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Share(א) יִתְגַּבֵּר כַּאֲרִי לַעֲמֹד בַּבֹּקֶר לַעֲבוֹדַת בּוֹרְאוֹ שֶׁיְּהֵא הוּא מְעוֹרֵר הַשַּׁחַר: הַגָּה: וְעַל כָּל פָּנִים לֹא יְאַחֵר זְמַן הַתְּפִלָּה שֶׁהַצִּבּוּר מִתְפַּלְּלִין. (טוּר) הַגָּה: שִׁוִּיתִי ה' לְנֶגְדִּי תָמִיד הוּא כְּלָל גָּדוֹל בַּתּוֹרָה וּבְמַעֲלוֹת הַצַּדִּיקִים אֲשֶׁר הוֹלְכִים לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים, כִּי אֵין יְשִׁיבַת הָאָדָם וּתְנוּעוֹתָיו וַעֲסָקָיו וְהוּא לְבַדּוֹ בְּבֵיתוֹ כִּישִׁיבָתוֹ וּתְנוּעוֹתָיו וַעֲסָקָיו וְהוּא לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל, וְלֹא דִּבּוּרוֹ וְהַרְחָבַת פִּיו כִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְהוּא עִם אַנְשֵׁי בֵּיתוֹ וּקְרוֹבָיו כְּדִבּוּרוֹ בְּמוֹשַׁב הַמֶּלֶךְ, כָּל שֶׁכֵּן כְּשֶׁיָּשִׂים הָאָדָם אֶל לִבּוֹ שֶׁהַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל הָקָּבָּ''ה אֲשֶׁר מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ עוֹמֵד עָלָיו וְרוֹאֶה בְּמַעֲשָׂיו, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: אִם יִסָּתֵר אִישׁ בַּמִּסְתָּרִים וַאֲנִי לֹא אֶרְאֶנּוּ נְאֻם ה', מִיָּד יַגִּיעַ אֵלָיו הַיִּרְאָה וְהַהַכְנָעָה וּפַחַד ה' יִתְבָּרַךְ וּבָשְׁתּוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ תָּמִיד (מוֹרֵה נְבוֹכִים ח''ג פ' כ''ב)
(1) One should strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to serve his Creator, so that it is he who awakens the dawn. Rem"a: At least, one should not delay beyond the time when the congregation prays (Tur). Rem"a: "I have set the Lord before me constantly" (Psalms 16:8); this is a major principle in the Torah and amongst the virtues of the righteous who walk before God. For a person's way of sitting, his movements and his dealings while he is alone in his house are not like his way of sitting, his movements and his dealings when he is before a great king; nor are his speech and free expression as much as he wants when he is with his household members and his relatives like his speech when in a royal audience. All the more so when one takes to heart that the Great King, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated: "'Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?' - the word of God" (Jeremiah 23:24), he immediately acquires fear and submission in dread of God, May He Be Blessed, and is ashamed of Him constantly (Guide for the Perplexed III 52).
(ב) שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד. שויתי לשון השתוות בכל דבר המאורע הכל שוה אצלו בין בענין שמשבחין ב"א אותו או מבזין אותו. וכן בכל שאר דברי' וכן בכל המאכלות בין שאוכל מעדנים בין שאוכל שאר דברי' הכל ישוה בעיניו כיון שהוסר היצה"ר ממנו מכל וכל. וכל דבר שיארע לו יאמר הלא זה הוא מאתו יתברך ואם בעיניו הגון וכו' וכל כוונתו לש"ש אבל מצד עצמו אין חילוק וזה מדרגה גדולה מאד. וכל האדם צריך לעבוד השי"ת בכל כחו שהכל הוא צורך מפני שהשי"ת רוצה שיעבדו אותו בכל האופנים. והכוונה כי לפעמים אדם הולך ומדבר עם ב"א ואז אינו יכול ללמוד וצריך להיות דבוק בהש"י וליחד יחודים. וכן כשהאדם הולך בדרך ואינו יכול להתפלל וללמוד כדרכו וצריך לעבוד אותו באופנים אחרים. ואל יצער את עצמו בזה כי השי"ת רוצה בזה שיעבדוהו בכל האופנים פעמי' באופן זה ופעמים באופן זה לכך הזדמן לפניו לילך לדרך או לדבר עם ב"א בכדי לעבוד אותו באופן הזה. כלל גדול גול על ה' מעשיך ויכונו מחשבותיך שכל דבר שיזדמן יחשוב שהוא מאתו יתברך ויראה שיבקש מהשי"ת שיזמין לו תמיד מה שהשי"ת יודע שהוא לטובתו ולא מה שנראה לב"א ע"פ שכלו כי אפשר מה שבעיניו טוב הוא רע לו רק ישליך הכל כל עניניו וצרכיו עליו יתברך:
(2) “I place (shiviti) Hashem before me, always” (Tehillim 16:8). Shiviti is an expression of equating. That is, every matter that arises before a person must be considered as equal. This is true when others praise or denigrate someone, and so too with all other matters. Similarly, regarding food, whether eating delicacies or anything else, all should be equal in one’s eyes, because the evil inclination has been removed from him entirely. Whatever arises, a person must declare, “This too is from Hashem, and if it is proper in His eyes, etc.,” and all of a person’s actions should be for the sake of Heaven, although from the individual’s perspective there is no difference [between good and bad events] at all. This is a very high level. Every person must serve Hashem with all their strength, for it is all necessity, for Hashem desires that people serve Him in every way. Meaning: there are times when a person engages in conversation and is unable to learn Torah. At these times, a person must maintain focus on Hashem and perform [Kabbalistic] yichudim. And when a person is going on the way and is unable to pray or learn as usual, and one must find other ways in which to serve Hashem, one must never be distraught about these things. Hashem wishes to be served in many ways, and therefore He grants the opportunity to travel or converse in order to serve Hashem in that way. “Commit your deeds to Hashem, and your thoughts will be established” (Mishlei 16:3). Everything that occurs, a person should think that it is from Him. It is appropriate for one to ask Hashem to always grant what Hashem knows to be in one’s best interest, and not what a person thinks based on their own mind. It is possible that what is good in one’s eyes could be detrimental. As such one should cast everything, all of one’s matters and needs, upon Hashem.
Shiviti Adonai l’negdi tamid. I place the Divine before me always. (Psalm 16:8)
Equanimity suggests balance, centeredness, not being pulled internally too far in one direction or another.
Here’s what Joseph Goldstein, a well-known mindfulness teacher writes: “A mind suffused with equanimity is poised and balanced with whatever may be arising in its experience. We feel soft and spacious as things come and go; an equanimous mind does not move reactively at all” (Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom, p. 14). What he means here is that the mind does not react with craving or aversion; rather, it responds with wisdom.
This is a high level. And it’s not unlike what the Ba’al Shem Tov teaches. This is from Tzva’at HaRivash, a compendium of hasidic teachings attributed to the Ba’al Shem Tov . . .
I’d like to unpack this a little bit: I think Joseph Goldstein and the Ba’al Shem Tov are basically talking about the same quality of mind. It’s not a mind that doesn’t notice the difference between praise and blame, it’s a mind that doesn’t react through craving or aversion, what is known in rabbinic literature as the yetzer hara. It’s not that chocolate actually tastes like sauerkraut. It’s not that everything becomes grey. It’s that whether we experience – sweet or sour, pain or pleasure, gain or loss, praise or blame, fame or disrepute – we don’t react through a mind of pushing this away or pulling that toward us. We still taste all the flavors of life, if you will. But a mind that is not pushed around by wanting or not wanting is a mind that keeps its center, that stays equanimous.
Here’s how Alan Morinis talks about it from the Mussar perspective:
Equanimity in Mussar usage does not suggest that feelings are idling in neutral. It isn’t a kind of numbness. You still register the ups and downs of the feelings – those are the waves – but you stay awake to the experience from an undisturbed place. When you are submerged in your feelings without at least a flicker of self-awareness, the light of consciousness is extinguished, and the doors to connection and choice are closed. But if awareness is calmly present, even amid the storms of life, your soul maintains its connection to others and to the divine source and your free will is preserved…All sorts of feelings will come, as they do in all our lives, but when you are possessed of equanimity, your inner core is not left open to being whipped around by external experiences. You are freer than that.(Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar, p. 100-104)
Equanimity is closely associated with acceptance. It is a way of acknowledging: This is what’s happening now.
But acceptance of what is happening in the moment does not mean passivity in our lives, the refusal to take action. It’s not resignation. It’s being with what’s happening right now, accepting that yes, this is happening in this moment – not creating an adversarial relationship with our experience. From there wisdom arises. For instance, if we see that what we experiencing right now is anger at injustice, we sit with the anger, feel it, accept it, investigate it, know it; and then we resolve to do something about it. We write that letter, we go to that rally, we give that donation, whatever it is. The acceptance is in the moment.
In the mindfulness tradition we talk about the near enemy and the far enemy of the beautiful qualities we want to cultivate, the middot. The far enemy is what’s 180 degrees on the other side of the beautiful quality. So the far enemy of equanimity would be reactivity (reacting with craving or aversion/pull or push). It’s easy to see that that’s the opposite quality of mind.
The near enemy of equanimity is indifference or passivity; it can look similar to equanimity but it isn’t the same at all. Passivity tells us we cannot act when we can. It is “stupid equanimity”. Equanimity maintains a quality of deep connection to life; passivity disconnects us.
Equanimity helps us act, and to do so with clarity and compassion. It helps us know what’s going on inside so we can see our intentions clearly; we can see the motivations, the impulses from which we are acting, what kind of mind state moves us forward. Equanimity allows us to stay before we leave, to be present in an embodied way, to really receive our experience; it allows us to see the attitude in the mind. It helps us see clearly and respond wisely, compassionately. When we act, we want to do so with a mind that is not filled with anger or greed. Do you see the difference?