---
ai_generation_date: '2026-06-20'
ai_model: gemini-3-pro-preview
audiodharma:
  talks:
  - date: '2022-10-03'
    mp3_url: https://audiodharma.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/talks/17033/20221003-Diana_Clark-IMC-supports_for_equanimity.mp3
    speakers:
    - speaker_name: Diana Clark
      speaker_url: https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/240
    talk_start_time_seconds: 0
    title: Supports for Equanimity
    url: https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/17033
    video_unavailable: false
location_city: Redwood City, CA
video_unavailable: false
youtube:
  id: 4R80NQsFmcA
  imprecise_upload_date: '2023-05-04'
  title: Supports for Equanimity
  upload_date: null
  uploader_str: Insight Meditation Center
  uploader_url: https://www.youtube.com/@InsightMeditationCenter
youtube_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R80NQsFmcA
---

# Supports for Equanimity - [Diana Clark](https://www.audiodharma.org/speakers/240)

*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.*


## Introduction

Good evening, everyone. Nice to see you all. 

## [Supports for Equanimity](https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/17033)

Tonight I'd like to continue on this series I've been doing on the seven factors of Awakening. I've been on the last factor of Awakening, equanimity. So, this is another talk on equanimity, kind of fleshing it out and emphasizing different aspects of it. 

So, this word equanimity, what is equanimity? As I said before, it certainly was not in my vocabulary before I came to Buddhist practice. But this idea that it's a steadiness of mind and heart, maybe in the face of whatever conditions are arising, whether it's some inner turmoil or some outer turmoil, to have some steadiness and not be completely blown off guard—or blown off course, maybe I should say. 

Equanimity is also balance. Sometimes *tatramajjhattatā*[^1], this Pali word that gets translated as equanimity, means like "standing in the middle," which also could be thinking about balance. Or also a way in which to see both the ends of a spectrum. Or to be in the middle is to recognize that it *is* the middle, that there are other things around it, and not be just completely lost in whatever it is that we're lost in. 

It also has this second Pali word, *upekkhā*[^2], that gets translated as equanimity. This word probably literally means something more like "looking upon." I like this definition of equanimity because it makes this distinction: looking upon as opposed to looking away. Sometimes when we think of equanimity, we think, "Okay, so if you're balanced or unshakable or steady, we just assume that means you're disconnected." Because it's often how we think about things, that you're either in the thick of it or you're disconnected from it. Equanimity is actually something in the middle of those two. It's that you're aware of what's happening, you're connected to what's happening, you are feeling what's happening, but you're not overwhelmed by it. You're not blown off course. You still remain balanced. 

Maybe it goes without saying that one of the functions of equanimity is that it just makes life easier if we're not caught up in the latest drama. Drama in terms of something that's wonderful or something that's terrible. But it also helps create the conditions in which there can be some deep letting go. If there's some steadiness, then it's easier to see, "Oh, I don't need to hold on to this. I don't need to shove this away. I'm just feeling okay and upright right here." So equanimity is also a practice or a support for letting go.

## The Simile of the Goldsmith

I'd like to offer a simile about how equanimity is part of practice. It's part of the way that we find our ways to Awakening, hence it's one of the seven factors of Awakening. This is a simile that the Buddha gives, talking about equanimity in the context of purifying or shaping the mind and the heart. 

This is the simile of a goldsmith, somebody who is taking gold and heating it up and then bending it to be a particular shape so that it can be some jewelry, for example, or maybe coins. The simile goes like this: suppose a goldsmith would prepare a hot furnace, heat up a receptacle, take some gold using tongs, and put it into the receptacle. This isn't anything unusual, right? To have a hot place, then put some gold in a crucible and put that in with the heat. Then the simile continues: from time to time the goldsmith would blow on the gold, from time to time the goldsmith would sprinkle water on the gold, and from time to time the goldsmith would just look on as the gold was heating. 

This makes sense. Back then they didn't have a little oven that they could dial the temperature on. You had to just look at it and say, "I think it needs to be a little bit more warm," and then blow on it to increase the heat, or add a little bit of water to cool it down. And sometimes it was just right, and you just had to look upon it. 

The simile continues: if the goldsmith were to only blow on it, it's possible that the gold would just burn up, get too hot. If the goldsmith were to only sprinkle water, it's possible the gold would cool down, get too hard, and you couldn't do anything with it. And if the goldsmith were to only look upon it, the gold would not reach the right consistency. It wouldn't get up to the right temperature where it would be malleable and flexible. But if the goldsmith, from time to time, blew on it, sprinkled water on it, or just looked upon it, then it could become the right consistency, and the condition of the gold[^3] would become purified, bright, unblemished, and rid of imperfection. 

This long list—those exact same words are how the Buddha describes his own mind right before Awakening, having all these qualities, these characteristics. So the Buddha is pointing out with this simile that there are different things that are needed to help get the mind ready for Awakening, get the mind ready for some new insights or for some letting go. Whether this is like the big Awakening or whether it's just getting the mind ready for more freedom, whatever form that might take. 

As you might imagine, blowing on the gold stands for adding some more energy, a little bit more effort to our practice or whatever it is that we're doing. To sprinkle water on it is to allow the mind to get settled and cooled down, to be collected and concentrated. And equanimity is to just look upon. 

I appreciate very much that here the Buddha is putting equanimity in the context of what's best for a practice at that time. This recognition that sometimes energy needs to be put in there. This energy can take all kinds of different forms. Maybe it's a little bit more investigation or just literally bringing up the energy. Not so much that one is restless, but just to apply a little bit more effort. But sometimes what's needed is to calm down. Maybe there is too much restlessness, and you need to calm down. And sometimes it is just to look upon. 

Of course, mindfulness is the faculty that can help us determine what's needed: more energy, more calm, or just to look upon. These four faculties—mindfulness, energy, concentration, and equanimity—are four of the seven factors of Awakening. Just this way in which they can all work together to help the mind become bright—I love this—and malleable, wieldy. Wieldy in terms of how it can be shaped into a bracelet, earrings, or a necklace. But also wieldy meaning we can recognize, "Oh, maybe there's a different practice that's needed right here. Maybe rather than my usual mindfulness of breathing, I'm noticing that I'm having a lot of ill will, for example. Maybe I can do some loving-kindness practice to soften the heart and mind away from some ill will."

## Cultivating Equanimity

Okay, so we might say, "Well, this equanimity thing sounds interesting, but how do we cultivate that? How do we cultivate this steadiness, this balance, this seeing the big picture?" Maybe equanimity doesn't sound too glamorous. But when we put it in the context of what our minds are usually doing—always trying to go towards the pleasant and the exciting, or to get away from the pain and blame and loss and all these uncomfortable things—having this balanced and steady way is not the usual way in which our minds operate. So what are some things that we might do to support equanimity? 

Last week, I spoke about the importance of culturing well-being and warm-heartedness, and there are a number of ways we can do that. Loving-kindness practice is an obvious way for well-being and warm-heartedness. I like this modern-day simile that Rob Burbea[^4], another Dharma teacher, uses to describe well-being as a support for equanimity. He says, imagine that you don't know how to swim and you end up falling overboard and you're in the water. Because you don't know how to swim, you're thrashing about, expending energy in ways that aren't so helpful when you have this panicky feeling. But now imagine if you don't know how to swim, but you have a life jacket on. You get put in the water, but you have this buoyancy and this feeling like, "Okay, I don't know how to swim, but I'm not gonna drown." Maybe you could find a way to kick or swim a little bit, to paddle to where you need to go so you don't have that panicky feeling. 

We might imagine that well-being or warm-heartedness can be like a life jacket. When we do find ourselves in a place that's uncomfortable, not knowing how to swim when we're in the water, it gives us some buoyancy and some steadiness. 

So what are some other practical things that might support equanimity? Some of you know that equanimity is one of the *Brahmavihāras*[^5], which is a meditation practice. I'm not going to talk about that right now, but I would like to say something that we can do in meditation practice. Just at the beginning of our mindfulness practice, spend five or ten minutes with a settling. Sometimes it can be helpful to drop in an intention, the same way that we do with *Brahmavihāra* practice. For equanimity practice, drop in: "May I see the world with quiet eyes. May I see the world with quiet eyes." 

It's not a demand. It's not a plea. It's just setting the intention. This idea of "quiet eyes" is not a usual expression, and maybe there's some wiggle room in there in which you can find what resonates with you. If you find yourself really restless, maybe you could drop this in. Or at the beginning of a practice, when you feel like you'd like to cultivate some equanimity: "May I see the world with quiet eyes."

## Equanimity Off the Cushion

Maybe there are some practices in daily life that we might do to support equanimity off the cushion. This is something that's been really helpful for me. When I first tried this, I felt like, "Okay, Diana, this is good that you're doing this practice." And this is to evenly apply attention to all stages of a project: the planning, the doing, and the cleaning up. 

Is there a way in which we can evenly apply attention to all three of those stages? When I heard about this, I thought, "Okay, I'll do this for the next meal that I'm going to make. Planning? I can pay attention to that. Preparing? I can pay attention to that." I did not want to pay attention to cleaning up. There was something about, "Oh, cleaning up, okay, that's just something I'm going to do quickly. It's the last thing I've got to do to finish up." I really didn't notice how much I was in a hurry, how I didn't want to do it, and how I felt like it was just extra stuff. 

But there's a way in which we can just notice how much of our life is planning, preparing, doing, and cleaning up. Is there a way we might notice if we only pay attention to one of those three stages? And if we are not paying attention to one, can we just bring a little bit more attention to that? Of course, speaking for myself, it turned out to be much more delightful to pay attention to cleaning up after a meal. I'm not going to say that I'm always doing this—sometimes with the dishes, it's not my favorite thing to do. But this is one thing that we can do to support equanimity off the cushion: just pay equal amounts of attention to all the phases of a project.

## Wisdom Practices

What are some wisdom practices that we can do to support equanimity? Equanimity is part of the path of practice, a big support for Awakening, and of course, wisdom is a part of that too. So what are some other practices we might do, either in daily life or in meditation?

One is, just like paying equal attention to all three stages of a project, noticing the changing nature of things. Really tune in to the way things arise and pass away. Tune in to the fact that things aren't always exactly the same. This is a little bit different from straight-up mindfulness. It's more that we're highlighting a certain aspect of our experience. Within mindfulness, we do notice things arise and pass away, but can we tune in to be sensitive, to pay attention to that particular quality of all our experiences? They're rising, they're passing, they're starting, they're ending. They're changing, getting modified as time goes on. 

This is a practice. We all know things are impermanent, right? Intellectually, we understand this; this isn't news to anybody. But it can be a practice to just tune in to this particular quality of all our experiences. And transformation can happen when we tune into certain things over and over and over again. Of course, seeing this change or fluctuation on all scales—the really small, immediate changes, or the big scale, like the changes of the season at the beginning of fall—starts to change our relationship to what's happening. If we're noticing that everything's changing, then it's not quite as attractive to want to really hold on to it. It just doesn't make sense to try to grab something that's slipping away. 

We might even notice in our daily life reflection: are our moods exactly the same from the moment we wake up until we go to sleep? How many different moods did we have? How many different thoughts did we have? How many different things did we eat? Just focusing on that particular aspect of our experience, the mind and the heart can start to let go because they see that things are not worth clinging to. With that letting go, this not-clinging is a way we can maintain some of our balance or steadiness. We're not trying to grab on to things that are slipping away, or push things away so strongly, because we're not insisting that things be a particular way. We're recognizing that they arise and pass away.

## Softening Our Opinions

Another practice we can do, whether in meditation or daily life, is asking: what would it be like to not immediately have an opinion about everything? "This is good, this is bad, this is really good, this is really bad." We have opinions so often. Of course, things are pleasant, unpleasant, or neither pleasant nor unpleasant. But an opinion is more like when we've wrapped up a sense of who we are with whether we like it or don't like it. Often, opinions are a way in which we define ourselves: "I'm the person that likes this." We don't say it that way in our minds, but clinging to a view is definitely part of the way we identify and create a self. It's also part of the way we align ourselves with certain groups of people and distinguish ourselves from other groups. 

What would it be like to soften that? To not immediately have an opinion that this is good or bad. We might say, "Well, right now it feels unpleasant," and just end it with that. "It feels unfortunate," or "This feels pleasant." 

Connected with that, maybe some of you know the Zen story of the farmer. He has a horse that he uses for farming to help drag the plow, or maybe he rides the horse to help bring the livestock in from the pasture. Then one day, the horse runs away, and the farmer doesn't have a horse anymore. This creates some difficulty for him. Some of the villagers come by and say, "Oh, so sorry to hear that your horse ran away. This is such bad luck." And he says, "Bad luck, good luck, who knows?" The villagers think that's a kind of odd response, but they just go on their way. 

Sometime later, he's working—and it's a lot of work without a horse—when he sees his horse returning. And it's brought with it other wild horses that it befriended. These other horses arrive with his original horse, follow it into the corral, he closes the gate, and now he has more horses. This is a fabulous thing. So the villagers stop by and say, "Wow, what good luck you have that your horse brought back these other horses!" And he says, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?" And they think, "Okay, this guy's a really odd person, but that's all right." 

Then his son is trying to work with these new wild horses so they can work on the farm. While the son is working with them, he gets kicked by one of the horses and gets injured badly—a broken leg and maybe some broken ribs. The villagers hear about this and say, "Oh, this is terrible that your son has this broken leg and is really injured. This is really unfortunate, it's really bad luck." And the farmer says, "Bad luck, good luck, who's to say? Who knows?" 

Now there's more work for this poor farmer. He has more horses, but his son isn't able to help because he can't walk. Then the army comes by. They're going to conscript any able-bodied young men. But his son, of course, has this broken leg and is injured, so he doesn't get conscripted into the army. The villagers say, "Wow, what good luck that your son didn't get put in the army!" And you know what he's going to say, right? "Good luck, bad luck, who's to say?" 

Maybe we have our own versions of this story. Maybe we had some heartbreak when we were young and didn't end up with the person we thought we wanted to, but then later found somebody that was a better fit for us. Or maybe the same way with a job we didn't get, but then we were able to get another job. All of us have some stories about this. When I reflect back on my life, some things at the time felt really heartbreaking for me, but now I see, "Yep, I couldn't have had this life now if that hadn't happened, and this life that I have now is so much better." Maybe that's true for you also. Things that felt terrible turned out, in the bigger picture, to not be so bad, or maybe even to be great. 

Equanimity is part of not holding on to this opinion of "Oh, this is terrible." Maybe it's uncomfortable. Maybe it's not what you wished, but it's just a reminder that things might turn out differently in the bigger picture.

## The Eight Worldly Winds

Another reflection to help support equanimity involves the Eight Worldly Winds[^6]—these eight conditions that affect absolutely everybody without exception. A modern translation or interpretation of them could be: success and failure, status and disgrace, approval and disapproval, and ease and unease. 

We can reflect on these using our wisdom. Let's just choose one of them: approval and disapproval. This is about what other people think. Can we really control what other people think? No, we can't. We all know this. How many thoughts do people have? Maybe that's just one thought they had where they weren't so approving of something that we did. Even the news cycles in our little lives change so quickly; it's going to be different very soon. It's not necessarily that people are going to remember this approval or disapproval. Recognizing that we can't control what other people say or think, and that it's going to change anyway, is a helpful reflection. 

Lastly, there's just the acknowledgment of things that are uncomfortable or difficult. This is a reflection or an acknowledgment that difficulties are one way to strengthen our capacities. It's not what we want, but maybe it's how we learn. We learn how to be courageous only when there's fear. We learn to be patient only when we're feeling impatient. 

In the same way, whatever difficulty we're having to work with where we are not feeling equanimity, it can be helpful to reflect on the bigger picture and recognize, "Okay, I'm learning something important here." Maybe it's not even clear what it is, but difficulties are a way in which we stretch our capacities. I've heard the expression, "I wouldn't have wished this on my enemy, but I can see how it was really helpful for me." It doesn't make the difficulty different or easier, but seeing the bigger picture might help us not feel quite so off-balance.

## Rain, Sky, As You Please

I'll close with a quote from the *Theragāthā*[^7], these verses from some monks recounting their Awakening. This is a verse from Subhūti[^8], describing his state after Awakening. I think it beautifully describes equanimity:

> My little hut is roofed and pleasant,
> Sheltered from the wind.
> So rain, sky, as you please!
> My mind is serene and freed.
> I practice wholeheartedly.
> So rain, sky, as you please!

This idea of having a roofed and pleasant hut—he feels he has this steadiness. He practices wholeheartedly, giving himself to the practice. So it's okay if it's really hot in the sun, or it's okay if it's really raining and cold. He's okay. That's one way to think about equanimity. 

## Q&A

So now I'd like to open it up to some questions or comments about equanimity or things that I've said here. Does anybody have some questions or comments, including anybody online with us? Jim has a question.

**Questioner 1:** Thank you so much. The question I wanted to ask is basically a comparison between the idea of equanimity and the doctrine of not-self. It seems like these two are very closely connected. Because the departure from our expectations about the little self and our stories about ourselves—

**Diana Clark:** I'm sorry, the last part I didn't hear.

**Questioner 1:** Sorry, [unintelligible]. The departure from our expectations about the little self in our stories about ourselves is where the angst comes in, I guess. I was just wondering, are there practices that are equanimity plus not-self? Are there good ways to put that into practice for both not-self and equanimity?

**Diana Clark:** I would say equanimity, by definition, as you've pointed out, helps soften the sense of self. We might even say that whenever we are holding on really tightly, that's when this "self" is really there. There are so many things that we can hold on to. So I would say any practice that helps soften the clinging or the holding on will support equanimity. And that lessening of a sense of self does too. Is that helpful?

**Questioner 1:** Most definitely. Thank you, I wasn't thinking about that.

**Diana Clark:** And maybe I could say something else that I talked about earlier with equanimity, not in tonight's talk. Something else that's a support for equanimity is to recognize, "Oh, things are arising because this condition is in place, and that condition is in place, and that condition is in place. So of course it's arising here." Seeing the conditionality of things also really supports not-self, saying, "Oh, there isn't a self here, there are just all these conditions."

**Questioner 1:** Great, thank you.

**Diana Clark:** Anybody else have a comment or question? Okay, very nice. Thank you for your kind attention. May you feel some balance, steadiness, and ease in your practice and in your life. Thank you very much.

---

[^1]: **Tatramajjhattatā:** A Pali word often translated as "equanimity" or "keeping to the middle," literally meaning "standing in the middle of all this."
[^2]: **Upekkhā:** A Pali word commonly translated as "equanimity," deriving from a root meaning "to look over" or "to look upon."
[^3]: Original transcript said "encryption of the gold," corrected to "condition of the gold" based on context.
[^4]: **Rob Burbea:** A contemporary Dharma teacher and author of *Seeing That Frees*, known for his teachings on emptiness and the jhānas.
[^5]: **Brahmavihāras:** The four "divine abodes" or boundless states in Buddhism: loving-kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), sympathetic joy (muditā), and equanimity (upekkhā).
[^6]: **Eight Worldly Winds:** Describes four pairs of universal opposites that constantly buffet human experience: Gain and Loss, Fame and Disrepute, Praise and Blame, Pleasure and Pain.
[^7]: **Theragāthā:** A Buddhist scripture, a collection of short poems in the Pali Canon attributed to early Buddhist monks recounting their path to awakening.
[^8]: **Subhūti:** One of the principal disciples of the Buddha, known for his deep understanding of emptiness.