130 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
[This was posted at one point to alt.pagan, enjoy --Amythyst]
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Before giving the meditation, here's some background on its source
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and some pertinent lead-up text. All this material is from "Peace
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is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who
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is one of humanity's greatest spiritual resources. He was, among
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other things, responsible for getting Martin Luther King to come
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out against the Vietnam War (a very controversial move for him at
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the time). King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his
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work (unfortunately futile) for peace in Vietnam. He is the author
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of *numerous* books, all of them lovely and wonderful, among them
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"Being Peace" and "The Miracle of Mindfulness". Here's some of
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what he has to say about anger:
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"Anger is an unpleasant feeling. It is like a blazing flame
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that burns up our self-control and causes us to say and do
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things that we regret later. When someone is angry, we can see
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clearly that he or she is abiding in hell. Anger and hatred
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are the materials from which hell is made. A mind without
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anger is cool, fresh and sane. The absence of anger is the
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basis of real happiness, the basis of love and compassion.
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When our anger is placed under the lamp of mindfulnes, it
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immediately begins to lose some of its destructive nature. We
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can say to ourselves, 'Breathing in, I know that anger is in
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me. Breathing out, I know that I am my anger.' If we follow
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our breathing closely while we identify and mindfully observe
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our anger, it can no longer monopolize our consciousness.
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Awareness can be called upon to be a companion for our
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anger. Our awareness of our anger does not suppress it or
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drive it out. It just looks after it. This is a very
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important principle. Mindfulness is not a judge. it is more
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like an older sister looking after and comforting her younger
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sister in an affectionate and caring way. We can concentrate
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on our breathing in order to maintain this mindfulness and
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know ourselves fully.
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When we are angry, we are not usually inclined to return to
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ourselves. We want to think about the person who is making us
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angry, to think about his hateful aspects - his rudeness,
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dishonesty, cruelty, maliciousness, and so on. The more we
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think about him, listen to him, or look at him, the more our
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anger flares. His dishonesty and hatefulness may be real,
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imaginary, or exaggerated, but, in fact, the root of the
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problem is the anger itself, and we have to come back and look
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first of all inside ourselves. It is best if we do not listen
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to or look at the person who is the cause of our anger. Like
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a fireman, we have to pour water on the blaze first and not
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waste time looking for the one who set the house on fire...
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When we are angry, our anger is our very self. To suppress
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or chase it away is to suppress or chase away our self. When
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we are joyful, we are the joy. When we are angry, we are the
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anger. When anger is born in us, we can be aware that anger
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is an energy in us, and we can accept that energy in order to
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transform it into another kind of energy. When we have a
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compost bin filled with organic material that is decomposing
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and smelly, we know that we can transform the waste into
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beautiful flowers... We need the insight and non-dual vision
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of the organic gardener with respect to our anger. We need not
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be afraid of it or reject it. We know that anger can be a
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kind of compost, and that it is within its power to give birth
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to something beautiful. We need anger the way an organic
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gardener needs compost. If we know how to accept our anger, we
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already have some peace and joy. Gradually we can transform
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anger completely into peace, love and understanding.
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Expressing anger is not always the best way to deal with
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it. In expressing anger we might be practicing or rehearsing
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it, and making it stronger in the depth of our consciousness.
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Expressing anger to the person we are angry at can cause a lot
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of damage.
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Some of us may prefer to go into our room, lock the door,
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and punch a pillow. We call this "getting in touch with our
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anger". But I don't think this is getting in touch with our
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anger at all. In fact, I don't think it is even getting in
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touch with our pillow. If we are really in touch with our
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pillow, we know what a pillow is and we won't hit it. Still,
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this technique may work temporarily because while pounding the
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pillow we expend a lot of energy and after a while we are
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exhausted and we feel better. But the roots of the anger are
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still intact, and if we go out and eat some nourishing food,
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our energy will be renewed. If the seeds of our anger are
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watered again, our anger will be reborn and we will have to
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pound the pillow again...
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...In order to have real transformation, we have to deal
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with the roots of our anger - looking deeply into its causes.
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If we don't, the seeds of anger will grow again. If we
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practice mindful living, planting new, healthy, wholesome
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seeds, they will take care of our anger, and they may
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transform it without our asking them to do so."
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So here is Thich Nhat Hanh's anger meditation:
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"When anger arises, we may wish to go outside to practice
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walking meditation. The fresh air, green trees and plants will
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help us greatly. We can practice like this:
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Breathing in, I know that anger is here.
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Breathing out, I know that the anger is in me.
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Breathing in, I know that anger is unpleasant.
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Breathing out, I know this feeling will pass.
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Breathing in, I am calm.
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Breathing out, I am strong enough to take care of this
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anger.
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To lessen the unpleasant feeling brought about by the anger,
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we give our whole heart and mind to the practice of walking
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meditation, combining our breath with our steps and giving
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full attention to the contact between the soles of our feet
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and the earth...After a while, our anger will subside and we
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will feel stronger. Then we can begin to observe the anger
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directly and try to understand it.
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Whew! my fingers need a rest. Sorry for the long post! If even one
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person can benefit, it will have been worthwhile.
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Blessings to all,
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--richard
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*********************************
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Richard Darsie * *
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(Tuneweaver) * The one who dies with *
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darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu * the most instruments WINS! *
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* *
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*********************************
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