This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Guided Meditation: Equanimity

So, good morning everyone and welcome. We'll have a Zoom meeting when we finish here at 7:45 for those of you who would like to come. I'll announce it again; the link is at the very top of this chat, and I'll probably post it again later and say more about it.

To begin this meditation, it's a little bit auspicious in many ways. Here on this Earth Care Day—Earth Day—we come to the end of the inner development that happens in practicing sati^[1] (awareness). The upper reaches of what happens with awareness practice is that we come to equanimity.

Imagine that this modern technology that we have, virtual reality glasses, imagine they make glasses that are attuned to your mood and mental state, and what's happening inside of you. And so the frame of the glasses and the glasses themselves morph and change according to how you're feeling and what you're concerned with. Sometimes the rims get really, really wide, and sometimes they get really narrow. Sometimes they almost move away from your face, like going towards something that you're interested in. Sometimes they recede backwards and press up against your face. Sometimes they raise one side of the frame—like an eyebrow rises really high. Sometimes they wink. Sometimes they have all kinds of looks that they do.

And people would start feeling maybe kind of almost naked, because the way they keep their face sometimes is not quite representative of what is going on inside.

So, of course, we don't have those kinds of glasses yet. Rather, the glasses that we have—those of us who do have glasses—are not reacting to the world around us. They don't pick up our emotions. They are not interacting with the world in emotional, reactive ways. They're just there, peacefully, we could say equanimously.

It isn't so much that I want to make this as an analogy for equanimity, as I want to say that all our responses and reactions, all the rich world that we have out there, continues even with the glasses that don't react. But we see through the glasses—the medium for seeing for some of us—and so the glasses have a fantastic function kind of independent of how we're feeling in our mood and what's going on around us.

In the same way, as awareness gets stronger and stronger, more developed, there comes a time when awareness has a quality of non-reactivity, non-engagement. It's not riding and being pushed around by or caught up in the inner moods, reactions that we have, the thoughts that we have. It's not exactly aloof. It's there, everything goes through it in a sense, like everything goes through the glasses. It doesn't diminish our humanity; it actually enhances it. It's kind of like we can see things more clearly. However, there is this place of steadiness, stillness, non-reactivity that is able to do a fantastic work of seeing, but does not interact. It does not get caught in it, just like my glasses don't get caught in what's happening right now.

So I say that so that maybe there's a little bit less hesitation to explore this topic of equanimity. A balanced state of mind where awareness is strong enough, clear enough, where the clarity is clear enough that we clearly see. We don't have to get involved. Not only don't we have to, but the very quality, the very state that we're in, there's no inclination for awareness to get swept away or caught up in all the different movements of the mind and the world around us.

So taking a meditative posture. Taking a few moments to feel your body as it is. Any tensions you might have, agitation you might have. Any contentment you might have in taking the posture. Allow yourself for a few moments just to breathe with however it is in your body. Letting the tensions be there, the holdings be there, agitation, contentment, whatever it is.

And as you do so, do you have reactions in the mind? Is awareness hijacked by preferences? Likes and dislikes? Desires for it to be different? And what would it be like to sit here with your body, with an awareness that is equanimous about how it is right now? An awareness that allows things to be as they are.

And so now, taking a few long, slow, deep breaths, and on the exhale relaxing the body. Softening the belly. On the exhale, letting go into the support your seat, your chair, has for the weight of your body. Relaxing the shoulders.

On the exhale, softening the face, especially around our eyes. We often do in fact express our feeling inside—nothing wrong with that, but the eyes could use some rest, where they don't have to be looking, searching, expressing anything. And on the exhale, softening, relaxing any tension that's easy to relax in the mind.

And now, like we did at the beginning, how is your body? Are you able to be with your body a little bit more calmly? With less agitation, maybe more settled? And if you are, or if you're not, breathe gently through your body.

And as you breathe through the body, especially on the exhale, settle yourself into a kind of quiet stillness. Quiet tranquility. Where you know what's happening, but you're not entangled with it. Just knowing.

As you breathe, especially on the exhale, see if you can settle your mind. Allowing the mind to become quiet and still. Where the mind is more at rest than it is working the meditation.

And as you're aware, does awareness itself have some quality, characteristics of equanimity, non-reactivity? Being balanced without being for or against? Only the awareness, steady, stable.

There might be other feelings, ideas, tendencies in the mind that involve preferences and wants and not wants, but awareness knows them equanimously. Just knows them, without being involved, reactive, or judgmental. Awareness stays clear, unagitated.

Let go, so that your awareness can be non-reactive. Aware, but not involved. A medium through which you know what's happening. Like a glass window: when the curtains are pulled and the glass is clean, we see through it without the glass being reactive. We see through awareness, with awareness at ease.

And in the classic instruction around equanimity, one knows equanimity is present. Or if it's not present, one knows it's not present.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, one valuable contribution that equanimity gives us: it allows for love to flow freely. Without being hijacked by our desires, our attachments, our aversions, our preferences. A simple love or kindness. Generosity of heart, in which we can gaze upon others in loving friendship.

And with equanimity helping us to stay close to this loving friendship, friendly love... Perhaps with whatever equanimity or stability of attention you have right now, in whatever way makes sense for you, gaze upon the world. Gaze upon the people of your life with loving friendship, friendliness.

Allowing the preferences and opinions, desires and aversions, hurts and needs, to recede to the background enough that the loving-kindness can join with equanimity for an equanimous love. Stable, relaxed, non-reactive. Just kind, just kind regard.

And may it be that this practice we do allows us to see the world through loving eyes. May we see the world through our kindness and care. May we live for the welfare and happiness of all beings. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free.

Dharmette: Satipaṭṭhāna (61) Equanimity Factor of Awakening

So hello everyone, and we come to the end of the five-part series on the seven factors of awakening. This is the second-to-last exercise in the discourse on the Satipaṭṭhāna^[2], for establishing awareness. These seven factors of awakening are the foundation for the last exercise, which is to have the penetrating insight to see in a liberating way, and awaken in a way that awakens.

That's one of the reasons the seven factors of awakening are called factors of awakening: they set the stage for awakening, for freedom. And they also are qualities of that awakening itself. So it's a beautiful thing where we're growing in the qualities that will mature with our awakening.

I still want to say what I've been saying all week: that these factors of awakening are not ordinary mindfulness, investigation, effort, joy, tranquility, concentration, equanimity. Whatever "ordinary" might mean, they are really the product, the result, or the consequence of having really settled in doing this practice of mindfulness, of awareness.

Mindfulness has brought us to a place of stability, of lots of clarity, and where in our whole being, our body and our mind have become somewhat unified and collected for the purposes of meditating, of being here. We're no longer thinking about events of the day yesterday or what's going to happen. We're not caught up in our fantasies or our resentments or this distracted thought.

It's not easy to come to this point. But at some point, we come to this point and we really feel like, oh, there's a vitality in awareness, a vitality in being present in the full way. And so then these states, these seven factors of awakening—there are no instructions to cause them to arise, to make them happen, but one recognizes when they are present and one recognizes when they're not. We also recognize when they arise, they're appearing, and our role is to maintain them, to let them keep developing.

And a lot of that has to do, at this stage of practice, with getting out of the way. If a ball is rolling down a hill, if you stand and step in front of it and block it, it won't roll. But if you get out of the way, it continues to roll down the hill. So these seven factors of awakening will keep growing and moving if we have learned how to stay out of the way.

A lot of that has to do with not getting involved in thoughts, not getting caught up in our thoughts, distracted by thoughts. Not getting involved in wanting and not wanting, not tinkering with our experience, making it more refined and kind of working it. But beginning to just let go of the doer, let go of the activity of being the meditator, and just getting out of the way and allowing something else to emerge, to unfold: these seven factors of awakening.

And for that, there has to be some momentum in the practice as well. So this is why, having done the practice for a while, maybe a long time, so that it becomes like second nature to do it, it's like there's a kind of momentum. The body knows; the body is connected to this practice. You sit down to meditate and the body gathers itself together because it's familiar with this, it knows the familiar territory, and it's like coming home.

So as these develop, and following samādhi^[3], concentration, real stability, a unified mind—the tendency of the mind to get fragmented again, to get caught up in any kind of mental or inner state that's arising or any external thing, is diminished. Because the sense of awareness feels so strong, so precious, so rich in that clarity of being that it seems like it's much better than any alternative—any alternative of thinking and being distracted and caught up in things. And so we come back to it and stay there.

In that mind, there's a wonderful, precious sweetness or beauty or wonderfulness to this clarity of mind, which is non-reactive. This clarity of mind that's not working the practice anymore, not reacting, not fixing or tinkering. Where there's no doer operating, where there's just a clarity of being aware.

That stability, that equanimity, is what allows for there to be deep insight. Then our seeing—we don't see through the filter of our projections, our agitation, all the concepts and ideas and commentary we have about things, but we begin seeing or perceiving, feeling what's happening in a much more direct way. And in doing so, we start having insights into what's happening that is freeing. And that's for next week.

So it's a remarkable thing that these beautiful qualities of being are a byproduct of mindfulness practice. At some point we want to recognize that these are beginning, even the hints of these are beginning to arise, because it's the recognition of their presence that allows them to grow. To recognize becomes a more and more clarity of awareness; that is mindfulness. Recognizing in that clarity, there is a capacity to choose between what's healthy and not healthy, skillful and not skillful. To know how to stay present in a mindful, relaxed, freeing way—then there's the enthusiasm, the energy to do that, which allows the practice to grow.

And then there's the joy of doing it. And then with that joy, perhaps a contentment, a satisfaction. It lets so many of our anxieties settle and quiet down. And then we have concentration, a unification of mind, and we have equanimity.

So the seven factors of awakening: mindful of their presence, mindful of their absence, mindful of when they arise so that we can get out of the way and maintain them and let them keep going. These are what happen at some of the mature stages of mindfulness. Don't worry about being in these mature stages. The only thing that's important, moment by moment, is this moment. This moment of practice. As if you're putting drops into a bucket; each drop is as valuable as any other drop, and so each drop is complete in itself.

So each moment of mindfulness, each second, each moment of mindfulness is complete in itself. Don't be so concerned or caught up with attainments or getting somewhere. But when the seven factors of awakening start showing themselves, recognize they're there, know they're present, and maybe even know as they're arising. And then learn the art of maintaining them, getting out of their way, and letting them grow.

So thank you very much.

Announcements

So a few announcements. In a few minutes, we'll start with a Zoom meeting for those of you who would like to join. The Zoom link is in a few places: it's at the very top of the chat, and it's also on the IMC website homepage under "What's New." There's a notice about it. Also on the IMC calendar, there's a notice for 8:45. And there's a password you need to use. The password is the Pali word, the Buddhist word for loving-kindness, which is mettā^[4]: m-e-t-t-a. There's a prompt there that reminds you—it says "Buddhist word for loving-kindness," and that it starts with "m" and is all lower case.

A couple of other announcements: it is Earth Care Day and Earth Day, a day of both distress and celebration, and a few things are related to this at IMC. IMC is starting an Earth Care group that will meet monthly to discuss Earth Care projects, activities, and study. There's information about that under "What's New" on the IMC website, and that first meeting is going to be next Saturday, the 30th of April.

There's also a notice on the homepage under "What's New" that I teach a Buddhist eco-chaplaincy training program, training people to be chaplains to offer spiritual care in relationship to the environment, the natural world. You can find a little bit of information there and discover how to find out more under "What's New" at the home page of the IMC website. So it seems nice to mention these things here on Earth Care Day, Earth Day.