Upeksa

IAST|Upekṣā (Sanskrit/Devanāgarī script: Unicode|उपेक्षा; Pali: Upekkhā), is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. The Tibetan equivalent is བཏང་སྙོམས་ "btang snyoms". This is a purifying mental state cultivated through meditation on the Buddhist path to "prajñā" (wisdom) and bodhi (enlightenment). The analogous term in Greek philosophy is ataraxia.

Pali literary contexts

JhanaFactors

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In the Pali Canon and post-canonical commentary, "upekkha" is identified as an important step in one's spiritual development in a number of places:
* It is one of the Four Sublime States ("brahmavihara"), which are purifying mental states capable of counteracting the defilements of lust, avarice and ignorance. As a "brahmavihara", it is also one of the forty traditionally identified subjects of Buddhist meditation ("kammatthana").
* In the development of meditative concentration, "upekkha" arises as the quintessential factor of material absorption, present in the third and fourth "jhana" states.
* In the Seven Factors of Enlightenment ("bojjhanga"), "upekkha" is the ultimate factor to be developed.
* In the Theravada list of ten paramita (perfections), "upekkha" is the last-identified bodhisatta practice.

Contemporary exposition

American Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote: :“The real meaning of upekkha is equanimity, not indifference in the sense of unconcern for others. As a spiritual virtue, upekkha means equanimity in the face of the fluctuations of worldly fortune. It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. "Upekkha" is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to the demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one's fellow human beings. True equanimity is the pinnacle of the four social attitudes that the Buddhist texts call the 'divine abodes': boundless loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. The last does not override and negate the preceding three, but perfects and consummates them.” [ [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_30.html Bodhi (1998).] ]

ee also

* Brahma-viharas (divine abodes)
* Jhana (mental absorption)
* Paramita (practices of perfections)
* Ataraxia (Greek concept of mental equanimity)

References

ources

* Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1995, 1998). "Toward a Threshold of Understanding" (BPS Newsletter cover essays nos. 30 & 31). Retrieved 15 Jan. 2007 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_30.html.

External links

* [http://www.buddhanet.net/ss06.htm Equanimity ("upekkha")] by the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera.
* [http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/btang_snyoms Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Btang Snyoms/Upeksa]
* [http://www.dhamma.org] Equanimity practiced as a part of a Ten day Vipassana course.