Upeksa

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Upekṣā (Sanskrit/Devanāgarī script: 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.

1 Pali literary contexts
2 Contemporary exposition
3 See also
4 References
5 Sources
6 External links

[edit] Pali literary contexts

Table: Jhāna-related factors.
	first jhāna	second jhāna	third jhāna	fourth jhāna
sensuality (kāma), unskillful qualities (akusala dhamma)	secluded from, withdrawn
applied thought (vitakka)	accom- panies jhāna	stilled
sustained thought (vicāra)	accom- panies jhāna	stilled
rapture (pīti)	seclusion- born; pervades body	samādhi- born; pervades body	fades away (as does distress)
pleasure (sukha)	seclusion- born; pervades body	samādhi- born; pervades body	pervades physical body	aban- doned (as is pain)
pure, mindful equanimity (upekkhā- sati- pārisuddhi)		[internal confidence, mental unification]	equani- mous, mindful	neither pleasure nor pain; permeates body with pure mind
Table's sources: Bodhi, Bhikkhu (2005). In the Buddha's Words, pp. 296-8 (SN 28:1-9). Somerville, MA: Wisdom Pub. ISBN 081714911. Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series (n.d.). Pañcaṅgika- vaggo (AN 5.1.3.8, in Pali). Retrieved 2007-06-06 from MettaNet-Lanka. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997). Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration (AN 5.28). Retrieved 2007-06-06 from "Access to Insight".

Buddhist
Perfections

10 pāramī

dāna

sīla

nekkhamma

paññā

viriya

khanti

upekkhā

dāna

sīla

kṣānti

vīrya

dhyāna

prajñā

Colored items are in both lists.

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.

[edit] 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.”^[1]

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

^ Bodhi (1998).

[edit] Sources

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.