3 Methods for a Calm and Neutral mind.
Hello once again. I hope you’re keeping well amidst these very difficult times both mentally and physically. We all are surely going through a period of a pandemic which for one we thought would at least end in another two years, and two, thought would be less fearful than this. Regardless, I thought that this topic ‘equanimity’ also known as ‘Upekkha’ in the Pali language in the Buddhist texts would somewhat be of relevance to the current living. And yes I’m sure you didn’t miss it, my parents have definitely given their kid a deep, meaningful name eh. On that note, years back I absolutely hated my name, I thought it wasn’t ‘modern’ enough, but then once I read on Buddhism, I realised how silly that thought was. Equanimity thus means having a neutral stance when facing both good and bad experiences in life (definitely easier said than done).
Anyway, as expounded by the Fully Realised One, the Buddha - Equanimity is known as one of the Four Divine dwellings that when practised helps one reborn in a Brahma World. To those that don’t know, in Buddhism, the belief is that after death, beings can be born in many worlds including human, ghost, animal and hell words and heavenly worlds according to the actions they do in this life. Higher than all the heavenly worlds that also have sensual pleasures, males & females, is the Brahma World which only has males. The Maha Brahma (leader among Brahmas in the Brahma World) possess these divine dwellings — loving-kindness, appreciative joy, compassion and equanimity.
Now that we know the ‘what’ factor of equanimity, ‘why’ would this be important in our lives you think? The Buddha once again from his astounding wisdom said that people face 8 eight vicissitudes (ups and downs) in this life. And one who practices ‘equanimity’ becomes mentally strong enough to not grieve in pain and not elate in gain but remain calm and neutral minded.
The eight vicissitudes: Gain and loss, Praise and Blame, Fame and Disrepute, Pleasure and Pain.
The ‘how’ factor of equanimity, of course the most important of all could be done in several ways.
- Upekkhā meditation
- Recalling the ‘impermanence nature’
- Mindful and aware of experiencing the eight vicissitudes.
The Upekkhā meditation verses which will be at the end of this article, develop the mental ability of one to face these eight vicissitudes well.
An instance when points 2 and 3 helped me was when I recently encountered a ‘blame’ from a person. I knew it was my fault, and I deserved that blame. Regardless this harmless blame of something minor made me upset for quite mainly due to never receiving blame from this person before. And so I recognised this and thought ‘ I need to develop equanimity. Let me not run from this or distract this vicissitude but recognise this’. I also suddenly remembered about ‘how people change, about how this blame is also impermanent’. In this case, the person who blamed me usually has patience and loving-kindness. However, during this time I realised people have limits on their patience, they can change, and that this blame was done out of benefit for me to correct myself.
Another instance is when my mother suddenly lost her only brother, a few years back. He was a healthy, young man that lost his battle to cancer. Currently, as I sit in front of her to ask how she took his death so well, I ask ‘Was it the recalling of the impermanent nature of beings?’. ‘Yes, definitely. And also when you practice the factors leading to stream-entry (a stage of enlightenment where you have a maximum of 7 births until you attain Nibbana), you develop the divine dwellings’. She says. ‘A bit too deep for my article ammi’, I say, amazed at her wisdom and mental strength. Here too, what helped her is being aware of the vicissitude of loss and recalling that all things are impermanent and are subject to separation from us, there is no escaping that until we escape from birth and death (Nibbana).
Therefore, I hope this article was of some benefit to you and that you can refer to these steps to build your equanimity and not be absorbed by the fear, hatred, negativity and misery surrounding you, but develop a stable, unshaken mind that recognises the realities in life. Keep safe:)
Upekkhā Meditation
- May I not be elated by gain, may I not be grieved by loss; may I not be elated by praise, may I not be grieved by blame; may I not be elated by fame, may I not be grieved by disrepute; may I not be elated by bodily pleasures, may I not be grieved by bodily displeasures; may I not be elated by mental pleasures, may I not be grieved by mental displeasures; and may I be peaceful.
- As I wish for me…May all beings not be elated by gain, may they not be grieved by loss; may they not be elated by praise, may they not be grieved by blame; may they not be elated by fame, may they not be grieved by disrepute; may they not be elated by bodily pleasures, may they not be grieved by bodily displeasures; may they not be elated by mental pleasures, may they not be grieved by mental displeasures; and may they be peaceful.
