“To manage difficult situations, fortunately we have an energy as powerful as that of anger, but this time it is controllable, as it comes from anger’s most effective antidotes: kindness, patience, and reason.
“The moderation that these qualities engender is often interpreted as a sign of weakness. Personally, I think it is true inner strength. Compassion is certainly benevolent and peaceful by nature, but it gives great power, while those who easily lose patience are unstable and not sure of themselves. I think it is giving vent to anger that is a clear sign of weakness.
– The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
In the chapter on altruistic love and compassion (On the Path to Enlightenment), Matthieu Ricard shares the heart of Buddhist practice. Again, I’m being schooled in bodhichitta; the spontaneous wish for enlightenment through compassion for others.
Kindness, patience and reason.
So many people are mad these days. Maybe they always were, but the volume is going up – and the mean spirited venom is being cut loose. Can I be kind, patient and reasonable in the face of this anger? Can I be anything other than these things if I want to create a different tone in the world – or at least my immediate world?
The Dalai Lama is right, these qualities are often mocked and called weaknesses. Yet:
“To eliminate the destructive potential of anger and hatred, we must understand that they are rooted in the pursuit of our own well-being to the detriment of others. This selfishness is not only the source of anger; it is also the root cause of all our troubles.”
We all want to be happy and not to suffer.
Wishing others happiness and the end of suffering above myself is uncomfortable. It’s definitely NOT the way folks in my neck of the woods were brought up. To wish happiness for those I see as my enemy, or who treat me badly? – HA! Invitation or challenge?
Kindness, patience and reason. Okay – I’ll give it a go; see where it takes me.
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
