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Equanimity - the "crown jewel" of the Four Immeasurables\\n
In both Shamatha and the Four Immeasurables, we cultivate balance and a sense of "evenness of heart." The Four Immeasurables are immeasurable only if they flow out evenly, without partiality or bias. They cultivate \\u201cvirtues of the heart\\u201d and an understanding of causality. They help us overcome the dehumanizing tendency to only see others as a means of fulfilling our hedonistic desires \\u2013 it becomes an \\u201cI\\u201d v.s. \\u201cit\\u201d relationship. We often respond to people\\u2019s agreeable, disagreeable, or neutral appearances. The fusion of appearances with a person is a delusion. We also fuse ourselves with aspects of ourselves (e.g. behaviors, mental afflictions, etc.).\\n
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Meditation(48:07): Cultivating equanimity by reviewing our own lives and working with positive and negative times. Then doing this with others (one we \\u201clike\\u201d, one we \\u201cdon\\u2019t like,\\u201d and one to whom we have neutral feelings.\\n
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False Facsimile of Equanimity is \\u201cAloof Indifference\\u201d (sometimes called \\u201cStupid Indifference\\u201d). \\n
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Questions(72:50):\\n
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1. How do you have a natural measure for practice so that you neither burn out nor become lazy?\\n
2. How do you burn up merit and what\'s the role of dedication?\\n
3. In the \\u201cawareness of awareness\\u201d practice, how do I know if I am doing the practice correctly?\\n
4. Is \\u201copen presence\\u201d the same as shamatha without a sign?