Mindfulness and Equanimity: Are They the Same?

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

In my upcoming book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, there was only one chapter I completely rewrote: the chapter on the relationship between mindfulness and equanimity.

When I began this section, I asked every Buddhist teacher and scholar I interviewed whether mindfulness and equanimity were the same. The answers ranged from “absolutely” to “not really” to “Hmm… can you rephrase the question?”

The more I asked, the more confused I became. So I turned to Buddhist texts for clarity — and quickly found myself disappearing down a rabbit hole of subtle doctrinal distinctions in Pali and Sanskrit. It was fascinating… and completely beyond the scope of my book (and possibly this lifetime).

Eventually, I realized I was writing from my head, not from my lived experience. So I changed course. Instead of trying to map every difference, I focused on what I know deeply and have practiced for decades: how mindfulness and equanimity meet, overlap, and strengthen each other.

Here’s what became clear:
Mindfulness naturally cultivates essential aspects of equanimity — steadiness, non-reactivity, and an increased window of tolerance. Vipassana practice (insight meditation) helps us see the nature of experience clearly, promoting insight. That insight gives rise to wisdom, which is inseparable from equanimity.

As Sharon Salzberg once told me, “Equanimity is the secret ingredient of mindfulness.”

Mindfulness without equanimity is incomplete.

• Mindfulness helps us notice what is happening.

• Equanimity helps us not judge what is happening.

When outrage, fear, or desire surge up, mindfulness says,

“Ah, this is here.”

Equanimity says,

“And I don’t have to make this right or wrong.”

Mindfulness brings us into the moment.
Equanimity gives the moment permission to be exactly as it is.

Mindfulness sees.
Equanimity allows.

Together, they create a kind of inner spaciousness — a place where we can meet the world with clarity, steadiness, and a heart that remains open.

With love and care,
Margaret

For more, watch a clip of my interview with Sharon Salzberg below.