At times it may seem that taming the mind is unnecessary, that we are happy enough already, but such happiness easily can be lost; it is useless to pretend otherwise. Like the sand-castles that children build beside the sea, sooner or later the tide comes in and washes them away. Material pleasures and happiness are temporary at best, and often are of benefit only to oneself.
One the other hand, the happiness arising from deep inner development has stability, it increases all the time and is useful to others. It's like a magic fire that continues to burn brightly even when cold water is poured onto it. For example if someone is angry with us, normally we would react negatively. However, if we are able to be patient and appreciate the pain that the other person is feeling, then compassion follows naturally and we will increase our understanding. If there were no negative circumstances, how could we tame our minds and cultivate limitless compassion, limitless joy? So it can be seen that worldly happiness and the happiness of a patient and mature mind are really quite different.
I truly love the idea of "a patient and mature mind". And I know the way to have that manifest in my life - reliably so - is to be faithful to my meditative practice and to study the teachings of the meditative tradition.
Sister, Can you give some practical advice for those times when, listening to the news, i find it most natural to go straight to anger and powerlessness? Developing a "patient and mature mind" seems to me, impossible in those moments. Here is something I found today that gives me some comfort:
ReplyDeleteA poem by Thich Nhat Hanh
WARMTH
I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm-
two hands protecting,
two hand nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger. a. callaway
I forgot to mention something important regarding my first comment. The author wrote the above-mentioned poem after hearing about the bombing of a village in Viet-Nam and a comment made by an American military man, "We had to destroy the town in order to save it."
ReplyDeletea. callaway
The thing for it is to accept your feelings without judgment. You feel what you feel. Accept that. Do not, in other words, judge the judgment. That's a bottomless pit. Rather have compassion on yourself. Then do Tonglen (sending and taking practice) for someone else who's having the same feelings that you are having. That will keep your heart open and will help you tap into your ability to have compassion for another person. Then let go of your attachment to things being other than they are. But don't try to get rid of your feelings. Just don't feed energy into the anger and it will dissolve on its own. Simply say to yourself, "deep acceptance, deep acceptance". Your suffering will then be relieved and the "patient and mature mind" will slowly be cultivated.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sr. Ellie, for the guidance in dealing with the difficulty of hearing upsetting news...to go right away into tonglen... I find I have to limit my intake of "negative news " as well, so I don't feel overwhelemed.
ReplyDeletea. callaway