Disturbing the peace

A few days ago, I received a lesson from a duck. I was on my daily walk and I stopped to watch a number of mallards as they appeared to be peacefully swimming along the reeds of a slow moving river. They were casually foraging for food when I noticed this one duck repeatedly pecking at the other ducks’ tail feathers. This duck was disturbing the peace. I felt a smirk spread across my face with the thought, ‘there is always going to be something to disturb the peace’.

This got me thinking about how peace can feel like a slippery fish. That is, unless we are able to maintain equanimity, or the ability to remain balanced and to allow our external circumstances to be just that- external circumstances. Can you imagine what it might be like to have an equanimous core and an internal space to return to whenever we feel that proverbial duck disturbing our peace? This would be a super-power.

It feels like I have spent years searching for peace. I am a deep feeling gal and there have been many ducks pecking at my feathers. On some level, my whole journey with mindfulness has been in search of peace. At the beginning of my journey, I hadn’t realised that peace is not a destination, it’s a way of being. Funnily, I am still learning this lesson. Over and over and over again.

Why is this lesson so hard to learn? Well, it is very rare to have perfectly peaceful conditions. And even when we do, we have our minds to contend with. My mind is constantly stirring the water. Perhaps this is why equanimity is such an important teaching within Buddhism.

The pali word for equanimity is Upekkha, which means the ability to remain calm and stable, especially when facing difficult external circumstances. Cultivating equanimity within our practice is not suppression, denial or avoidance of difficulties when they arise. Nor is it apathy. Rather it is cultivating the ability to maintain a quality of spaciousness around whatever life throws at us, so that we can be present and engaged without being broken by hardship.

The renowned mindfulness and meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg, says that the ability to be equanimous is the secret ingredient in our meditation practice, and indeed, how we meet the world around us. She explains that ‘equanimity’s strength derives from a combination of understanding and trust’. We cannot control the uncontrollable. However, if we can be open and willing to understanding and trust, we might be able to contextualise our experience within a larger picture, in which trust is available. With trust, peace follows.

This week, I am going to lead a practice in which we will move towards creating a space for equanimity. We may even get to touch in with the peace that follows. This might be just what we need in times of ducks.

If this feels like something you need just now, why not join me on Tuesday morning at 10am (Irish time) on Zoom at the Sanctuary’s online community meditation. I would love to see you there.

-Jane

Click here to join me at the Sanctuary’s online meditation session on Tuesday

To listen to a meditation on cultivating balanced awareness, click below: