In 2018, at the end of a yoga retreat in Ayampe, Ecuador, I booked a flight to visit friends in Cuenca, a city situated at the top of a mountain, 8,400 feet above sea level. The short flight to Cuenca was canceled due to stormy weather and the only way to visit my friends was to hire a driver to drive me up the mountain. The winding two lane road up the mountain can climb as high as 14,000 feet above sea level. I’m afraid of heights, so my first thought was I will just fly home to New York and skip the visit with my friends. But considering I wasn’t sure when I would be back in Ecuador, I decided to go.
I got into a car with a kind driver named Miquel. I instantly started worrying about what could go wrong on our trip. My mind was racing all over the place with frantic thoughts of gloom and doom.
The beginning of our drive was flatlands and I could see the mountains that led up to Cuenca in the distance. I asked Miquel, “How windy and narrow are the roads on the mountain? Are the roads paved or dirt? How close is the road to the edge of the mountain?” Miquel replied, “Look to the right, those are banana trees.” I looked to my right and saw fields of even rows lined with banana trees. It was beautiful. Big leaves with bundles of bananas hanging around the trunk. My mind softened as I looked to my right.
We reached the mountain and were about to begin the climb to Cuenca. I said to Miquel, “It rained a lot yesterday. Are there mudslides? Will the roads be clear? What happens if the roads are covered in mud and the car slides?” Miquel said, “Do you see that field on your left? Those are cocoa trees and the big pods have the cocoa beans inside them, that is what we use to make chocolate.” I looked to the left and remembered the hot chocolate we had earlier that day at the beginning of our trip. My mind softened as I looked to the left.
As we traveled up into the mountains, I kept looking at the side of the road, a few feet between the edge of the road and the long drop down the side of the mountain. I couldn’t stop myself from looking down and imagining the car sliding off the road. I asked Miquel, “How strong are those guardrails? Have you ever lost control of the car? How many people die in car accidents on their way to Cuenca each year?” Miquel said, “Look straight across to the other side of this mountain and you will see where we are heading.” I looked out across to the other side. A white mist separating the space between the mountains. All around us was a white mist and above that clear blue sky. We were in the clouds. It was stunning. My mind softened as I looked ahead.
The whole ride went in this manner. My mind would travel to the darkest places and Miquel would shift my perspective to something larger, wider, and gentler. This is equanimity, the fourth boundless state of mind and heart that the Buddha encouraged his students to practice. Equanimity, along with loving kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy, are also called the sublime abodes because when the mind rests in one of these four places, it can no longer dwell in negativity and worry. .Equanimity is defined as a vast and spacious point of view that sees things from all directions and perspectives. Sometimes we need the help of other people to lead us towards equanimity. They say look to your right, look to your left, look up, look down. This is how we help one another on the spiritual path.
1.33 मैत्रीकरुणामुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुन्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ।।३३।।
MAITRI-KARUNĀ-MUDITOPEKṢĀṆĀṂ SUKHA-DUḤKHA-PUṆYĀPUṆYA-VIṢAYĀṆĀṂ BHĀVANTAŚCITTA-PRASĀDANAM
The clarification of citta, the field comes about due to the realization of friendship with regard to the experience (visaya-objects) of happiness, compassion with pain, elation with virtue, and neutrality with non-virtue (negativity). Vyaas Houston