Mindfulness as a Master Skill–Part III, Equanimity
Posted by George Shears | Filed under Mindfulness Basics
The first two components of Basic Mindfulness, concentration power and sensory clarity, have been presented respectively in Part I and Part II of this series. The third component, equanimity, will be the main focus in this final segment.
The word, equanimity, is derived from two Latin words, aequus meaning balanced, and animus, meaning spirit or internal state. It can be defined briefly, then, as maintaining a state of internal mental balance.
It is defined more specifically in Basic Mindfulness as maintaining such balance through an attitude of loving acceptance or matter-of-factness in regard to all moment to moment experience.
Shinzen Young, master teacher of Basic Mindfulness, also refers to it as “radical non-interference with the natural flow of subjective sensation.”
In the body, this essentially entails staying continuously relaxed while experiencing the full range of sensations, from subtle to intense and from pleasant to unpleasant.
In the mind, it consists in letting go of all negative judgments about the full range of mental states, instead embracing them lovingly and continuously in awareness as fully as possible.
When applied in this way, equanimity has three major benefits: 1) By allowing pleasant sensations to flow more freely, they are subjectively experienced as much more satisfying or fulfilling; 2) by similarly allowing the flow of pain or unpleasant sensations, the level of suffering is conversely reduced; and 3) by opening fully to all feelings in this same way, they can be utilized skillfully in motivating and directing behavior, instead of driving and distorting it.
The following short video, featuring Shinzen Young and Stephanie Nash, provides a more comprehensive overview of equanimity:
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This blog has been created as a resource to all people who are dedicated to increasing happiness and to decreasing suffering in their lives--and in the world--by learning how to live more wisely and skillfully.It aims to include a distillation of what I have personally learned in theses regards, along with the collective wisdom of many others.