Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Equanimity

"We don’t start out by being equanimous about everything. All too often, people read about the Buddha’s teachings and they see that many of his teachings end in equanimity. The factors for awakening end in equanimity. The four brahma-viharas end in equanimity. It sounds like that’s where we’re going. And many people say, as long as that’s where we’re going, why don’t we just go there first? Why bother with all the steps? Well, the Buddha’s equanimity is very different from ours. The Buddha has found a true happiness. Notice that he doesn’t say nibbana is the ultimate equanimity. It’s the ultimate happiness: the word for happiness, here, sukha, can also mean bliss, pleasure, ease. And it’s worth our while to aim at that ultimate happiness, that we put forth an effort to attain it. Equanimity meant is for the things that either would pull us from the path, or prevent us from moving further along on the path. You have to develop equanimity for those things, the things ...

"We don’t start out by being equanimous about everything. All too often, people read about the Buddha’s teachings and they see that many of his teachings end in equanimity. The factors for awakening end in equanimity. The four brahma-viharas end in equanimity. It sounds like that’s where we’re going. And many people say, as long as that’s where we’re going, why don’t we just go there first? Why bother with all the steps? Well, the Buddha’s equanimity is very different from ours. The Buddha has found a true happiness. Notice that he doesn’t say nibbana is the ultimate equanimity. It’s the ultimate happiness: the word for happiness, here, sukha, can also mean bliss, pleasure, ease. And it’s worth our while to aim at that ultimate happiness, that we put forth an effort to attain it. Equanimity meant is for the things that either would pull us from the path, or prevent us from moving further along on the path. You have to develop equanimity for those things, the things that, if you g...

"So our immediate reaction to danger should be not to follow our instincts to get angry or fearful, but to think of the larger principle of maintaining the good state of our minds. And we’ve got good advice from the Buddha on how to do that. There’s a passage where Ven. Sariputta talks about recollecting the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. And it’s interesting for several reasons: One, he says if you’re being attacked, you should remember the Buddha’s teaching on what to do when you’re attacked. Even if bandits were sawing off your limbs with a two handled saw, you should not have ill will for them. Even for them, you should have goodwill. And so, you should make a resolve, “I’m going to follow the Buddha’s teachings.” And Sariputta says you also try to develop what he called skillful equanimity. Notice he places a condition on it: It has to be skillful. Not all equanimity is skillful. Indifference is not skillful; just giving up is not skillful, saying, “Well, I’ll just have...

"There’s a passage where Ven. Sariputta talks about recollecting the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. And it’s interesting for several reasons: One, he says if you’re being attacked, you should remember the Buddha’s teaching on what to do when you’re attacked. Even if bandits were sawing off your limbs with a two handled saw, you should not have ill will for them. Even for them, you should have goodwill. And so, you should make a resolve, “I’m going to follow the Buddha’s teachings.” And Sariputta says you also try to develop what he called skillful equanimity. Notice he places a condition on it: It has to be skillful. Not all equanimity is skillful. Indifference is not skillful; just giving up is not skillful, saying, “Well, I’ll just have to accept whatever.” Even if you have to submit physically to danger, you have to work on your mind. And as the Buddha says elsewhere, if there are ways that you can escape the danger, go for them. But you do it in a way that’s skillful. B...