by Shen Shi'an
When life is wonderful, harmonious, it is easy for everyone to be "good people." The challenges come when the environment changes. When times are bad, can you still be as "good?"
When my colleague was away, I suddenly had tons of work to do... When others could not rush out the things I asked them to do in time, I easily lost control of my temper. But when I recognized how it was hurting me (my head swelled, and hot air gushed up my throat), I stopped, took a few deep breaths and told myself that this is just part of learning the uselessness and harm of anger.
With this thought, I felt much better. That night, after much thought, I realized that our feelings fluctuate a lot easily when the environment changes. Only now do I really see how true the Buddha's teaching is about non-self and impermanence -- everything physical and mental is in constant change. So much so, that there is no fixed self in anything. No feelings are for real because they change all the time. We express our emotions in the heat of the moment because our feelings of enragement feel so "real" and justified just then. Pause a few seconds in the light of mindfulness and you might see the anger dissipate as quickly as it appeared. Never let feelings control us; we should learn to control our feelings. Rashness leads to lots of negative karma!
Being not attached to any feeling (good or bad) and you literally set yourself free from all emotional bondage! So, next time when you feel bad, see the feeling as just another feeling and let it go. You don't have to suppress or express your feelings. Just let them be and respond appropriately as the situation warrants.
Remember -- You can choose how you want to feel every second.
When life is wonderful, harmonious, it is easy for everyone to be "good people." The challenges come when the environment changes. When times are bad, can you still be as "good?"
When my colleague was away, I suddenly had tons of work to do... When others could not rush out the things I asked them to do in time, I easily lost control of my temper. But when I recognized how it was hurting me (my head swelled, and hot air gushed up my throat), I stopped, took a few deep breaths and told myself that this is just part of learning the uselessness and harm of anger.
With this thought, I felt much better. That night, after much thought, I realized that our feelings fluctuate a lot easily when the environment changes. Only now do I really see how true the Buddha's teaching is about non-self and impermanence -- everything physical and mental is in constant change. So much so, that there is no fixed self in anything. No feelings are for real because they change all the time. We express our emotions in the heat of the moment because our feelings of enragement feel so "real" and justified just then. Pause a few seconds in the light of mindfulness and you might see the anger dissipate as quickly as it appeared. Never let feelings control us; we should learn to control our feelings. Rashness leads to lots of negative karma!
Being not attached to any feeling (good or bad) and you literally set yourself free from all emotional bondage! So, next time when you feel bad, see the feeling as just another feeling and let it go. You don't have to suppress or express your feelings. Just let them be and respond appropriately as the situation warrants.
Remember -- You can choose how you want to feel every second.
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