C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Cultivating Equanimity in Budo and Zen The crane, symbol of balance, of equanimity, of the Tao. Equanimity is one of the most important things we can learn from both budo and Zen.  Unfortunately, when we think of equanimity—if we even think of it at all—for too many budoka the first word that comes to mind is boring .  When I was a teenager, for instance, and had a love for budo that bordered on the obsessive, I didn’t want to hear about equanimity .  But—as the saying goes—I really do wish I knew then what I know now.  With 40 years of training under my belt, I know now that cultivating equanimity would have helped all aspects of my budo training (and my life outside of it). There is no reason for equanimity to be considered “dull” in any way.  Equanimity, in Zen, is considered one of the four divine abodes , along with love, compassion, and joy.  This means that the word should engender the same emotions and feelings as the other three.  The Buddha, as recorded in the early Pali