Upekṣā

For the 2016 film, see Upeksha (film).

Upekkhā (in Pali: upekkhā उपेक्खा; Sanskrit: upekṣā उपेक्षा), is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. As one of the Brahma Vihara (meditative states), it is a pure mental state cultivated on the Buddhist path to nirvāna.

Pali literary contexts

Table: Rūpa jhāna
Cetasika (mental factors)	First jhāna	Second jhāna	Third jhāna	Fourth jhāna
Kāma / Akusala dhamma (sensuality / unskillful qualities)	secluded from; withdrawn	does not occur	does not occur	does not occur
Pīti (rapture)	seclusion-born; pervades body	samādhi-born; pervades body	fades away (along with distress)	does not occur
Sukha (non-sensual pleasure)			pervades physical body	abandoned (no pleasure nor pain)
Vitakka ("applied thought")	accompanies jhāna	unification of awareness free from vitakka and vicāra	does not occur	does not occur
Vicāra ("sustained thought")
Upekkhāsatipārisuddhi (pure, mindful equanimity)	does not occur	internal confidence	equanimous; mindful	purity of equanimity and mindfulness
Sources:

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:

• Upekkha is one of the Four Sublime States (brahmavihara), which are purifying mental states capable of counteracting the defilements of lust, aversion and ignorance. As a brahmavihara, it is also one of the forty traditionally identified subjects of Buddhist meditation (kammatthana).
• To practice true upekkha is to be unwavering or to stay neutral in the face of the eight vicissitudes of life, also known as the eight worldly winds or eight worldly conditions: loss and gain, good-repute and ill-repute, praise and censure, and sorrow and happiness (the Attha Loka Dhamma).
• 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 bodhisattva practice.

Similarity with non-Buddhist Concepts

Ataraxia and Apatheia are similar terms in Greek philosophy.

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 stability 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.”

See also

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

Sources

• Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1995, 1998). Toward a Threshold of Understanding (BPS Newsletter cover essays nos. 30 & 31). Retrieved January 15, 2007 from "Access to Insight"

External links

• Equanimity (upekkha) by the Venerable Nyanaponika Thera.
• Equanimity by Gil Fronsdal
• Dharma Dictionary - RangjungYesheWiki - Btang Snyoms/Upeksa
• Equanimity practiced as a part of a Ten day Vipassana course.
• Writings on equanimity in yoga by Shy Sayar.