Practice equanimity toward the pairs of opposites
Success and failure, pleasure and pain, gain and loss — the Gita teaches equal steadiness toward both.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Success and failure, pleasure and pain, gain and loss — the Gita teaches equal steadiness toward both.
- Why it works: The dvandvas ("pairs of opposites") describe the hedonic treadmill in ancient terms: clinging to pleasure and fleeing pain keeps the mind perpetually destabilised, pulled by one and pushed by the other. Cultivating equanimity toward pairs — not suppressing the experience but not being governed by it — is a specific mental stance that stabilises motivation and reduces reactivity. This maps onto the modern concept of equanimity in ACT and the decentring practice in MBCT.
- Evidence: Plausible mechanism, limited direct outcome data.
- Avoid: Mistaking Gita equanimity for emotional suppression — "I should not feel this" — rather than as an orientation of witnessing that allows the feeling to arise and pass without amplification.
Why it works
The dvandvas ("pairs of opposites") describe the hedonic treadmill in ancient terms: clinging to pleasure and fleeing pain keeps the mind perpetually destabilised, pulled by one and pushed by the other. Cultivating equanimity toward pairs — not suppressing the experience but not being governed by it — is a specific mental stance that stabilises motivation and reduces reactivity. This maps onto the modern concept of equanimity in ACT and the decentring practice in MBCT.
How to do it
- 1When experiencing something clearly pleasant (praise, success, ease), notice the pleasure without requiring it to last.
- 2When experiencing something unpleasant (criticism, failure, fatigue), notice the discomfort without requiring it to end immediately.
- 3Practice brief moments of witnessing each pair — "this is pleasure; this is pain" — without judgment.
What the evidence says
MechanisticHedonic adaptation research (the hedonic treadmill) shows that the mind returns to a baseline after both positive and negative events; training equanimity reduces unnecessary suffering in the process of adaptation.
Honest caveat: The hedonic treadmill is well established as a descriptive phenomenon; whether equanimity practice accelerates adaptation or reduces reactivity is supported mechanistically but not directly studied through Gita-based methods.
- — Brickman & Campbell (1971), hedonic relativism and planning the good society
Common mistake
Mistaking Gita equanimity for emotional suppression — "I should not feel this" — rather than as an orientation of witnessing that allows the feeling to arise and pass without amplification.
IX Coach identifies patterns of emotional reactivity to outcomes and helps you work with the specific pairs (often praise/criticism or success/failure) that most destabilise your motivation.
Practice this with IX Coach →