The Buddha’s Equanimity
Challenging unfairness while showing respect for all
Teacher Experience
A contemplative invitation for educators to reflect on before teaching.Consider relying on systems to ensure equity in the classroom, such as pulling names from a hat rather than just calling on those who volunteer to speak. Before teaching, try privately practicing a simple loving kindness meditation for each student, thinking, “May you be happy, and have the causes of happiness.” What kinds of attitudes do you find most challenging to work with? Notice where your growing edge is, and when you encounter difficulty, aspire to extend more goodwill and generate patience.
Student Experience
A contemplative invitation for students to connect with this learning goal.Think about someone in your class or school who seems different from you. What assumptions do you make about them? What would it feel like to approach them with curiosity instead of judgment?
Understanding
Students will understand...Social categories are human-made limitations that obscure the deeper truth of everyone’s inherent worth and potential for goodness.
Action
Students are able to...Design multimedia presentations combining research, art, and performance to explore equality themes, create kinesthetic learning experiences about social justice, and develop varied creative projects that demonstrate understanding of equal dignity through different artistic expressions.
Content Knowledge
Students will know...Equanimity represents impartial regard that transcends social categories, personal preferences, and cultural conditioning to recognize the inherent dignity present in all beings. In the kusha grass story, the Buddha’s demonstration of equanimity was particularly radical within the context of ancient India’s rigid caste hierarchy. The caste system taught that people were born into permanent social levels, with “untouchables” like Svasti existing outside the system entirely, considered so impure that their touch could spiritually contaminate higher-caste individuals.
When the Buddha deliberately touched Svasti and accepted his offering, he performed a conscious act of rebellion against systemic discrimination. His words—”You are a human being and I am a human being”—declared the fundamental equality that the caste system denied. This encounter reveals how equanimity operates not as indifference, but as radical inclusivity that sees beyond artificial boundaries to the buddhanature present in all beings.
Contemporary applications include recognizing our unconscious biases, challenging systems that create hierarchies of human worth, and developing skills for maintaining compassionate engagement across differences while refusing to participate in discriminatory practices.
Guiding Questions
Implementation Possibilities
Design documentary projects combining interviews, historical research, and artistic expression to explore local examples of social hierarchy and equality movements. Create immersive role-playing simulations that help students experience different perspectives on social justice while maintaining empathy for all participants. Establish collaborative art installations representing equal dignity through diverse cultural lenses, supplemented by community theater productions dramatizing the kusha grass story alongside contemporary equality narratives.
Assessment Ideas
Evaluate multimedia presentations for depth of research, creativity of expression, and clear demonstration of equality principles. Assess collaborative projects through peer feedback forms measuring inclusive leadership and creative problem-solving. Use performance-based assessments including dramatic presentations, art installations, and community engagement reports. Create portfolio assessments combining artistic work with reflective writing about social justice insights.
