Equanimity - New Podcast Episode
A recording of a class I taught on Tuesday 13 December.
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
How mindfulness meditation promotes equanimity
When one meditates with experience, it is usually possible to find a space that does not have the emotional content of emotion-provoking thoughts in a situation that would previously have triggered an emotional response.
As well as experiencing the present moment, a new perspective arises where we see our reality as the present moment, and our thoughts and expectations of the past and future gain perspective.
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Meditations at 07:17
Meditations
- releasing resistance to meditation
- noting releasing resistance to meditation
- using compassion mantra as releasing...
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An ancient perspective on meditation and equanimity
From Chapter 6 of The Bhagavad Gita - one of the first written texts teaching meditation (translation by Stephen Mitchell).
Arjuna said:
"You have taught that the essence of yoga is equanimity, Krishna; but since the mind is so restless, how can that be achieved? The mind is restless, unsteady, turbulent, wild, stubborn; truly, it seems to me as hard to master as the wind."
Krishna replied:
"With torso and head held straight, with posture steady and unmoving, gazing at the tip of your nose, not letting your eyes look elsewhere, sit there calm, fearless, firm in your vow to be chaste, your entire mind directed, focused and absorbed in presence. Constantly mastering your mind, the yogi grows peaceful, attains supreme liberation, and vanishes into bliss.
Mature in yoga, impartial everywhere that you look, you see yourself in all beings and all beings in yourself. Those who see the entire universe in everything and everything in the entire universe, will not be lost, nor will presence be lost to them. Those who are rooted in oneness realize that presence is in every being. When you see all beings as equal in suffering or in joy because they are like you, then you have grown perfect in yoga."
The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic Mahabharata, dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE.
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