Equanimity in Practice

The practice we know as the four immeasurables cultivates four intentions or states of mind that are an integral part of the Buddhist path: loving-kindness, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity. While this fundamental transmission is common to all forms of Buddhism, different schools offer different ways of engaging with it. Whatever the approach, developing these four qualities is a very powerful way to subdue the afflictive states of mind. The four immeasurables are the remedy, or antidote, of the mental agitation that manifests as the five poisons: the afflictions of pride, jealousy, desire-attachment, ignorance, and aversion. 

When the mind has overcome the five poisons, the deepest, most liberating forms of calm-abiding—shamatha in Sanskrit—can be attained. This explains why these four qualities are known as the brahmaviharas, or sublime dwellings, a term that describes the state of abiding in the peace associated with perfect meditative stability, free from attachment and agitation.

The four immeasurable qualities are expressed in the familiar wishing prayer, “May all beings find happiness and the cause of happiness (loving-kindness); May they be free from suffering and the cause of suffering (compassion); May they not be separated from the perfect happiness that is free from suffering (rejoicing); May they abide in great equanimity, free from attachment and aversion to those near and far (equanimity).” While they are usually enumerated as above, beginning with lovingkindness, they are not necessarily practiced in this order. The illustrious 14th-century Tibetan master Longchenpa wrote an important treatise on the four immeasurables in which he encouraged students to cultivate equanimity first. The goal, he explained, is to develop a state of mind without partiality, and eventually to become free of the discrimination that manifests as attachment and aversion.

We are going to focus on equanimity. Equanimity is not indifference. Nor is it about making a distinction that leads us to try to do more for others and less for ourselves. What is positive for us is beneficial for others; what we do for others benefits us: they are of equal benefit. A very important point that we often neglect, and that I would like to highlight, is that we must include ourselves in our practice; we should extend love, compassion, and rejoicing to ourselves as well as to others.

I have noticed that many people in the West are burdened by guilt and shame. There’s a feeling of inadequacy and a lot of judgment about how good or bad one is. This seems to come from what I would call the imperative of ego. Self-cherishing comes with a certain ego-based obligation to be good, to be better, and our spiritual endeavors often fall into the same habitual functioning. They submit to the imperative of ego by reinforcing our sense of self as someone who is spiritual, wise, and kind. We’re not really embodying kindness; we’re trying to convince ourselves that ego is kind so we can feel good about ourselves. Ego is very sneaky. We may not always notice it, but it’s always lurking in the background. 

When we look at how ego functions, we realize that we’re full of biases. We counter this tendency by including all beings in our practice and our wishing prayers: those we like or love, those we actively dislike, and those towards whom we feel neutral. We acknowledge that every sentient being wants the same thing: every one of us is looking to avoid pain and ensure well-being. The little worm wriggling in the mud is pursuing comfort and trying to avoid danger. We all want happiness, yet we don’t know how to achieve it. The wish we have for others is the same wish we have for ourselves: to become free of the afflictive states of mind that keep us stuck in the experience of suffering. 

We all want happiness, yet we don’t know how to achieve it. The wish we have for others is the same wish we have for ourselves: to become free of the afflictive states of mind that keep us stuck in the experience of suffering.

It’s important for us to be clear about the toxicity of the afflictive states of mind, otherwise we readily fall back into them. Of course, we’re not perfect, but becoming aware of how deeply and negatively the five poisons impact our lives and disrupt our peace of mind is already a great achievement. 

How can we eradicate the afflictive states of mind? We begin by cultivating equanimity, starting with looking at how we usually categorize others as friend or foe and doing our best to change this habit of discrimination. “Friend” and “foe” do not exist in any substantial, objective way. Those who seem to be of benefit may be harmful, those who seem harmful may be of benefit. Old friends become new foes, old foes become new friends. The distinction between the two is a fiction; in this sense, it is an expression of ignorance. We do our best to eliminate the ignorance that results in partiality because we understand that partiality is the source of states of mind that harm us all. From the depths of our hearts, we wish that all beings (including ourselves) become free of the fetters of attachment and aversion. 

Wishing doesn’t mean simply hoping that something will happen—it’s about committing ourselves to making it happen as best we can. This is why we train, and training in neutrality is present in Longchenpa’s advice for practice. For example, he takes the traditional reflection of considering that all sentient beings have been our mothers during one lifetime or another in order to naturally develop love and compassion towards them, then shifts our perspective by making the point that they have also been our enemies. Given that they have been our friends, loved ones, and enemies not just once but infinite times, we cannot objectively justify loving or hating some more than others. By thinking in this way, Longchenpa suggests, we begin to come to the realization of equanimity. 

At this point we are ready to recognize that, in essence, all sentient beings are exactly the same even as in appearance they are different. Take humans: we think of some as kind, some as cruel, some as smart, some as dull, and so on. And generally, our attitude is to focus on the appearance and think that a given person is just what they seem to be. But living beings are compounded phenomena; how we perceive others depends on causes and conditions that constantly change, and therefore how they appear at any one time cannot be their true nature.

What is their true nature? This question and its answer are a very important part of the practice of equanimity. Beyond appearances is what every single sentient being is endowed with: the knowing, empty mind. Mind is intangible yet has the capacity to know, to act, to engage with objects. Every sentient being has a mind whose nature is fundamentally luminous, knowing, and empty. In the absolute, there is no difference between the mind of a worm and that of a human being. We call this luminous awareness buddha-nature, the seed of enlightenment.

When I don’t recognize the empty, luminous nature of mind, I enter into self-other duality: I perceive the world as “other” and take it as separate and distinct from the “me” that perceives. This is our core mistake; it’s what blinds us on a very, very subtle level and gives rise to all the other distortions, beginning with the self-cherishing that leads to afflictive states of mind and volitional actions centered on satisfying an imputed self. These actions rooted in the afflictions perpetuate karma, and karma determines our experience of a life characterized by suffering.

The Buddha tells us that by discovering the reality of the mind, we can achieve complete freedom from all suffering, from all unwellness. The perpetual well-being that can be achieved is not something that has to be constructed anew or given to us by someone else. When the mind’s innate qualities are recognized, wisdom is perfected and freedom is realized—freedom that has always been there and will always be there—because it is related to the essential reality of mind that we are now able to recognize. 

As we practice equanimity, our wish is that all beings—ourselves, friends, enemies, loved ones, those whose existence we’re aware of and those we’re unaware of—become free of the very root of the afflictive states of mind that keep us stuck in ignorance and suffering: discrimination and clinging to a self. And because wisdom dispels ignorance, what we are actually wishing is that wisdom will blossom within us all and we will become capable of actualizing the innate qualities of the mind and awakening. This is the true meaning of equanimity.

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Pamela Gayle White distilled this article from a series of three two-hour teachings and a Q&A about the importance of equanimity within the four immeasurables, given by Karma Trinlay Rinpoche in the summer of 2025 at Bodhi Path Natural Bridge.