upekkhā
Equanimity
[ oo-PECK-kaa ]
Seeing it in life
As a brahmavihāra, upekkhā is impartiality toward beings; as a jhāna and enlightenment factor, balance toward all formations.
In short
Even-mindedness toward beings and formations.
The analysis
Upekkhā carries two related but distinct senses. As a form of vedanā, it's neutral feeling — neither pleasant nor painful. As tatramajjhattatā, a separate wholesome cetasika, it's a cultivated balance of mind — even-handedness toward beings and formations, not passivity but a steadiness that doesn't tip into grasping or aversion. The same English word covers both, which is part of why upekkhā gets underestimated.
Where it sits
As a jhāna factor, upekkhā appears at the fourth absorption, replacing sukha once even pleasant feeling is recognized as a disturbance to settle beyond. As a brahmavihāra, it's the fourth and final one — the steadiness that lets mettā, karuṇā, and muditā be offered without being thrown off by outcome.
Not the absence of caring how a client meeting goes. The steadiness that lets the caring stay present without needing the outcome to already be decided in order to function.
Commonly mistaken for
Indifference or not caring. Cultivated upekkhā is a wholesome factor requiring effort to develop; indifference is closer to a hindrance.
Suppressing feeling. Upekkhā as neutral vedanā is one of three feeling-tones that simply arise; it isn't imposed over a different feeling to mask it.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha II, IX; Brahmavihāra Sutta (AN 4.125).
Related terms