Dharma Master Andrew. J. Williams
NIP NEGATIVITY IN THE BUD
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“Anger only ever causes suffering. We should eradicate it whenever it arises. Just as we don’t hang onto rain when the sun comes out. All things pass. Replace anger with acceptance, patience, appreciation and loving kindness.
We should do our very best to protect our mind by enthusiastically practising the Four Great Efforts, as taught by the Buddha. To eradicate any unwholesome thoughts that have already arisen, to stop any new unwholesome thoughts from arising, to give rise to wholesome thoughts and to maintain wholesome thoughts that have already arisen.
The Buddha said, “With sustained effort and sincerity, discipline and self-control, the wise become like islands which no flood can overwhelm”.
When mental sensations and thoughts arise, don’t cling to them or follow them, or turn them into something bigger than they are. For they are simply conditioned habitual tendencies.
Be proactive and ‘nip them in the bud’ by just letting them go naturally, rather than being reactive, reacting to them and then reacting to the reaction, and so on and so forth.
For instance, if we let the weeds in the garden grow, unrestrained and uncontrolled, the size and amount of weeds continually increase and become overwhelming.
Likewise, if our thoughts and feelings are left to grow, unrestrained and uncontrolled, they will intensify and eventually become overwhelming.
We experience the world through our senses, which gives rise to mental sensations or feelings, which are either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. We then recognise or perceive these sensations, and normally, then impulsively react, which in turn leaves a karmic imprint on our consciousness.
We should create, what I like to call, a ‘buffer zone’ between the perception of the sensation and the impulsive reaction. In other words, allow ourselves the opportunity to not impulsively react. In this way we can protect ourselves from creating negative karma.
To give a brief example, if we bump our head on something hard, generally the sensation we experience would be unpleasant. We then perceive this unpleasant sensation and impulsively react with frustration or even fully blown anger, which in turn leaves a negative karmic imprint on our consciousness.
However if we create a ‘buffer zone’ between our perception of the unpleasant feeling and our impulsive reaction, we will avoid creating negative karma.
Enjoy your ‘buffer zone’. ‘Nip negativity in the bud’, before it becomes overwhelming.”
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~Dharma Master Andrew. J. Williams~
