Equanimity

(skt.: upeksha; tib.: tang nyom) Attitude without the usual discrimination of sentient beings into friend, enemy and stranger, deriving from the realization that all sentient beings are equal in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering and that since beginningless time all beings have equally been ones mother in some previous life. An impartial mind that serves as the basis for the development of great love, great compassion and bodhicitta. This type of mind is characterized as an even-tempered attitude toward everyone, it manifests as a quieting of attachment and ill-will toward others. It fails when it manifests as indifference.