Stages of Equanimity

A note of caution... the blip that everyone hopes for pre SE seems to occur in different contexts within EQ. Some people report before the blip a shimmering rush, a tranquil oceanic feeling, slippery mind (only half-formed thoughts), day dreamy mind, a very clear mind, nodding off into sleep, etc. I kinda think mapping EQ just introduces more "mapping thought" problems than it offers any benefit. Just know that any EQ is good EQ and that the blip is ALWAYS a surprise. Be sure to note any "mapping thoughts", "comparing thoughts", "practice judgement thoughts", "anticipating thoughts", "craving thoughts", "striving" "gaming", "intention", "resisting", "doubting", "second guessing", "frustration", "acceptance", "resignation", "uncertainty", "confusion", "wanting", "openness", "spaciousness" "completeness" "boredom" "daydreaming" "practice thoughts" etc.

Any EQ is good EQ and the blip is always a surprise.

And keep saying Yo! to the breath every so often

In my case I didn't even notice the blip. What I had happen was a buildup of energy and a tremendous rush, the feeling that the top of my head was blowing off. It was the aftereffect that was the real clue.

If you're in EQ, just enjoy where you're at. It's a great place to be.

I missed the first blip as well, probably others, did not see one clearly until a few weeks later. Somewhere in EQ I can get a lot of brightness and light. It can be spacey as well, kind of drifting in and out of awareness and thoughts. Not that I can discern much. I'm amazed at those recordings where they go thru all the nanas and describe the specific characteristics of every last one.

I would hazard a guess that my SE was delayed by having a subtle mix of a bit too much "trying too hard" and not enough of "being okay with everything." YMMV.

Great thread. This is excellent advice.

I second the idea that mapping EQ may likely be counter-productive - probably the only difference I noticed in EQ states is sometimes there was little feeling tone (not flat, but just like neither positive nor negative), and sometimes positive (but not like 'excited happiness').

The main sign of EQ for me was that all objects simply were easily seen and passed away - including those that would normally be distressing - Beth, who was my teacher at the time, called this 'Teflon mind' and I found it quite distinctive and recognisable. My personal experience doesn't gel with people who talk about boredom etc in (longer periods of) EQ because to me, if boredom's there (or at least if it's anything more than a thought of, this is EQ, when will it lead to SE, which is seen without distress or aversion as part of the flow), it's not EQ. I didn't really get the absent-mindedness thing that people talk about either, it was just that attention felt easy and flowing, not like a vipassana-laser. There'll be discussion about losing motivation but for me the only reason this could've happened is because everything feels like it's already OK (again, if that's not there for me personally I wouldn't call it EQ) - so it's good to just keep following whatever established pattern of practice you have rather than reduce because it feels like it's unnecessary (but not increase to try to get SE either).

Personally, my SE experience wasn't a blip at all - it was more like an A&P components of experience disassembling and then reassembling themselves (which made me doubt that it was in fact SE but my teacher confirmed it and it does seem to make sense) - and it happened completely out of the blue when I was at the gym.

My experience of EQ was very short and hard to characterise except being the disappearance of the week long head ache I had in Dark Night and a 'platform of peace' which I experienced whilst walking meditation then went to sitting meditation and in the mental calm and silence the 'blip' (more like a sudden fold or wrinkle) occurred followed by a flush of bliss then all sort of crazy energy was released. So EQ for me was a few hours - wasn't aware of stages but whilst walking meditation I did become aware of a big perspective and that there was no time, just change, constant change. Will be interesting to see if this path completes in the same way - not so far.

As for me, I usually realized that I was in Equanimity when life suddenly stopped sucking. In several cases (paths), it was quite literally true that I woke up one morning and life was good, meditation suddenly was easy and clear. I no longer constantly fell asleep in meditation, but was able to effortlessly sit for very long periods.

In daily life, I was definitely not able to distinguish between Low Equanimity and High Equanimity. These differences were only apparent on cushion. Low Equanimity was a calm, quiet, wide-open, nothing-special space. The analogy that came to me was that Dark Night was like swimming deep underwater in a dark, murky lake and Low Equanimity was like rising up and sticking my head out of the water to a wide-open, quiet, clear, calm, cool, and sunny day.

High Equanimity, on the other hand, seemed very dreamy, with lots of zoning out, and occasional bizarre thought fragments. Sensations were happening on their own without any "me" getting involved, and it was very difficult to sustain noting of any kind. I simply let noting go and tried to let stuff happen on it's own.

I was not able to recognize nor really understand High Equanimity very well when it happened. I only knew that it was a different and rare state. It was only in retrospect (usually a path later) that I got some recognition and better understanding of it.

The advice I got from Daniel Ingram regarding mapping or practice in Equanimity was that regardless of where I was on the path, that I should maintain accurate, clear, and precise noting of whatever came up, especially of those sensations that implied self, observer, causation, time, space, and anything that seemed to be happening in the background. For what it's worth, I don't think I did that well very often, but it didn't really seem to matter.