Monday 20 April 2015

hoping to be equanimous after learning about meditation

It's a strange thing, as an adult with a fairly extensive vocabulary, to use a new word  before being quite certain you know how to spell it.

I've recently done an eight-week course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, which was just the thing I needed to get some sort of handle on life, and also attended a screening of The Connection film. Somewhere in all this activity I heard that I should approach life in an equanimous manner.

I looked it up just now, and found I had the right idea about what it means and how to write it. There are many definitions of it on the internet, but the one that strikes me as the closest in meaning to how it was used in the meditation lessons was on Wikipedia - not usually my reference of choice - defining the related noun, equanimity.
Equanimity (Latinæquanimitas having an even mind; aequus even animus mind/soul) is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to lose the balance of their mind. The virtue and value of equanimity is extolled and advocated by a number of major religions and ancient philosophies.
The article refers to many of the streams from which the current MBSR has drawn its ideas:
 Hinduism
Yoga
Stoicism
Buddhism
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Baha'i Faith

The Wikipedia article points across to Wiktionary for the related adjective, equanimous.

Attempting to face the good moments and the 'bad' moments in a spirit of acceptance is an empowering strategy, especially in the face of all the awfulness in the media. I hope I can continue to develop my strength in this area.