upeksa

In Sutra 1.33, Patañjali names four practices for keeping the mind at peace. Buddhists know the same four as the brahmavihāras, the sublime attitudes:

• Maitrī, friendliness, the same word as mettā in Pali.
• Karuṇā, compassion.
• Muditā, joy in another person's good fortune.
• Upekṣā, equanimity, or staying nonreactive.

Looking Over

The word upekṣā (upekkhā in Pali) comes from roots that mean to look over or look upon. It points to watching a situation without getting pulled into it. Where vairāgya loosens our grip on results and rewards, upekṣā works on something narrower: how we respond to what other people do. It asks us to stay steady in the face of someone else's actions instead of getting yanked around by them.

A Double Edge

Held the wrong way, upekṣā can turn into a way of checking out, using calm as an excuse not to care. Teachers sometimes call that spiritual bypassing. Held well, it does the opposite. It loosens the reflex to judge, and it makes room for compassion, since we can meet people without needing them to act the way we want.