Hello,

I remember reading somewhere that according to the Buddha apathy is the near enemy of equanimity. I am having a hard time differentiating the two. Could someone explain this to me?

Thanks!
Sean

 Hi,

I think I experience both of them frequently, and it was a question for me to distinguish them. I notice the main difference is that with indifference, there is much less "interest" and "care", and as a result, much less "motivation", which means that indifference itself is a manifestation of an underlying aversion. Maybe it's different for other people.
 

I think Siavash pretty much nailed it. I think the Buddhist terminology for it is translated to ignorance rather than aversion, but the way we tend to use the words aversion and ignorance today in ordinary language, I agree with Siavash's assessment. Indifference is an escape route. It makes us closed up to what is going on. Equanimity doesn't.