This winter I am taking part in an equanimity meditation seminar. "Equanimity" comes from the Latin, aequus + animus: evenness (or balance) of mind. In our context, the focus is on being able to accept (receive) things as they are. The idea behind equanimity meditation, as I understand it, is that to recognize and behold our reality is to be better able to deal with it, in whatever way we need to. To the extent that equanimity meditation is most helpful in situations we find hard to accept, such as death, illness, breakup, loss of a job, etc, there is perhaps a similarity in the process described in equanimity meditation and the five stages of grief described by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.