Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Search Sangha Live

Equanimity: Finding Balance in Difficult Times

With James Baraz recorded on January 16, 2022.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

In times like these with so much uncertainty, fear and suffering, how can we keep our center in a world that sometimes seems to be spinning out of control?

Equanimity (upekkha in Pali) in Buddhist teachings describes the quality of balance in any circumstances. It is one of the Four Divine Abodes, one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, one of the Ten Paramitas and a number of other Buddhist lists. When highly developed it is the precursor to the experience of awakening.

How can we cultivate equanimity in our meditation practice? Even more, how can we access it in our daily life?

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Tags: compassion equanimity suffering wisdom

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • The Energy of Presence

    Recorded : March 12, 2023

    This session explores ways that qigong, a Chinese energy cultivation practice, can deepen our embodied presence. There is discussion, intention-led movement and meditation to help ground our awareness, free up blockages and discover ways to open to our natural vitality. All levels of experience and abilities welcome, and options for limited mobility and seated qigong are shared.

    Read More

  • Nicola Redfern

    Not Knowing is Most Intimate

    Recorded : November 19, 2023

    The Buddha spoke often about the danger of clinging to views and opinions. He recommended we avoid clinging, even to the dharma and to “right view.” In a world increasingly torn apart by our adherence to differing viewpoints, how do we navigate the tension between knowing and not knowing? Our exploration will draw from the…

    Read More

  • Ronya Banks

    Inner Peace in a Chaotic World

    Recorded : November 25, 2018

    In this session Ronya leads us on a journey of exploring the Buddhist principles and practices specifically designed to promote “inner peace” – even amidst a chaotic world. “Everybody wants a happy life. This goal is entirely dependent on our inner peace… We are trying to seek a joyful, happy life from the outside —…

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Changing the Channel: Opening to Goodness

    Recorded : January 7, 2024

    The barrage of frightening headlines often leaves us with feelings of despair, hopelessness, and negativity. While it’s important to feel connected to the suffering all around us, it is equally important to nourish ourselves by opening to the goodness in life–both inside and around us. Our caring can then be held with more spaciousness and…

    Read More

  • Christelle Bonneau

    How can I Sink when I am the Ocean?

    Recorded : June 10, 2018

    In this session we explore more precisely the different individuals we think we are through the days. We will try to recognize them better, with their own feelings, sensations, emotions, thoughts and states of mind. We’ll also try to hear more clearly all the different judgemental voices that take place in us, about the way…

    Read More

  •

    In Relation to Everything

    Recorded : April 5, 2026

    All of our dharma practice is done in relation to something. We’re essentially always in relation to whatever we’re paying attention to. And, we might say that, in order for our dharma practice to progress, we need to be in good relation to four things: the dharma, ourselves, our meditation object and, in general, to…

    Read More