Climate equanimity
Equanimity is a much needed virtue in addressing climate change, and can help us imagine a return to a habitable planet
I believe that genuine solutions to the historic climate crisis will be more than technical or economic; they will be constitutional, philosophical, and spiritual as well.
One important value that I think about often and try to cultivate as much as possible is equanimity.
My own definition: equanimity is dedicating oneself to a project or task, doing one’s best, but understanding that the outcome is not completely in our control.
Put another way: equanimity means to keep an even mind, focusing on the work before us; and being at peace irrespective of victory or defeat.
Equanimity is an essential virtue in Eastern traditions. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjun that the highest spiritual objective is to undertake one’s duty, and to try to complete it irrespective of the outcome:
“Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself—without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.”
(Chapter 2, verse 48, Eknath Easwaran translation 2000)
In Buddhism, equanimity is a cardinal virtue. In the Dhammapada, the Buddha reminds his listeners:
Just as solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved by blame or praise.
Shantideva, writing in the Bodhicharyvatara (Way of the Bodhisattva) around 700 CE, emphasizes the need to be steady as a mountain in all things:
This supreme freedom of a human life,
So long awaited, now at last attained!
Reflecting always thus, maintain your mind
As steady as Sumeru, king of mountains.
(Chapter 5, verse 48, Padmakara Translation Group translation 2011)
In working in climate, the totality and scale of the challenge is immense. There is no guidebook for how to emotionally or spiritually compute what is taking place to the planet right now because of human conduct. The injustices of climate change are also profound and intergenerational, with consequences and impacts measured in millennia.
Equanimity has been something of an anchor for me. Here are some things I think about.
Equanimity calls for utmost diligence and complete dedication
Equanimity requires focus on the challenge at hand, and with complete dedication. Work should not be undertaken with half-focus, or with distractions.
In the Bodhicharyvatara, the challenge being discussed is working for the enlightenment of all sentient beings. Shantideva counsels:
Do not be downcast, but marshal all your powers;
Make an effort; be the master of yourself!
Practice the equality of self and other;
Practice the exchange of self and other
(Chapter 7, verse 16)
“Be the master of yourself” is essential advice for working in climate. The stable Holocene is over, and humanity is entering a warm period that will challenge all aspects of civilization. Planetary impacts are destroying the world we have known. There is no guarantee that we can return to Holocene-like conditions, even for millennia. This is mind-bending work, filled with rough days.
Equanimity counsels us to develop that state of mind where we can work without thinking too much about success or failure. Mastering one’s emotions is a prerequisite to genuine solutions.
Equanimity reminds us that the outcome is not entirely in our control
In many areas of our lives, the outcome is not guaranteed. In climate, this is especially the case. We are entering a period where tipping points may start to breach, with profound consequences. A world without an Amazon, coral reefs, or Arctic sea ice is truly a different world altogether.
No matter how hard we collectively try to stop a poor outcome, we may find ourselves in a challenging world—strangers on a strange new planet that does not particularly care for human life. Equanimity counsels us to focus on the work itself, not on what failure could look like. Failure may be baked into the system. That is not the point. The point is the work itself.
From the Bhagavad Gita:
Those who are motivated only be desire for the fruit of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do. When consciousness is unified, however, all vain anxiety is left behind. There is no cause for worry, whether things go well or ill.
Rather than fixating on the outcome, this advice is counseling us to focus on the work. If one is working diligently, with fullness in effort, then the outcome will be what it will be, and nothing can change that.
In the context of climate, this means working as hard as we can, even in the face of physical odds that can be difficult to fully compute at times.
Equanimity connects us to our descendants through the law of cause and effect
Equanimity relates to the law of cause and effect (karma). Our efforts ripple through time, even if we don’t have the ability to perceive the full strands and impacts of such efforts. Work that seems undertaken in vain may actually bear meaningful results, perhaps in unintended ways.
As humans, our perspectives are limited. We do not have omniscience. We cannot see the full scope of our actions, or inactions. Equanimity is a reminder that even if we cannot see the future or have a guarantee that our actions may be meaningful, we should focus and commit ourselves to what has to be done. We may not be able to see everything, but no effort will be wasted.
In climate work, this is a reminder of how important our efforts are, even if we may be frustrated with slow or imperfect results. Every positive act taken to stop warming and to imagine a habitable future is worthwhile. As humans, we are not in a position to see the full flowering of such efforts. The spiritual challenge is to be comfortable with uncertainty and with imperfection, and to nevertheless keep fighting for a just and sustainable world.