RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Equanimity
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Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis upon which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on equanimity, for when you develop meditation on
equanimity, all aversion is abandoned. (MN 62)
Equanimity fails when it produces the ordinary indifference of the
uninformed. (Vm 9.96) Having thought a mental object with the mind, one
is neither glad-minded nor sad-minded but abides with equanimity,
mindful and fully aware. (AN 6.1)
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Equanimity is
often confounded with indifference or detachment, but this is far from
accurate. These two are mild forms of aversion in which a person chooses
to push their interest away from an object or deliberately remove
awareness from attending to what is present. Equanimity is the opposite
of these, engaging the object with heightened awareness but without
being pulled by attraction or pushed away by aversion.
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See if you can
cultivate the attitude of equanimity, so important to the practice of
mindfulness, as a refined state of mind. Equanimity is not a lack of
interest but a state of heightened curiosity. It does not mean that you
don’t care about something but that your caring about it is not driven
by likes and dislikes. As you regard the thoughts flowing through your
mind, abide with equanimity, mindful and fully aware.
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Tomorrow: Refraining from Frivolous Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Lovingkindness
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