Equanimity, (upekkha) or peace of mind, is believed in Buddhism to be the key to achieving happiness. Which is achieved by eliminating cravings that are crating from suffering, or duhkka. When you can detach from all the desires of life and this world, then and only then is it possible to achieve peace of mind, or enlightenment. Mental dysfunction, as we know, originates in the mind. We should quiet our mind and start the way to happiness. Peace of mind is a true gift, as it will erase all your struggles. Insight and tranquility are said to be the prerequisites for the mind if one wishes to reach nirvana, or the ultimate reality.
It's important to know that there is no self in equanimity. We know, as a people, how hard it is in this broken world to achieve a balanced, or even state of mind. Equanimity results from hard work, it is not something you can achieve overnight. Selfness is an illusion. Our actions come into fruition and go out and are no longer our own. They go into this life and belong to a collective whole. Equanamity leaves us as the ego appears and refers to actions as their own. When you can forsake yourself then peace of mind comes. Equanimity is truly something that is needed in this world, but we must always remember, suffering is constant and is one of the four noble truths. (The four noble truths were discussed in a previous post.) Suffering comes from desires.
Insight comes from understanding one's self. The belief is that all our suffering originates from within. One takes actions, generating deeds (Yes, you guessed right. This is what we call karma.) These deeds stick with us, generating our suffering. For we are not suffering at the hands of the world, but by the suffering we create. Why should we fear? All our actions come from our hands, then become out of our control when they enter this world. If we do fear, we know where to take shelter. That's right: our good deeds. Selfless actions are our armor against this harsh world and the battles we wage against it. It takes courage to do what is right. To make our deeds close to your heart will surly help bring peace of mind. Our deeds will become our companions, and they will bring us both great joy and great sorrow. We always seem to keep our deeds close to our heart, for better or for worse.
Do not fear and forsake selfness. Equanimity is known as one of the four sublime states. It is the crown of the four states. Each of the four sublime states are independent and codependent and the same time. In future posts we will discuss the other three sublime states, love, compassion, and sympathetic joy. Each topic is deep so we do not have the space here to look at the other three sublime states as much as you and I want to. Stay tuned.
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