise attention: to be continually mindful from moment to moment, without a break, based on the intention to develop equanimity.

One moment of equanimity causes a succeeding moment of equanimity to arise. Once equanimity is activated, it will be the cause for equanimity to continue and to deepen.

It can bring one to deep levels of practice beyond the insight into the arising and passing away of phenomena.

Equanimity does not arise easily in the minds of beginning yogis (Buddhist practitioners). Though these yogis may be diligent in trying to be mindful from moment to moment, equanimity comes and goes.

The mind will be well-balanced for a little while and then it will go off again. Step by step, equanimity is strengthened.

The intervals when it is present grow more prolonged and frequent. Eventually, equanimity becomes strong enough to qualify as a factor of enlightenment.

Along with this practice of wise attention, here are five more ways to develop equanimity:

1. Balanced emotion toward all living things

Emotions are strange things that catch us.

The first and foremost is to have an equanimous attitude toward all living beings. These are our loved ones, including animals. We have a lot of attachment and desire (craving and clinging) associated with people we love and with our pets.

Sometimes we can be what we call “crazy” about someone. This experience does not contribute to equanimity, which is a state of balance.

To prepare the ground for equanimity to arise, one should cultivate an attitude of nonattachment (nonclinging) and equanimity toward the people and animals we love.

As worldly people, it may be necessary to have a certain amount of attachment in relationships, but excessive attachment is destructive to us as well as to loved ones: We begin to worry too much over their welfare.

Particularly during a meditation retreat, we are wise to set aside such excessive concern and worry about the welfare of our friends.

One reflection that can develop nonattachment (letting go) is to regard all beings as the heirs of their own karma (their actions).

People reap the benefits of good (skillful) karma and suffer the consequences of unwholesome (unskillful) acts. They create this karma under their own volition, and no one can prevent their experiencing the pleasant and unpleasant consequences.

In the ultimate sense, there is nothing we or anybody else can do to save them. If we think in this way, we may worry less about our loved ones.

We can also gain equanimity toward beings by reflecting on ultimate reality. Perhaps we can tell ourselves that, ultimately speaking, there is only mind and matter (mentality and materiality).

Where is the person we are so wildly in love with? There is only name and form (nama and rupa), mind and body, arising and passing away from moment to moment.

Which moment are we in love with? We may be able to drive some sense into our heart this way.

"You can't calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass."

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One might worry that reflections like this could turn into unfeeling indifference and lead us to abandon a mate or a dear person. This is not the case.

Buddhist equanimity (upekkha) is not indifference, insensitivity, or apathy. It is simply nonpreferential.  It is being unbiased. Under its influence, one does not push aside the things one dislikes nor grasp at the things one prefers.

The mind (heart) rests in an attitude of balance and acceptance of things as they are. When equanimity -- the factor of enlightenment -- is present, one abandons both attachment to beings and dislike for them.

Buddhist texts tell us that equanimity is the cause for the cleansing and purification of one who has deep tendencies toward lust or sensual desire, which is the opposite of equanimity.

(PDF) Equanimity and its role of emotional regulation in mindfulness (researchgate.net)

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2. Balanced emotion toward inanimate things

The second way of developing this factor of enlightenment is to adopt an attitude of balance toward inanimate things: private property, clothing, the latest fad on the market.

For example, clothing will be ripped and stained someday. It will decay and perish because it is impermanent, like everything else.

Furthermore, we do not even own it, not in an ultimate sense. Everything is impersonal (non-self); there is no one to own anything.

To develop balance and to cut down clinging, it is helpful to look at material things as transient. We might say to ourselves, “I’m going to make use of this for a short time. It’s not going to last forever.”

What's equanimity? Peace no matter what

People who get caught up in fads may be compelled to buy each new product that appears on the market, like the latest cell phones.

Once this gadget has been bought, another more sophisticated model will soon appear. It's in the company's marketing plan. Such persons throw away the old one and buy a new one. This behavior does not reflect equanimity.

3. Avoiding people who “go crazy”

The third method for developing equanimity as an enlightenment factor is avoiding the company of people who tend to be crazy about people and things.

These people have a deep possessiveness. They cling to what they think belongs to them, both people and things. Some people find it difficult to see another person enjoying or using their property.

There was a case of an elder who had a great attachment to pets. It seems that in his monastery he bred many dogs and cats. One day this elder came to my center in Rangoon, Burma, to do a retreat. When he was meditating, he was practicing under favorable circumstances, but his practice was not very deep. 

Finally, I had an idea and asked him if he had any pets in his monastery. He brightened up and said, “Oh yes! I have so many dogs and cats. Ever since I came here, I’ve been thinking about whether they have enough food to eat and how they’re doing.”

I asked him to forget about the animals and concentrate on meditation, and quite soon he was making good progress.

Please do not allow overattachment to loved ones, humans or pets, to prevent you from attending meditation retreats that will allow you to deepen your practice and to develop equanimity as a factor of enlightenment.

4. Choosing friends who stay cool

As a fourth method of arousing upekkha, equanimity, choose friends who have no great attachment to living beings or possessions. This method of developing equanimity is simply the converse of the preceding one.

In choosing such a friend, if you happen to pick the elder I described just now, it could be a bit of a problem.

5. Inclining the mind toward balance

The fifth and last cause for this factor of enlightenment to arise is constantly to incline the mind toward the cultivation of equanimity.

When our mind is inclined in this way, it will not wander off to thoughts of our dogs and cats at home, or of our loved ones. Instead, it will only become more balanced and more harmonious.

Equanimity is of tremendous importance both in the practice and in everyday life. Generally, we either get swept away by pleasant and enticing objects or worked up into a great state of agitation when confronted by unpleasant and undesirable objects.

This wild alternation of contraries is nearly universal among human beings. When we lack the ability to stay balanced and unfaltering, we are easily swept into extremes of craving or aversion.

Buddhist sutras say that when the mind indulges in sensual objects, it becomes agitated. This is the usual state of affairs in the world, as we can observe.

In their quest for happiness, people mistake excitement of the mind for enduring happiness. They never have the chance to experience the much greater joy that comes with peace and tranquility. Source

• AUTHOR: Buddhist monk Sayadaw U Pandita served as the abbot of Panditarama Monastery and Meditation Center in Rangoon, Burma (Yangon, Myanmar).