In the West, a broad, liberal interpretation of the jhanas
now prevails. It seems obvious that laymen and –women
achieve these meditation states regularly, despite what the
monks used to claim. Most regular meditators will have sec-
onds or minutes here and there when they are experiencing
at least the first, second, or third jhanas. These may not be
particularly strong or durable, but they are genuine.
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The Buddha’s training algorithm applies just as much to the seven factors as to any other object of consciousness. Identify
the state of mind. Notice how it comes and goes. Understand
its causes and its enemies. Embed that understanding in mem-
ory. This body of hard-won direct knowledge will inevitably
strengthen those good states when they appear in the future.
Work hard and repeat the procedure until awakening.
THE FACTORS, ONE BY ONE
The seven factors of enlightenment divide into three active
mental qualities—investigation, energy, and bliss—and three
passive mental qualities—body-mind stillness, absorption, and
equanimity—governed by sati, which partakes of both. Sati, or mindfulness, has a metacognitive, monitoring function over
the other six factors. It is said to refine each state of mind and
balance them against each other, so you don’t get too much of
any one good thing.
Investigation ( dhamma-vicaya) is the first of the active
factors. A perfect example of this is the gentle but persistent
investigation of fine sensory detail that accompanies body
scan meditations. In the Sutta, the Buddha is also asking us to
examine our mental processes in similar detail. Without the
quality of investigation, we may become tranquil through
meditation, but no great insights will occur. Dhamma-vicaya
loosely correlates with the much weaker term from Modern
Mindfulness, “curiosity.”
The second active factor is energy ( viriya), which means
drive, will, and determination. Viriya is related to the English
word “virile.” It suggests the physical and mental strength of
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effort), which we talked about in chapter 14 as being an integral quality of sati. U Pandita says that viraya is “an enduring patience in the face of suffering or difficulty. Effort is the
ability to see to the end no matter what, even if one has to grit
one’s teeth.”2
The third active factor is bliss ( piti), the sense of vitality
and delight in the body that was described in chapter 7. Bud-
dhaghosa is quite graphic in describing the five kinds of piti:
“Minor happiness, momentary happiness, showering happi-
ness, uplifting happiness, rapturous happiness. These arise
in the monk, pervading his whole body.”3 Without this inner
exuberance and sense of reward, a meditator can easily slide
into depression, and many do so.
Piti is frequently linked with sukha as a one-two sequence.
After piti comes sukha, which is usually translated most inadequately as “contentment.” This is a state of being utterly
at peace with the present moment, just as it is. It implies such
a deep acceptance of the inevitable pains and discomforts
of life that they cease to be a problem. Sukha didn’t make it
into the list of the seven factors, but it is integral to the four
absorption states ( jhana) that cover exactly the same terri-
tory. We can regard it as an honorary factor of enlightenment.
Investigation ( dhamma-vicaya), energy ( viriya), and bliss ( piti) are more dynamic than we might expect as ideal meditative qualities of mind—hence the characterization of them
as “active” factors within the seven factors of enlightenment.
There was certainly nothing indolent about the Buddha’s
approach. The style of the Sutta is very much about body-
mind transformation and purposeful effort toward an ulti-
mate goal.
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The goal and the final stages toward it are tranquil, however. They are much more what we think of as meditation.
The final three mental qualities are body-mind stillness ( pas-
saddhi), absorption ( samadhi), and equanimity ( upekkha).
Remember that the perfection of each of these states is mostly
likely to occur first in deep sitting meditation. To a spectator,
it might seem as if nothing is happening at all.
The first of the passive factors, body-mind stillness ( pas-
saddhi), is a state in which the body becomes perfectly still
and the mind is silent for long periods (as described in chapter
1). This state is described as being the antidote to the fourth of
the five hindrances—namely, anxiety. The onomatopoeic Pali
term for anxiety, uddhacca-kukkucca, is commonly trans-
lated as “agitation and worry.” In passaddhi, this vanishes
completely.
The second passive factor builds on the stillness of
passaddhi. This is absorption ( samadhi), also called one-
pointedness ( ekagatta). Samadhi is a kind of enthralling
tunnel vision or positive obsession that loses sight of every-
thing else, even the body itself. There are no distractions
to contend with in this state, and samadhi is often used as
a synonym for profound tranquility. Samadhi sets up a self-
sustaining feedback loop of bliss that paradoxically occurs
within a body that is utterly still.
The last passive factor and the concluding point of the
seven factors is equanimity ( upekkha), or serenity. In this
state, the awareness of having a body has almost vanished.
All activity, thought, and emotion have shrunk to the mini-
mum possible while remaining alive. No body sensation + no
thought + no emotion = no sense of personal self. As the Zen
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texts say, “Body and mind drop away.” The residual consciousness is sometimes described as boundless space or emptiness.
The Beat poets called it “big mind” or “big sky mind.”
EQUANIMITY: THE ULTIMATE GOAL
Upekkha is also the dominant state of mind in the fourth and
final jhana. It is said to be the launch pad for the intuitive
thought that breaks through to nirvana. In fact, upekkha is much
more likely to be the final stage altogether for any practitioner.
Nirvana is almost impossible to comprehend or describe.
It is a spiritual term beyond the realm of reason that seems
to mean everything and nothing simultaneously. In fact, nir-
vana literally means “extinction.” It refers to the extinguish-
ing of the life force that drives the cycle of births and deaths.
Modern writers play philosophic mind games with this con-
cept but don’t pursue it seriously. As a basic precondition, the<
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path toward nirvana demands celibacy and extreme social
isolation, and few Westerners are willing to go that far. (For
one thing, it would require disconnecting from the internet.)
Nirvana has receded into myth, and only historical figures
are said to have attained it. Contemporary Buddhism has
many spiritual leaders, but only devotees would regard any
of them as enlightened. I frequently ask Buddhists to name
a current enlightened master, and their eyes glaze over. No
one fits the bill.
Upekkha, however, is attainable, and the stages on the
path from normal human misery toward some degree of
philosophic detachment are easy to imagine. Both the Bud-
dha and modern psychologists aim to alleviate suffering, and
improvement doesn’t need to be perfect to be worthwhile. The
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Buddha and modern psychologists even recommend similar
strategies. Learn to calm down, control impulses, wind back
emotion, detach from useless thought and activity, and auto-
mate all of these strategies so that they become habitual.
The word upekkha correlates well with our word “equa-
nimity” and has similar ethical connotations. Wikipedia says
that equanimity is “a state of psychological stability and com-
posure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to
emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to
lose the balance of their mind.”
A more extreme form of equanimity is reflected in the
Buddhist concept of emptiness ( sunyata). As the Buddhist
scholar B. Alan Wallace bluntly describes it, “Let the space of
your mind be emotionally neutral, like physical space, which
could not care less whether bullets or hummingbirds streak
through it.”4 This metaphor suggests an almost dehumanized
state of mind, and this is no mistake. Wallace, a considerable
scholar, really does know what “emptiness” means in the
Tibetan and Zen scriptures. “Could not care less” is a reason-
ably good description of the emotional neutrality of upekkha
as it appears in the texts.
The pursuit of equanimity has a long history in West-
ern philosophy. Aristotle saw a good life ( eudaimonia) as
demanding an appropriate balance between the excess and
deficit of emotional expression. Although it took skill and
self-awareness to get that balance right, he felt there really
was an appropriate degree of anger, love, pride, or pleasure to
be found in any particular situation.
In contrast, the Roman Stoics tried to eradicate all emo-
tional responses—at least, toward that which was beyond
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their control. The Stoic ideal state of dispassion ( apatheia) included a cheerful acceptance of fate that still allowed them
to enjoy the pleasures of the day. The ideal of their philo-
sophical counterparts, the Epicureans, was similar. The Epi-
curean ideal, ataraxia, referred to a mental state free from
worry and emotional disturbance, compatible with ordinary
human pleasure. These ideals of philosophic detachment—
but without the pleasure—can also be found in early Chris-
tian thought.
The Buddha’s approach was at the extreme end of this spec-
trum. He aimed to eradicate emotion completely. The Buddha
said that even the least desires lead to attachment and suffer-
ing. He taught that there is no “good” or “safe” level of desire,
any more than there are tolerable levels of airborne asbestos.
In general, he said, we should regard desire as we would a poi-
sonous tree. We should cut it down. Dig out the roots. Sift the
soil for root hairs. Burn the lot. Sift the ashes. Burn again. And
throw what remains into a river.5 He was adamant that eradi-
cating desire was the only way to finally attain freedom from
samsara—the cycle of suffering, birth, and death.
The meditative practice to achieve this starts at the atomic
level of emotion on valences, as discussed in chapter 16. We
have been discussing upekkha as a state that is “neither pleas-
ant nor unpleasant.” The monk identifies the affective tones,
or valences, of literally everything that arises in his mind and
strives to reduce them all to neutral. This is what the Buddha
meant by digging out the root hairs of the poisonous tree and
burning them.
This occurs through the process that psychologists call
“extinction.” In meditation language, it is “just watching
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without reacting,” or nonjudgmental acceptance. If we repeatedly inhibit our tendency to respond to a stimulus, its positive
or negative valence will get weaker over time until it finally
induces no response in us at all.
All this is to say, the nonreactive, neutral, “impartial” state
of upekkha neither suppresses nor engages with what arises.
It is free from desires and aversions—a virtue proclaimed in
the opening section of the Sutta. Upekkha is easiest to cultivate in meditation or in retreat, but this equanimous state of
mind is expected to trickle back into daily life. A good practi-
tioner will become calmer, more detached, less troubled, less
responsive, and less engaged. He will also be more cool, ratio-
nal, adult, and philosophic about life and fortune in general.
This is upekkha. It is not quite nirvana, but it about as close as anyone is likely to get nowadays.
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19
Optimizing Emotion
The selective reduction of emotion is just as
prejudicial for rationality as excessive emotion .
—Antonio Damasio
Uncontrolled emotion is truly a horror. It has been respon-
sible for the slaughter of millions throughout history.
Even in peacetime, fear, anger, and greed contaminate many
lives and devastate others. Fear emerges as chronic anxiety;
anger as impotent rage or resentment; greed as the compul-
sive pursuit of excess. Many psychologists battle all their
professional lives to help repair the effects of fear, anger, and
greed—unregulated emotion—in their clients.
Psychology and the mindfulness movement have enlisted
the Buddha in this war against excessive emotion. To “sit,
stop, and look” combats impulsive behavior. To “calm down”
reduces inflammatory arousal. To “accept whatever is hap-
pening” reduces pointless struggle. To achieve a state of
thoughtless silence, however short, can give a breathing
space for a more considered response.
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Meditation promotes the ideal of inner stillness and nonreactivity, at least while meditating. With p
ractice, this effect
can trickle back into the world of activity as a kind of inner
reserve and resilience. This simple technique, done well, can
have remarkable effects. Perhaps it really can help free us
from the crippling, addictive, distorting, humiliating effects
of malignant emotion and make us more “happy.”
Psychologists have to help client after client “down-
regulate” their emotions. The Buddha in his search for seren-
ity tried to extinguish emotion altogether. Overall, it seems,
psychologists, meditators, and writers on mindfulness
tend to unthinkingly regard emotion, per se, as the enemy
of mental health. In the mindfulness literature, it is almost
impossible to find any positive reference to normal human
emotion. There are some small exceptions to this. Compassion,
loving-kindness, gratitude, and moderate sensory enjoyment
are usually permissible, but these are rather tepid and smack
of Sunday school, in contrast to the true primal passions.
Since 1952 the bible of psychology has been the Diagnos-
tic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Compiled by
hundreds of writers, and revised and augmented every few
years, the DSM is a true masterpiece of collective analysis and
description. Every possible example of mental discontent,
however slight, is described with the precision of great novel-
ists. Its purpose is to give accurate and quantifiable descrip-
tions of mental disorders as a basis for targeted treatment. As
the Buddha recognized with his emphasis on naming, good
terminology is an extremely useful tool all in itself.
The descriptive achievements of the DSM are remarkable
and unique, but the manual also lays itself wide open to attack.
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A description of symptoms is not the same as a diagnosis. It wouldn’t serve to identify syphilis or typhoid, for example. Nor
would the most exquisite description help in the absence of a
cure. Most psychological therapies and pharmacological treat-
ments are blunt instruments at best. It does seem that most
benefits in psychotherapy come from the human element: the
interaction of a sympathetic counselor and the client.
Unfortunately, the DSM approach seems to have the
effect of pathologizing almost every aspect of emotional
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