Last week shortly after I announced loss of equanimity because of vanishing reviews on Amazon, a reader informed me they viewed 25 reviews. I checked and low and behold, the lost was found! (Biblical interjections needed for this miracle).
Did my equanimity return?
Yes, it did. And since this happened, I learned even more about equanimity at a class entitled:
“Lending a Hand: Avalokitesvara and the Art of Mind Protection with Michael Carroll. *
I have never thought about protecting the mind being an Art. From what I have learned so far, if my mind would have been protected, I might not have lost equanimity quite so easily. Protection happens with mindfulness.
Shaila Catherine, whose book Focused and Fearless we have been peeking into, writes that mindfulness means we are alert, screening for obstructions and reactions. I would have noted the loss of reviews was not the end of the world. Shaila points out that mindful awareness is the guard we post at the door of each sense. Sounds like mind protection to me. We get vaccines to protect our bodies so think of mindfulness as a vaccine to protect our minds.
If I would have been more mindful, my emotions might not have felt so out of control. I would not have wasted energy worrying about something I had no control over.
Mindfulness protects our minds. And if you visit Fear, Folly & Freud: A Psychotherapist in Psychoanalysis, you will see there are now 29 reviews!
Grateful for every person who took the time to write a review, I am rededicating myself to practice mindfulness which will protect my mind. I invite you to do the same!
*This is a free or by donation five week workshop offered by Susan Piver and the Open Heart Project. You can contact them here: https://openheartproject.com/
The image represents body protection – I was freezing when we were in Greece 2009 and bought this wonderfully warm coat! The clerk by myside was so helpful we hugged! Remember when that was possible?
