Transform Your Mind: Buddhist Mind Training
Week 3: When Things Go Wrong - Transforming Anger (16 March 2023)
David Oromith · 73 minutes · recorded March 16, 2023
The evening opens with a guided breathing meditation, before David turns to aversion, attachment's mirror image, which exaggerates the faults in whoever has upset us until we react to what he calls a three headed green monster rather than the person in front of us. He explains patience as accepting what is rather than resisting it, and compassion as redirecting anger toward the person's suffering. Questions cover staying calm around an angry colleague, and the session closes with a short loving kindness meditation.
Aversion has such power because (1) we believe the cause of suffering is external to us and (2) we believe that we shouldn't have problems. (1) The causes of our unhappy responses are primarily internal, in response to a trigger, it is our way of reacting to difficulties and the way our mind runs away with stories and exaggerations that creates the distress we feel and make situations so unbearable. (2) Our belief that 'problems' shouldn't occur means we spend so much time at odds with our reality. The truth is: problems happen, they happen to everyone and they're a natural part of our reality. Our resistance to what is natural creates our suffering. If we can find acceptance with what is, we can open the doorway to feeling peace and even joy in difficult circumstances. Lose good judgement, creativity, etc. What use is it? Especially in the case of the 'absent enemy', when we torment ourselves over difficulties of the past. The primary antidotes to anger and hatred are (1) patient acceptance, and (2) compassion/loving-kindness. (1) Patient acceptance: simply means to let go of your idea that it should be different. To put down the resistance and say, 'Ok, this is what it is, what do I do now?' The mind of patient acceptance allow us to work with the problem, practically, without the excess noise of the mind which makes the challenge all the more difficult. We already have to deal with the external problem, why compound that with an upset mind? can be a way of transforming our anger at injustice. Compassion focusses on those who are suffering, and wants to help. It is powerful, virtuous and righteous. Anger wants to harm the perpetrator, it too is powerful, but destructive for both ourself and others. It is fragile, and lacks logical thinking. Compassion can also be cultivated for ourself, and the perpetrators. Why do people do and say bad things? Because they themselves are suffering in many ways - they too have mental afflictions, believe the cause of happ
Anger and aversion Attachment and craving Patience, forbearance and acceptance Compassion (karuna) Lojong (mind training) Loving kindness (metta)