Equanimity In the Context of Duty and Compassion

"He who is the same to friend and foe, in honor and dishonor, in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, in censure and praise, free from attachment, silent, content with anything, steady-minded, full of devotion to Me, is dear to Me." 
                                                                                                                        - Lord Krishna 


Upeksha/Equanimity is an important aspect that is emphasized in almost all spiritual traditions, but its importance in our everyday lives is seldom discussed. Equanimity is a state of mind characterized by non-attachment, non-discrimination and even-mindedness. Non-attachment to what and who depends largely on the context. 

Attachment is a very complex cohesive feature in our lives that it could be to anything in the universe. Attachment could to objects, could be to sensory pleasure, could be to some people, could be to a way of life, it could even be to an abstract principle or to our pursuits and goals. The idea of non-discrimination generally refers to non-discrimination against people and sometimes events. Both these ideas can't be separated from the context and are inter-woven into our individual and social lives.

http://what-buddha-said.net/Pics/equanimity.blue.balance.jpgion

A Brief Note On Dharma/Ethics: 

Dharma is the principle that which upholds. As reality is multi-layered and has many levels, it has different meanings in different levels. In short, it refers to the principles of organization of systems at several levels. At the level of atoms and molecules, it is the principles of nature people have found out through science. This also operates at the level of human societies and individuals. Here it is expressed as principles that uphold societies and helps in the development and flourishing of people. 

The range of behavior and phenomena for lower level systems such as atoms or molecules is very limited, hence their behavior as understood by some physical principles seem to be less variable. As highly complex sentient beings with the potential of autonomy and agency, our behaviors are highly variable. Our systems of organizations are highly variable and flexible to accommodate this huge range of experience and action possible for humans.

In human societies, dharma is expressed as ethical principles that uphold societies. So one of the aims of a dharmic life is to live according to these principles that hold higher systems of organization together. As it is evident there are many ways of living in this world, some healthier and others less so. At any point of time, we live in a world with people who are highly heterogeneous with regards to the age, dispositions, acquired habits, values, knowledge, skills and other resources. In such a scenario, it seems like there is no one right way of living.

An ethical life is not necessarily devoid of pleasures, ambition and prosperity. In fact it is defined by where we place our values when it comes into conflict with something else. What if my pursuit of some worthy goal comes into conflict with another person's freedom, life or well being?


The Different Goals of Life And Equanimity: 

In addition to all those differences people have different goals and intentions in that their actions are motivated by a desire to achieve some end. People broadly classify these ends in to four categories: pleasure, wealth/fame, justice/ethics and spiritual realization/knowledge. None of these ends by itself is unethical or leads to conflict with other ends. Ethical dilemmas arise when these ends come into conflict. 

Whether we make the choices regarding our actions with full awareness or mindlessly is a separate issue altogether. Attachment to some pleasure, wealth or fame strays us from doing what is right in many ways. When we deviate from these principles of organization, the state of well being in a system declines to various extents. Equanimity in our pursuit of pleasure and ambition may help us make the right choices that doesn't affect the health of the system in a negative way. 

The aim of spiritual practice across many traditions is to transcend the duality inherent in reality and realize the non-dual state of being. It is exemplified by the act of Christ when he wishes for the well being of people who torture and crucify him. Such a degree of equanimity in the context of compassion demands a greater realization of the oneness of self at the deepest level.


Reality, Rationality And The Idea of Duty and Compassion: 

The idea of duty assumes rational beings coming together to lead life in a society performing roles they choose to do in return of something they agree upon. There are roles people choose to perform and roles that are acquired at birth owing to our inter-dependent nature.

It is quite obvious that only when we perform the duties we have chosen to perform to the best of our abilities, the system functions well. Otherwise the system breaks down to different degrees. The choice involved in selecting our roles and relinquishing it seems to be an important feature of defining duty as it is applicable only for sentient, rational beings with a certain degree of autonomy. The question regarding the extent of freedom in these choices is a separate issue. 

Weber defined three different kinds of rationality: purposive-rationality (as in scientific and technological knowledge), formal rationality (math and logic) and practical rationality (as in moral behavior and communication). While the first two inform each other to a great extent, the integration of purposive and formal rationality to practical rationality and moral reasoning seem to depend largely on the ethical system and the underlying metaphysics assumed or believed to be true.

If the ultimate level of my being is defined in the individuated and differentiated body in perpetual competition with other beings, the way moral principles are laid out may be completely different from the moral principles derived from any other metaphysical system.

The nature of reality described in most eastern philosophical schools and implied in almost all spiritual traditions is the existence of one cosmic soul/subject experiencing and becoming aware of the world through its several manifestations. Almost all non-dual schools agree that the ground of our being is the eternal light of non-dual being where there is no subject-object bifurcation. Some theistic schools argue that this eternal light of being has the nature of subject or another level of cosmically interwoven being that has the nature of a subject. Buddhist schools argue that this cosmic subject comes into existence only on interaction with an object, hence its atheistic nature.

To claim our initial standing as rational beings and autonomous agents coming together to form a system, we need to integrate all aspects of reality in to our moral actions to the extent possible. If our view of reality is partial and our actions are based on that partial view, we may have to face the consequences of our ignorance of other aspects of reality. Knowing this truth and living according to this truth demands equanimity to a great extent.

Such equanimity is exemplified in the persona of the great heroes of the past and present. I suppose the lives of mythological heroes and spiritual teachers still remain a fertile ground for exploring these aspects and drawing lessons from them.


Equanimity In The Context Of Duty: 

The great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are full of incidents where almost all characters have to wade through different kinds of moral dilemmas. The way self-realized beings led their lives and dealt with these moral dilemmas is represented in world mythologies. Myths have an eternal component of our psyche imprinted on it, that we can draw a lot from it to inform our condition and our lives. 

The conflict of duties that arises in social life is beautifully captured in certain incidents and situations in Ramayana. To honor his father's kingly words, he renounces kingship to his brother and agrees to leave the kingdom. This act of renunciation goes against the wishes of people who want him to be the king.  He argues with them and tells them that his brother is as capable as he is to rule the kingdom and his act of renunciation to honor his father's promise is not going to hurt the welfare of people in any way. This conflict drives him to take the conventionally harder choice to leave his kingdom.

After the trio go to forest, several incidents happen after which Sita is abducted. This initiates the great war with Raavan. It is a war fought to get his love back and also restore the honor of his kingdom as he is also a kingdom's prince in exile. Considering all the damage this war can bring to both sides, he sends several messengers at every stage of the battle to talk peace with Raavan until the end. But at every stage, those efforts don't work and the war is fought. 

 After the war is won and the kingdom restored to Raavan's brother, they return to their kingdom after the exile years. Any contemporary person would agree that winning a war and returning the kingdom to the enemy's own brother, especially at a time when there were no international laws to regulate their actions takes non-attachment and staying true to the original intentions of the war. After they return to their own kingdom, he is anointed the king and things go well for sometime. After a while rumors spread about Sita's fidelity and moral behavior. According to the story in Valmiki's Ramayana, the intentions for renouncing Sita and separating from her is to maintain the integrity of his kingship and the honor of his dynasty, as they recognized the destructive nature of such scandals. Such a radical separation do seem odd now, even though political careers at the highest level are affected by such scandals even in the twenty-first century. Sita's equanimity in the face of these conflicts is nothing less than that of any other non-dual sage and deserves a whole section focusing just on that. 

Rama Renouncing His Kingdom

 http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/

Equanimity in the context of duty also has the meaning of doing our duty regardless of who the effects of our actions are directed towards or against. In Gita, Krishna takes the role of a statesman and prods Arjuna to do his duty as a prince fighting for a just cause. He points to Arjuna the idea of equanimity in the context of duty. He advises him the nature of relations and how our sense of justice needs to transcend that. He gives Arjuna an experience of the real nature of universe, where stars die and the whole universe is dissolved in to Brahman. He shows him that in the light of ultimate reality, everything in the universe is impermanent. It is important to remember Krishna is advising to a Prince to fight other kings and statesmen who are unjust and cunning after several attempts at peaceful negotiation. 

He points to Arjuna that his reasons for not fighting just because his enemies are his relatives doesn't make sense when viewed in the light of ultimate reality. He might not have advised the same thing to two lay people fighting over some property, as it is the duty of the state to deal with that. It is possible that it was advise given to Arjuna in a specific context to fight his battle to take back his kingdom to bring well being and justice to people. I suppose it is because injustice perpetrated by kings and statesmen have more effect on people than lay people. 



Equanimity In The Context Of Compassion:

The historical Buddha took the perspective of a physician to heal the suffering of people. He wanted to find methods to end the suffering of individuals. He found that one of the great ways to do that would be to transcend duality inherent in temporal existence and realizing certain fundamental truths about our existential condition. One way of understanding Siddhartha's decision to renounce his kingship against the duty imposed on him by the society as an affirmation of the role of choice in determining our duty. Renouncing his kingship and kingdom could even be considered a greater duty not just to his own people but to everyone and all beings. Buddha emphasized equanimity in the context of compassion. In this context, equanimity means showing compassionate behavior towards all beings regardless of whether they do us good or harm. 

Buddha Teaching His Disciples (image adapted from the web)

Christ

Christ's teachings has the same emphasis on equanimity in the context of compassion which was exemplified in his attitude during crucifixion. Equanimity in the context of justice and compassion is also seen in Prophet Mohammed's teachings. The same equanimity is emphasized in all traditions. This verse by Rumi who himself was a connoisseur of several spiritual traditions says it all. 

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense.” -Rumi

One interpretation of this that God can be found in the realm of non-dual being where there is no separate self nor abstract thought to describe it. Such an extent of equanimity seem to  require a deep realization of the non-dual nature of being.

Equanimity In The Context of Duty and Compassion: 

Having made this difference between equanimity in these two contexts, it is not always easy to delineate distinct aspects of it. Equanimity in the context of duty may even be out of compassion towards people who are suffering. When Krishna advises Arjun to fight the war, it is hard to say it is not out of compassion towards the people who are suffering because of the wrong actions of some tyrants. Such a contradiction arises in society due to the dual nature of this level of reality. An understanding of the non-dual reality of our being helps to a great extent in dealing with these conflicts in a right way. 

One of the symbols for justice is a blind-folded maiden holding a balance. This symbolizes the impartial mind of a person who is administering justice with equanimity. This equanimity shines forth in both the contexts of duty and compassion. It is this equanimity that affirms the value of an individual, and the integrity and justness of a system. 




















Note: Some of the verses in Gita take the tone of Brahman speaking through the voice of Lord Krishna because he is that. For example, dear to me in the quote may mean that who transcend all these dualities only can see Brahman. Such verses may not refer to the Krishna as a human living in the world of duality.