This is our final blog focused on teachings about The Bramaviharas, also known as the Four Immeasurables of true love. You can catch up on the previous teachings about lovingkindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity here. Please comment below and let us know how these practices resonate with you.
“Even though we may cultivate a boundless compassion for others and strive to alleviate suffering in the world, there will still be many situations we are unable to affect. The well known serenity prayer says, “May I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Wisdom recognizes that all beings are heir to their own karma, that they each act and receive the fruits of their actions. We can deeply love others and offer them assistance, but in the end they must learn for themselves, they must be the source of their own liberation. Equanimity combines an understanding mind together with a compassionate heart…” from Meditation on Equanimity by Jack Kornfield
In a beautiful podcast available on the Be Here Now Network, Jack Kornfield describes what the world would be like if everyone practiced equanimity and developed a peaceful heart. He said, “Equanimity is the willingness to be in life, but to be spacious and open, to have a vast perspective and say, ‘Yes, here I am, showing up, caring and loving, but I’m not in control of this game.’”
In this video from a class at Insight LA, Sharon Salzberg talks about how Equanimity can lead us to a life of balance.
Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield are co-founders of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA along with Joseph Goldstein. Insight L.A. was founded by Trudy Goodman. Insight meditation comes from the vipassana tradition and focuses on the earliest Buddhist teachings including mindfulness and the Four Immeasurables.