![]() Let them be without acting on them and you will find that they ultimately dissolve.ĥ. Accept the fact that such urges arise, don’t suppress or indulge them. Relinquishing: Give up habitual conditioned reactivity and let go of impulsive urges in favor of more consciously chosen intelligent responsiveness. The most difficult person or situation can become our greatest teacher, our greatest opportunity.Ĥ. To take it one step further, practice recognizing the adversary or critic as a teacher, a friend, an ally in helping us develop patience and overcome unconscious, habitual, and unproductive reaction patterns. Examine things from the others’ perspectives: turn this over like a stone to see all sides, recognizing others’ suffering. Refraining and restraining, through reframing: See things through the other’s eyes/point of view cultivating feelings of genuine compassion for those who harm you, knowing that they are merely sowing the seeds of their own unhappiness and bad karma. In this second step, find and mine the sacred pause. Hatred is appeased only by love.” And recollect the upside-the significant advantages – of practicing patience, forbearance, tolerance and stoic acceptance of karma and its repercussions. Buddha said, “Hatred is not appeased by hatred. ![]() Recollecting: With remindfulness, remember the downsides and disadvantages of returning hatred with hatred, anger with anger, harm with harm. Stop for a moment, however brief, to breathe, reflect, and simply relax.Ģ. Recognizing: Notice with equanimity a familiar stimulus which habitually pushes your hot buttons and triggers an unfulfilling, retaliatory response such as harsh words or unfair treatment, which might very well provoke retaliation in kind. Spirituality can be the medicine for all that afflicts us.ġ. After much trial and error, I have come up with my own practice for regulating strong emotions and being patient and more authentically responsive through these six steps to mindful anger management and intentional responsiveness. It is important to realize that anger has its own function, intelligence and logic and so we should not entirely try to eradicate it. Discovering methods to deal with these challenging emotions is essential in leading a healthy well-balanced, harmonious life. I have found that fear, anger and irritation are like an affliction, and a serious impediment to open communication and healthy relationships of all kinds. “The whole universe is my body, all beings my heart & mind.” Considering trends, problems, challenges and opportunities we face, I believe we must ask ourselves and each other: “What can we do to contribute to a better world and planet? What can we do individually and collectively toward alleviating suffering and edifying and awakening the world through our noble-hearted and compassionate, all-inclusive bodhichitta (innate enlightened mind), thru love in action, for the benefit of one and all?Īs a tantric Tibetan song of enlightenment goes: It’s time to open our wisdom eye and good heart, and grok this world, clear and open. The future begins now, starting with one step. I know now that we can’t just ask what needs changing without sincerely striving to know and transform ourselves. And our broken social systems also need transformation. ![]() We do need genuine change and transformation, each and all of us. Unfortunately, we seem unable to recognize the interdependence of all.Ī sage said: “The light by which we see is the one by which we are seen.” You can see this at many levels, human and divine. Recognizing our interconnectedness and collective interdependence allows us to appreciate, respect and accept our undeniable responsibility to protect all the flora and fauna of this earth, and all the habitats, oceans and rivers too. I find it by going mindfully outside, interbeing with the beauty and richness of nature, and observing directly the inseparable unity of doing and being in moments of inter-meditation, co-meditating with water, sky, wind and trees and thru the inseparable unity of contemplation and action, faith and deeds, on the path of awakened living. Today we celebrate Earth Day, and I ask you: What may inspire, motivate and sustain your feelings of connection and universal responsibility, intentional altruistic actions, and the recognition that we must move from me to we if we are to survive and flourish on this endangered planet? This is based on the interwoven interdependence of all things–all of us, and all creatures great and small. Buddhist thought and practice has always emphasized nonviolence, especially protecting and cherishing of all forms of life. ![]()
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