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By InterestedInPolitics - 26 Nov 2007 04:53
"So pa" is the Dalia Lama's term for patience. The Dalia Lama writes:
This book is an awesome read with countless wisdom. I am amazed and impressed with such wisdom. But this quote is only the tip of the ice berg and the book goes way more in depth.
Dalia Lama wrote:
Patience acts as a counter force to anger. In fact, for every negative state, we find that we can identify one which opposes it. For example, humility opposes pride; contentment opposes greed; perseverance opposes indolence. If, therefore, we wish to overcome the suffering which arises when negative thoughts and emotions are allowed to develop, cultivating virtue should not be seen as separate from restraining our response to them. They go hand in hand. This is why ethical discipline cannot be confined either to mere restraint or to mere affirmation of positive qualities.
To see how this process of restraint coupled with counteraction works, let us consider anxiety. We can describe this as a form of fear, but one with a well developed mental component. Now we are bound to encounter experiences and events we feel concerned about. But what turns concern into anxiety is when we start to brood and let the imagination add negative reflections. Then we begin to feel anxious and start to worry. And the more we indulge this, the more reasons we find for it. Eventually we may find ourselves in a state of permanent distress. The more developed this state, the less we are able to take action against it, and the stronger it becomes.
But when we think carefully, we3 see that underlying this process is principally narrowness of vision and a lack of proper perspective.....
the first step in overcoming anxiety is thus to develop a proper perspective of our situation. This we can do in a number of different ways. One of the most effective is to try to shift the focus of attention away from self and toward others. When we succeed in this, we find that the scale of our own problems diminishes. This is not to say we should ignore our own needs altogether, but rather that we should try to remember others' needs alongside our own, no matter how pressing ours may be. This is helpful, because when our concern for others is translated into action, we find that confidence arises automatically and worry and anxiety diminish.
Indeed, we find that almost all the mental and emotional suffering which is such a feature of modern living- including the sense of hopelessness, of loneliness, and so on- lessens the moment we begin to engage in actions motivated by concern for others. In my opinion, this explains why merely performing outwardly positive actions will not suffice to reduce anxiety. When the underlying motive is to further one's short term aims, we only add to our problems.
His Holiness The Dalia Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium p.111
This book is an awesome read with countless wisdom. I am amazed and impressed with such wisdom. But this quote is only the tip of the ice berg and the book goes way more in depth.
By Mazhi - 26 Nov 2007 13:39 
Ok, but why does he consider pride a negative emotion? I think it's okay to feel proud of something you've accomplished.
I have a book by the Dalai Lama The art of Happiness. It's about how we train our mind to enable us to achieve peace of mind and happiness. Our feelings aren't about our circumstances, but how we view them. And in Buddhism, an important thing is to temper desire and not let it get out of control. If you wish nothing, then you don't have anything to feel bad about. I don't know how this is achievable though, there's always something I want....
I have a book by the Dalai Lama The art of Happiness. It's about how we train our mind to enable us to achieve peace of mind and happiness. Our feelings aren't about our circumstances, but how we view them. And in Buddhism, an important thing is to temper desire and not let it get out of control. If you wish nothing, then you don't have anything to feel bad about. I don't know how this is achievable though, there's always something I want....
"Nations ... as an inherent political destiny, are a myth. Nationalism, which sometimes takes preexisting cultures and turns them into nations, sometimes invents them, and often obliterates preexisting cultures: that is a reality." - E. Gellner
By InterestedInPolitics - 26 Nov 2007 22:56
Ok, but why does he consider pride a negative emotion? I think it's okay to feel proud of something you've accomplished.
I don't know if considers pride a negative emotion. I think it's ok to be proud of something you accomplish.
I have a book by the Dalai Lama The art of Happiness. It's about how we train our mind to enable us to achieve peace of mind and happiness. Our feelings aren't about our circumstances, but how we view them. And in Buddhism, an important thing is to temper desire and not let it get out of control. If you wish nothing, then you don't have anything to feel bad about. I don't know how this is achievable though, there's always something I want....
I don't know how it is achievable either to be honest. However, a bit off topic from your question and back to the original post concerning afflictive emotions such as anxiety or depression that I talked about in bold print in the start of the thread as I have quoted here:
The Dalia Lama wrote:the first step in overcoming anxiety is thus to develop a proper perspective of our situation. This we can do in a number of different ways. One of the most effective is to try to shift the focus of attention away from self and toward others. When we succeed in this, we find that the scale of our own problems diminishes. This is not to say we should ignore our own needs altogether, but rather that we should try to remember others' needs alongside our own, no matter how pressing ours may be. This is helpful, because when our concern for others is translated into action, we find that confidence arises automatically and worry and anxiety diminish. Indeed, we find that almost all the mental and emotional suffering which is such a feature of modern living- including the sense of hopelessness, of loneliness, and so on- lessens the moment we begin to engage in actions motivated by concern for others. In my opinion, this explains why merely performing outwardly positive actions will not suffice to reduce anxiety. When the underlying motive is to further one's short term aims, we only add to our problems.
My vietnamese friend told me that once a woman who lost her child became very sad. She lived throughout life always remembering her dead son and was always in a state of depression. One day she met the Buddha (I think my friend was referring to the Dalia Lama) and inquired him of her sufferring. He then told her to find a family where there does not exist a death in the family. After traveling to many villages, she came back stating that she could not find one family that did not experience a death in the family. After that, she realized that it was not just her who experiences this sufferring and that it is indeed a part of everyone's life. With that realization, she was able to gain wisdom that ultimately led to her escape of suffering.
He continued by saying that we should explore our sufferrings and realize the pointlessness of sufferring that is caused by our own views and ignorance of what really is and the nature of things.
