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

How to Find Balance in Difficult Times

With Oren Jay Sofer recorded on June 2, 2019.

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

Equanimity is balance that comes from wisdom; it’s our heart and mind’s capacity to roll with the inevitable challenges and changes of life without taking it personally, without falling into despair or hopeless. Rather than a bland state of neutrality, or a cold state of indifference, equanimity gives us a wide space to feel the whole range of human experience, and the poise to act with wisdom and care rather than reactivity. Whether it’s personal loss and difficulty, challenges in relationship, or the immense pain our world is facing, equanimity is the indispensable quality that allows us to meet life with grace and balance, and at times to keep going in the face of extraordinary hardship.

In this session you’ll learn tools to:

Find balance with difficult emotions
Understand how we get reactive and what helps us to let go
Get perspective when challenged or overwhelmed

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

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daigan Gaither

    Precepts as Orientation

    The 5 precepts often given to lay practitioners are (with positive instructions in parenthesis): I vow not to kill (Love and support all beings)I vow not to steal (generosity)I vow not to misuse sexuality (contentment)I vow not to lie (compassionate truthfulness)I vow not to intoxicate self or other (staying mindful) We can think of precepts…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ayala Gill – Week of 13 April, 2026

    This week’s theme is: Trusting the Path of Love

    The path of love is a path of transformation, both personal and collective. It is not an easy journey: moments of doubt and overwhelm are part of its terrain, and can sometimes erode our faith. To sustain and deepen our trust, we’ll explore the nature of transformation itself, while cultivating practices that steady and sustain an open heart.

    Our Dharma Library thrives through collective generosity. Your donation helps sustain this offering for our entire community.

    Read More

  • Akincano M. Weber

    On Meeting Conflict and the Incompatible

    “When you can’t go forward, when you can’t go back, and when you can’t stand still – where do you go? This is your place of non-abiding. The things you love and the things you hate: these are your teachers.” – Ajahn Chah How do we perceive conflict? We often see it as disturbing, but…

    Read More

  • Daigan Gaither

    Living by Vow

    If we start with the understanding that everyone is living by vow, how can we examine what vows we are following and change to follow the ones that lead to liberation?

    Read More

  • Embracing the Radical Act of Rest

    In times of global challenges and uncertainty, we often respond with fear-driven action, guilt, or survival mode. Yet the simple act of resting offers a powerful path to liberation. By connecting with our bodies and trusting the ground beneath us, we cultivate ease that naturally supports the awakened mind. When we act from deep rest,…

    Read More

  • Nathan Glyde

    Daily Meditation Recordings, with Nathan Glyde – Week of May 10, 2021

    This week’s theme is: Invitation to Awaken.

    The Buddha adopted a medical model to express the seminal and accessible four noble truths. We can see a diagnosis, a cause and symptoms, a cure, and a treatment. Namely dukkha (stress), taṇhā (thirsting), nibanna (freedom), and the noble eightfold path of release. This can be taken as a simple direction of how to understand and treat the human condition. It’s also an invitation into the depths and intricacies of the dharma.

    Read More