In a Flash

Having a change of heart towards another can require much patience and effort. Or it can happen in a flash of empathetic understanding.

Picture yourself walking down the street. You're running late as usual so decided to carry your handbag, laptop case, the new reference books you need to use today, and a large cup of coffee rather then make a second trip from the car. Suddenly, you are pushed from behind. Your bag, laptop, and books go flying, and you spill the coffee down the front of your best suit.

Furious, you turn around to demand why on earth the person did this when you find yourself looking at an elderly lady whose eyes are welling up with tears. She's muttering to herself a mantra she may often say "So stupid." She looks terribly embarrassed and seems so frail.

And in a flash, you have a change of heart. Your anger dissolves, and your only thought is to comfort her and tell her it's alright.

If we can similarly feel the suffering of those who upset us, our anger towards them can likewise dissolve.

Comments

[anybody]

i was talking to a friend and she told me "she tried" Buddhism but the following was her reason for not persuing it further: "I dont't think that it is a good thing to detach from the body and all emotions. I believe that passion and emotions are part of the best part of being human. So... pure detachment leaves me feeling un-human.If you will...

Well i was left speechless and wondering for myself about this for me..passion. After i chant my body trembles and i feel like i am in heaven. The Buddha has made this a very real experience for me. Therefore, how could her quetion create confussion for me when i know some of the truths? This really threw me for a loop. Is affinity working to pull me here or there? Causes and conditions are being created to play something out? Any ideas?

[Venerable Wuling]

Dear Anybody,

Please read tomorrow's post for a response to what your friend said.

Doubt is one of the six poisons and can be readily triggered unless our practice is profound and deep-rooted. Just keep practicing and doubt will slowly recede.

[Richard]

This is a lovely post. Many years ago the late Trevor Legget explained this point through a story about chess. Where does this wave of compassion come from? It took me many years to understand, and I have been working more recently with the karuna brahmavihara, to cultivate this feeling more directly. Thankyou for another post that indeed does put a perspective on our "real" lives and encourages us to wake up.

Practice is not about 'detachment' as in numbness. We still have feelings and even cultivate beneficial feelings. Detachment is how we pick up the feelings and how we know that they are real but not 'me'; we become less taken in by them. (Good theory...time to go back to practice!)

best wishes,

Richard

[Venerable Wuling]

Ah yes...practice...