18 Equanimity: A Theravaden Perspective

Alan Wallace teaches on the immeasurable of equanimity, or uppekha, focusing on a Theravaden perspective. This can be described as even-mindedness or emotional equilibrium. During the following question and answer period, Alan answers these questions: 1. When and how should I begin to lengthen my meditation sessions? 2. Sometimes I seem to make progress in my practice, but almost inevitably what follows this is a fresh wave of distractions. Is this something in the early stages of shamatha practice? Why does this happen? 3. I am having trouble sleeping through the night while on retreat - how to deal with this challenge? 4. During awareness of awareness practice, I find that while inverting awareness I create a subtle tension in my mind. How can I release this tension? 5. Must I first achieve shamatha before moving on to vipassana or other practices? 6. When I'm practicing awareness of awareness, my awareness is going out to some space in front of me... 7. Can you speak about the differences and similarities between practice during a meditation session and practice between meditation sessions?