Equanimity is key
Equanimity (Latin: æquanimitas having an even mind; aequus even animus mind/soul) is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies. (Wikipedia : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equanimity)
I’ve been unwittingly chasing this state for a long time. I thought I was chasing happiness but as I’ve progressed with meditation and particularly as I’ve started reading “The Mind Illuminated” I’ve realised happiness is just another emotion and it’s actually a calmness of mind that’s the end-game.
As I’ve progressed with my practice I’ve started to allow myself the emotions and feelings that arise and not resist them. Acceptance leads to non-reaction and non-reaction is the start of equanimity.
Picture by http://https://www.flickr.com/photos/pslee999/
Learning non-reaction as the first response when something upsets you, or indeed if something makes you enormously excited, is a long road as it turns out. Establishing any kind of meditation practice will help you gain control of explosive emotions or over-reactions, but a daily routine is key to quicker growth and stronger development of equanimity.
In ‘The Mind Illuminated” the ten stages of meditation start with “Stage One – Establishing a practice”, and you don’t complete that stage until you establish a daily practice. It certainly shouldn’t stop you moving forward with the later stages, the book is designed to be dipped in to and used as a guide. Learning breath work and training your brain to notice the mind wandering are essential parts of learning equanimity. Although establishing a daily practice should be high on your list of things to do as well.
Much like anything that requires a habit to be formed; exercise, writing, tidying your apartment, if you can repeat the action 21 times (so they say) then it becomes unconscious and the pathway in the brain that’s followed when you carry out the action becomes a well worn path with low resistance. I’ve never managed a 21 day streak of meditation, but it still remains high on my agenda and I’ve successfully worked other habits in to my life, so I know this is an achievement I will get to.
If we could all learn to practice equanimity a little more by flexing that muscle more regularly I honestly believe we’d have less tension and conflict in the world. It has to start with the individual though, so maybe follow that link above to “The Mind Illuminated” and see if you can get a little more non-reactive in your day to day life.
