Further to a previous thread…
[U]Equanimity of feeling[/U] for me, is very difficult to achieve. When I practise this I feel like I’m switching off my feelings/ emotions and that I don’t care. On the reverse I feel like I can’t get excited or overjoyed over anything.
How do you maintain this balance without seeming robotic-like or blas?? :o
Great topic. Thanks omamana. This will require some more thinking past my first post.
I can say that sometimes I experience equanimity, and sometimes I do not. My search is to understanding what is happening inside me during equanimity, and remember it.
I don’t think equanimity of feeling means switching off feelings. I believe you can feel, recognize the emotions, embrace them, then let them go. Easier stated than done, I know.
Equanimity is one of the 4 great virtues in Buddhism. Others are compassion, loving kindness and sympathetic joy. And like Flex said above, “easier said than done”.
Being mindful is related to equanimity. If you are mindful of the here and now, you are not overcome with feelings and emotions or thoughts. You can on a very intimate level be the beauty that you see without the attachments.
It takes practice and more practice. I look at it like Vipassana meditation. Allow the thoughts and feeling to come and go, but attach no meaning to them and don’t try to understand them. Just be aware. Awareness = mindfulness = equanimity?
All I know, is I keep trying and try not to read too much into it.
Good thread!
In my practice, is seems that equanimity of mind has been a result of practice rather than a discipline of it. Over time things did not bother me as much. Dealing with difficult circumstances because easier with a clearer head as there was space to think carefully about the situation, choices, and results. Because I was less confused, there was time to reflect on myself and my life. My confidence rose as I accomplished more. Knowing myself better reduced fear: fear of losing, fear of winning, fear of the unknown, fear of myself. I was not filled with anxiety or worry, and as a result more energy was devotedto the things that were most important to me - family, friends, studies, myself, the world.
And this isn’t to say that I never feel the negative emotions, but I see it like this:
Your stress, is like a glass of water. If your stress is low, there is very little water in the bottom and therefore a lot of air circulating freshly above it. Then one day you have an important job interview, and someone pours a little bit of water in your glass so there is more stressd. After the meeting you go home and the level eventually evaporates. Maybe you can even speed the evaporation process by doing relaxing activities like watching House and taking a long hot bath.
The problem for most of us is that we get the job we applied for, and then we start pouring water into our glass. Perhaps we throw a few other things in the glass also: lemons, a stack of paperwork we need to bring home, a few shots of whiskey… and the level just keeps rising. We treat our minds like I treat my purse - to me it is endless. Now some of us have tiny glasses and we fill up and overflow right away, freaking out on everyone and quitting our jobs. Some of us started with a large glass, and the climbing water level really doesn’t hit us until we’re nearing the top and realize something is wrong. At that point, we try all the things that used to work: taking that long hot bath, going for a walk, watching a good movie… and maybe it helps a little, but it just brings that level down a bit.
So - emotions? Feeling? Was that what we were talking about? I think that the air at the top of the glass is for emotion. If someone makes you angry, the anger dances around on the surface of the water like a little fire, fogging up the sides and steaming up the place until the wind catches it and floats it out the window. The more space there is, the better the cross breeze. The less space available, the more likely you are to get burned or start sizzling up the water. In the same light, if you love someone, the love has a lot of room to float around (imagine the aurora borealis in your Kleen Kanteen)… If the water glass is full, you don’t have a lot of room to love. You’re always worried that there won’t be enough room for everyone, or that someone is going to skip out of the glass and go somewhere else maybe. This is sad. 
So - what I am saying is that with consistent yoga practice, I have learned all of these incredible methods to keep that water level stable and still at the bottom of the glass. The emotions - love, joy, sadness, pain, fear - they haven’t disappeared, and I don’t experience them less - with a mind they are free float around me with banging into things. I see the emotions and the impact they have which much clarity because there is nothing blocking my vision. I don’t love less, rather I can stand back and love more without being suffocatED or suffocatING. There is less thinking and more caring. I hold someones hand genuinely, I embrace longer, I look into the eyes of everyone I speak to and I listen intently. When I was younger, fear dominated all my relationships in one way or another, and now that feeling is gone.
Anyway. That’s just my story. haha.
Time for bed!
[QUOTE=omamana;37080]Further to a previous thread…
[U]Equanimity of feeling[/U] for me, is very difficult to achieve. When I practise this I feel like I?m switching off my feelings/ emotions and that I don?t care. On the reverse I feel like I can?t get excited or overjoyed over anything.
How do you maintain this balance without seeming robotic-like or blas?? :o[/QUOTE]
?You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.? ~ Albert Einstein
What do you mean by “Equanimity of feeling”?
Equanimity is a state of mental or emotional stability or composure arising from a sense of temporal detachment from reality.
It is interesting to read how different religious groups interpret Equanimity...
suryadaya, good post. Sometimes, I use similar metaphors to understand this and other things better.
Waves of anger can be huge, but they are leveled easily with the practice.
Fear is very different - it is a reason that makes this world go around.
That`s why small waves of fear are hard to deal with.
[QUOTE=omamana;37123]Equanimity is a state of mental or emotional stability or composure arising from a sense of temporal detachment from reality.
It is interesting to read how different religious groups interpret Equanimity…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equanimity[/QUOTE]
Thanks
Why would one want a sense of temporal detachment from reality?
If you look at the Hinduism definition I like that better
Equanimity does not mean sitting around inactive while things are happening, or escaping from the world, or suppressing one’s feelings. Equanimity is operating from the state of supreme watchfulness without an iota of attachment or aversion. …… A mind of equanimity is an original pure mind free from all suppression, fear, dullness and ignorance
And Buddhist view as well
Neither a thought nor an emotion, it is rather the steady conscious realization of reality’s transience. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being. The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as "abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will
Yoga, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are ok to but I do not see the temporal detachment from reality in any of them. If anything I see an acceptance of reality.
Could part of the problem with Equanimity of feeling for you being very difficult to achieve be because you are trying to gain a detachment from reality when you possibly should be looking to be in the moment and accept reality?
[QUOTE=Yulaw;37147]Thanks
Why would one want a sense of temporal detachment from reality?
If you look at the Hinduism definition I like that better
And Buddhist view as well
Yoga, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are ok to but I do not see the temporal detachment from reality in any of them. If anything I see an acceptance of reality.
Could part of the problem with Equanimity of feeling for you being very difficult to achieve be because you are trying to gain a detachment from reality when you possibly should be looking to be in the moment and accept reality?[/QUOTE]
I think you are missing my point. Regardless of the different definitions, how do [U]you[/U] achieve ‘Equanimity of feeling’, in whatever context?
[QUOTE=omamana;37154]I think you are missing my point. Regardless of the different definitions, how do [U]you[/U] achieve ‘Equanimity of feeling’, in whatever context?[/QUOTE]
Actually I don’t think I am missing the point but then that is not the point 
In my opinion if you want to achieve equanimity of feeling…stop trying to achieve equanimity of feeling
Just relax, and enjoy your training and eventually it will come
It can’t be forced and there are no shortcuts.
[QUOTE=Yulaw;37159]Actually I don’t think I am missing the point but then that is not the point
In my opinion if you want to achieve equanimity of feeling…stop trying to achieve equanimity of feeling
Just relax, and enjoy your training and eventually it will come
It can’t be forced and there are no shortcuts.[/QUOTE]
Hummm…okay…[U]but I do want to try[/U], through trying, being mindful, and asking other people for advice etc are all ways to help me achieve the things in life I want to achieve, and equnimity of feeling is one of those things, which is why I started this thread.
So if you have no advice as to how you achieve this, then you are missing my point entirely 
[QUOTE=omamana;37192]Hummm…okay…[U]but I do want to try[/U], through trying, being mindful, and asking other people for advice etc are all ways to help me achieve the things in life I want to achieve, and equnimity of feeling is one of those things, which is why I started this thread.
So if you have no advice as to how you achieve this, then you are missing my point entirely ;)[/QUOTE]
From my background I would say you are missing the point.
If I am doing Zazen and thinking I want to achieve enlightenment (whatever that is) I will never achieve it at all. If I am doing Qigong and working on any of the flows and it happens, as soon as I think HEY I DID IT!!! It stops.
If I am doing Taijiquan and I get a strike correct using the proper energy and think WOW THAT WAS COOL… let’s do that again…it will not happen. I am thinking too much about the result and interfering with the proper flow of things as well as the present.
If you train and are thinking I need to achieve Equanimity of feeling you will never do it. You are too focused on the result.
There is an old story form East Asia that is basically a student goes to a master
Student: I want to be your student and become a master how long will it take
Master: 10 years
Student: that is to long so what if I work twice as hard how long will it take
Master: 20 years
Student: OK what if I work day and night and never stop training then how long will it take to become a master
Master: 30 years
Student: Every time I tell you I am going to work harder you tell me it will take longer that does not make sense so why are you doing this
Master: You are to focused on Results and not the journey
I am no master but I do know that if you focus on the result “Equanimity of feeling” you will frustrate yourself trying to get there and never ever get there.
Take it for what it is worth, tell me I am missing the point, do whatever you wish but what is, is.
Bottom-line, and my last words on this, It cannot be forced and there are no shortcuts, relax and it will happen in time. Now I will stop bothering you
I hope you find the answer that you want.
Now I need to find that story and make it a post because I really like it.