Upekṣā

Template:Short description Template:Template other (Template:Langx) is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. As one of the brahmaviharas or "virtues of the "Brahma realm" (), it is one of the wholesome mental factors (( ) cultivated on the Buddhist path to nirvāna through the practice of jhāna.

Pali literature

Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Many passages in the Pali Canon and post-canonical commentaries identify upekkhā as an important aspect of spiritual development. It is one of the Four Sublime States of Brahmavihara, which purify 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 (kammaṭṭhāna). In the Theravada list of ten pāramī (perfections), is the last-identified bodhisatta practice, and in the Seven Factors of Awakening (), it is the ultimate characteristic to develop.

To practice is to be unwavering or to stay neutral in the face of the eight vicissitudes of life Template:Ndash which are otherwise known as the eight directions of worldly winds or eight worldly conditions: loss and gain, good-repute and ill-repute, praise and censure, and sorrow and happiness (the ).

In the development of meditative concentration, upekkhā arises as the quintessential factor of material absorption, present in the third and fourth jhāna states.

Table: Rūpa jhāna
scope="col" Template:Operational	scope="col" Template:Operational	scope="col" Template:Operational	scope="col" Template:Operational	scope="col" Template:Operational
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Kāma / Akusala dhamma (sensuality / unskillful qualities)	Template:Safe	does not occur	does not occur	does not occur
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Pīti (rapture)	rowspan="2" Template:Partial success	rowspan="2" Template:Partial success	Template:Safe	does not occur
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Sukha (non-sensual pleasure)	Template:Partial success	Template:Safe
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Vitakka ("applied thought")	rowspan="2" Template:Partial success	rowspan="2" Template:Safe	does not occur	does not occur
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Vicāra ("sustained thought")
scope="row" Template:Rh2 | Upekkhāsatipārisuddhi (pure, mindful equanimity)	does not occur	Template:Partial success	Template:Partial success	Template:Safe
Sources:

In post-canonical text, the "far enemies" of upekkhā are greed and resentment driven by desire and anger, which are mind-states that are in obvious opposition. The "near enemy", the quality which superficially resembles upekkhā but which subtly opposes it, is indifference or apathy.

Buddhaghosa identifies ten canonical contexts for upekkhā: (1) the destruction of the cankers ("six-factored equanimity," based on the six sense bases); (2) a brahmavihārā; (3) a bojjhaṅgā; (4) as arising from a balancing of energy; (5) a "formation" arising from concentration or insight; (6) a vedanā (that is, a synonym for "profitable" adukkham-asukhā); (7) arising from insight from investigation; (8) a "specific neutrality"; (9) "equanimity of jhana" ("impartiality towards even the highest bliss"); and, (10) "purifying equanimity" ("equanimity purified of all opposition").

Contemporary exposition

Bhikkhu Bodhi, an American monk, wrote: Template:Quote