Equanimity ≠ Balance: Eros, Responsivity, and Deep Aliveness | May 26, 2026

Recorded at Insight Meditation Satsang Online, May 26, 2026 DESCRIPTION We often gloss equanimity (upekkhā) as something like "the balanced heart," or in various ways try to talk about this quality that is less reactive to pleasure and pain, friend and enemy, success and failure. But as anyone who has tried to walk on a slack line, or stand on one foot, or ride a bike, or just stand with your feet together and your eyes closed knows, balance is never stable. The thing we call balance is more properly "balancing," a constant dance of falling and righting. The sign of skill is that the falls and the corrections become more and more slight, so the system isn't startled, but relaxes into a sort of vibration away from, back toward, and through an abstract center line that never becomes a permanent resting place. To be alive to to be not at rest. Then the Buddha (and all rebirth-recognizing cultures) comes along and says that death also is no final rest. Equanimity is the dance of becoming more skilled at balancing, so that as long as we are upright in this world, we live less and less startled. Our falling away from center is less dramatic and more like a little sway of the hips. But of course the thing balancing requires of us is non-distraction. Because when the mind falls away from center it often goes far, and the body quickly follows. SEAN OAKES Sean Feit Oakes, PhD (he/they, queer, Puerto Rican & English, living on Pomo ancestral land in Northern California), teaches Buddhism and somatic practice focusing on the integration of meditation, trauma resolution, and social justice. He received Insight Meditation teaching authorization from Jack Kornfield, and wrote his dissertation on extraordinary states in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance. Sean holds certifications in Somatic Experiencing (SEP, assistant), and Yoga (E-RYT 500, YACEP), and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Insight Timer, and elsewhere. LINKS Website: http://www.seanfeitoakes.com Community Page:   / in.it.to.end.it   Spirit Rock: https://www.spiritrock.org/sean-feit-... Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/seanoakes GIVING All of Dr. Oakes’ independent teaching is offered on the model of Gift Economy, in the Buddhist tradition of dāna, inspired giving. Support of our teaching and community is gratefully received. Thank you for your generosity. Donate: https://www.seanfeitoakes.com/gift-ec... Blessings on your path.