Rise, Fall and Equanimity

Last week whole of India was talking about one man. Rajesh Khanna. The Superstar who breathed his last. There were frenzied crowd fighting the rains, surrounding his house to have a last glimpse of him. After all, he was a Super star. The entire media was articulating his life and achievements as a superstar. Of course, all and only nice things about him. After all, it is not acceptable to speak ill of the deceased. In the middle of all this, a chance encounter in google took me to this site http://ibnlive.in.com/news/the-darker-shades-of-rajesh-khannas-life/272808-8-66.html

One fact stared at me crystal clear when I read that news. How a meteoric rise can affect a person who is not balanced in life. The monetary comforts, fame, flattery etc can easily take us all for a ride, to a dizzy heights. It makes one easy to be consumed by an overpowering pride. But when the fall happens, the story is different. It’s a collision between fantasy and reality. Which again takes one to a dizzy low. 

Maintaining equanimity in life is the question here. The ability to maintain a calm and sane attitude under all circumstances be it pleasant or unpleasant. One look at life will tell us that life is a continuous contrast of success and failure, gains and losses, rise and fall. I have already discussed it in one of my previous posts. This Zen story illustrates it further.

A young student at a Zen monastery comes to his master and throws himself at his feet, sobbing. The teacher lifts him up gently, and asks him, “What is troubling you, my son?” “O master,” the student falters, “I am so discouraged. My meditation is a nightmare—my mind is always running after worldly thoughts, my legs ache, I'm constantly falling asleep… I cannot concentrate on anything for even a breath. I think that I am just not cut out for meditation.”

The master pats his head and comforts him “Do not worry, my child. This is only a stage. It will pass, it will pass.” The student heaves a big sigh, bows to his master, and goes back to the meditation hall.

A few days later, he comes running to his master, grinning from ear to ear. “O master, by your grace, my meditation is completely transformed now! I’m getting so much joy, so much peace, so much depth…”

The master responds calmly, “Do not worry, my son. It will pass, it will pass.”

It IS a struggle to maintain an equanimous state in such circumstances. But not that difficult a struggle that one cannot face or overcome if only we understand that everything in life is only temporary. What is permanent then?

Unconditional  love. It is the only thing that can take us through the ocean of life. “Without compassion, the brain power that distinguishes humans from other animals can be a destructive force,” says Dalai Lama, who shows us how it is possible to remain equanimous even in the face of adversity. He adds, “If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost, if you continue to see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education you have, no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue.”

Lee Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. The book entitled Iacocca records Lombardi's answer.

There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don't win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: “if you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another. You've got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I don't block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.”

"The difference between mediocrity and greatness," Lombardi said that night, "is the feeling those guys have for each other."

What a beautiful thought! What a wonderful feeling! “Philosophy teaches us to bear with equanimity the misfortunes of others.” Says Oscar Wilde. 

Life teaches us here that happiness is not coupled with rise, wealth, success or gain alone. It is something beyond that. Its attained when we surpass all these and maintain an attitude that is filled with unconditional love which ultimately showers the equanimity that is required to lead a peaceful life.