The Anger-Eating Demon

Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, retelling of ancient Buddhist story from the Sakka Samyutta (SN 22)

The hot demon Kim Kardashian absorbs our hate and grows stronger (animalnewyork.com)

 

Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: He fed on the anger of others. And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food. He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, or national and racial hatred, fanning the fire of racist hatred.
 
Even to stir up a war was not very difficult for him. And whenever he succeeded in bringing about a war, he could gorge himself. After all, once a war starts, hate multiplies exponentially by its own momentum and affects even normally kind, compassionate, and friendly people.
 

The demon!

The demon's food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to keep himself from overeating, being content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment found close by.
 
But as often happens with successful people, he became overbearing. One day, feeling bored, he thought, "Shouldn't I try it with the devas?" On reflection he chose the space world of the Thirty-Three, ruled by Sakka, King of the Devas (literally, "shining ones").

He knew that only a few of these devas had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will and aversion and fear, even though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels. So by magic power he transferred himself from Earth to that nearby celestial realm. He was lucky enough to arrive at a time when Sakka the divine king was absent.

There was none in the large audience hall, and soon the demon seated himself on Sakka's empty throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a tasty feast.

Soon some of the devas came to the hall. First they could hardly believe their divine eyes when they saw the ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning. Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament: "Oh, ugly demon, how can you dare sit on the throne of our king? What gall! What disrespect! What a crime! You should be thrown headlong into some hell, straight into a boiling cauldron of oil! You should be quartered alive! Get out! Get out!"
 
While the devas grew more and more angry and incensed, the demon was pleased: From moment to moment he grew in size, in strength, and in power -- gorging on their hate. The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. And this evil aura kept the devas at a distance, and due to their own anger, their own natural radiance dimmed.
 
Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall, and it grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka, the King of Devas, emerged. As a stream enterer (one entered upon the first stage of enlightenment), the undeflectible stream that leads to nirvana, was unshaken by what he saw.

The smoke-screen created by the devas' anger parted when Sakka slowly and politely approached the demon on his throne. "Welcome, friend! Please, stay seated. I can use another seat. May I offer you a drink of hospitality? Our Amrita nectar is good. Or do you prefer a stronger brew, some Soma perhaps?"
 
While Sakka spoke these kind and friendly words, the demon rapidly began to shrink to a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke which soon dissolved.

The New Hate (Goldwag)

The gist of this story dates back to the discourses of the Buddha. But even now over 2,600 years later, our world looks as if large hordes of Anger-Eating Demons were haunting it. And we are keeping them well nourished all over the Earth. Fires of hatred, greed, delusion, intolerance, and wide-traveling waves of violence threaten to engulf humankind. 

The grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord, manifesting in angry thoughts and words and in violent deeds. There was a time to end our self-destructive slavery to our habitual impulses of hate and aggression. They better serve demonic forces than us.

The story reveals how these demons of hate can be exorcised -- not by more hate but by the power of gentleness and love, compassion and equanimity. If this power of loving-kindness can be developed and displayed at a grass-root level, in the widely spread net of our personal relationships, nations at large, and world at large, we will all be benefited by it.

• Israel/CIA won't stop killing indigenous Palestinians
• A 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Yunnan, China, kills at least 589 people and injures more than 2,400 others. 
• U.S. launches new airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq 
• Israel fighting resumes on Gaza after truce ends; 10-year-pld Palestinian child murdered 
• W.H.O. declares Ebola outbreak a global public health emergency
• U.S. Sec'y of State Kerry seeks resolution to fixed Afghan election 
• Report: German firm helped Bahrain spy on pro-democracy activists  
• Obama signs bill to address VA healthcare crisis
• Argentina seeks to sue U.S. at The Hague over debt dispute
• Uri Avnery on Gaza crisis, his time in a Zionist "terrorist group," becoming a peace activist

Love: Suicidal Summer Sadness (video)

Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; Lana Del Rey

Beach Bum Dharma: reading Buddhism instead of practicing it? Both are needed (TDB).

.

Get a tan, take a swim, and meditate.

When I read, I imagine the world is one way.

But it's really another.

In my head, sandals and cold drinks are dancing. There's sand everywhere, and the mighty sea crunches into the sand, churns it up, and exhales. Then it all rushes out and happens again, like a body breathing.

But summer around here, far from the beach, far from the shoreline, inland where most people live, is green, muddy, and the water doesn't breathe much.

The devas' hollow, far from the madding crowd (SatoriNihon/flickr.com)

 

Where do the devas (shining ones) go? Isn't it exactly these wilderness haunts, pleasant groves unspoiled by human noise and destruction?

East Coast

We thought "West Coast" was the best song Lana Del Rey created for "Ultraviolence," but that might actually be "Brooklyn Baby."

Since the album is at No. 1 on Billboard, readers might have heard the whole thing by now. (After all, isn't that what YouTube is for?)

You never liked the way I said it/ If you don't get it then forget it/ So I don't have to f'ing...

LYRICS: "They say I'm too young to love you/ [that] I don't know what I need/ They think I don't understand/ The freedom land of the seventies/ I think I'm too cool to know ya/ You say I'm like the ice I freeze/ I'm churning out novels like/ Beat poetry on amphetamines/ I say, I say// CHORUS: Well my boyfriend's in a band/ He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed /I've got feathers in my hair/ I get down to Beat poetry/ And my jazz collection's rare/ I can play most anything/ I'm a Brooklyn baby/ I'm a Brooklyn baby// They say I'm too young to love you/ They say I'm too dumb to see/ They judge me like a picture book/ By the colors, like they forgot to read/ I think we're like fire and water/ I think we're like the wind and sea/ You're burning up, I'm cooling down/ You're up, I'm down/ You're blind, I see/ But I'm free, I'm free// CHORUS// I'm talking about my generation/ Talking about that newer nation/ And if you don't like it/ You can beat it/ Beat it, baby/ You never liked the way I said it/ If you don't get it then forget it/ So I don't have to *ucking explain it/ And my boyfriend's in a band/ He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed/ I've got feathers in my hair/ I get high on hydroponic weed/ And my jazz collection's rare/ I get down to Beat poetry/ I'm a Brooklyn baby/ I'm a Brooklyn baby/  Yeah, my boyfriend's pretty cool/ But he's not as cool as me/ Cause I'm a Brooklyn baby."

According to HollyscoopTV, "She also recently told the New York Times, 'I love the idea that it'll all be over. It's just a relief really. I'm scared to die, but I want to die.'"

I was born to die, and I want to die already.

Maybe Lana's great because she's so troubled and depressed. Imagine being that famous, that talented, that successful, that beautiful, that young -- and wanting to die. It can all be explained in terms of what the Buddha says about disappointment.

We translate the Sanskrit word dukkha as "suffering." But it is a rich word that means "there's no fulfillment here, no satisfaction, no satiation." In other words, it's disappointing. What's disappointing? Everything but nirvana. Everything else is "off center, askew, and hard to bear."

There are forms of dukkha as subtle as annoyance, as enduring as longing, as severe as anguish. Wanting to kill oneself is painful. It is an unwholesome desire based on wrong views and an expression of aversion (frustration, revulsion, anger, depression, hate, fear).

I wish I were dead! I'm scared to die, but I want it all to be over.

Death is pretty, says la Llorona

Why do we get depressed or put off or upset? We say: "I want this. So long as I don't have this, I'll be unhappy" as if the world were out to make us happy.

But not getting what one wants is dukkha. Getting what one does not-want is dukkha. Rebirth, aging, sickness, and death are dukkha. But this is the worst dukkha, and Lana knows it:

Getting exactly what one wants, what one had wished for, what one had yearned for, AND still not be happy! Why? It didn't fulfill me. It lied or somebody lied telling me this would satisfy me, satiate me, fulfill me.

What did it do instead -- any of it, whether it was hot sensual pleasures or cool spiritual experiences? It disappointed me! Therefore, I want to die. What's the point of going on?

"Summertime Sadness" (Acapella)

 

I'm thrilled and feel a surge of love chemicals

Maybe someone will argue, "Lana just needs to find the right partner and settle down." Nope. Depending on someone else for her happiness, she's already doing that; she's been in "love" and engaged for a while.

Know what Lana really needs? God. The god is the answer to all problems. Not so much, because she's already got that. The god's son and his special mojo? The god's human wife or his son's mother with her special dispensation? Pact with Satan? More expensive shoes? Drugs? Lots of sex? Money! Attention? Our approval? More accolades (like having the No. 1 album in the country isn't enough)? More awards? More magazine interviews and interest? Bigger ratings than Lady Gaga? Her own show? How about if we elect her "Emperess of the Planet" and all send her tribute due on April 15th of each year?

(The Ryon Show) WARNING: Mild cussing, gender confusion, suicidal story. Lana Del Rey LIVE in Los Angeles, 2014, talking to fans before her recent Shrine Auditorium show. More

"Suicide is the most sincere form of self-criticism" is humor?

It all sounds good, but with wisdom, with right view, and often with painful experience, one sees that these would never fulfill one, never satiate one, never solve the real problem(s).

They lead to more desires and more disappointments. If they led to the end of suffering, we would recommend them and the Buddha would have recommended them; we would all be hedonists. But they don't work, as you will all find out.

(Why? Because we know that that's what our horrible Judeo-Christian corporate capitalist mentality/society is promoting, not only to us but also exporting to the entire world).

Annihilationism is a basic wrong view

Look at Judaism, the root of Christianity; it's all about, "Live it up now, for tomorrow it's sheol for everyone," a very harmful wrong view.

Look at Christianity, which does more to promote "sin" (unskillful karma) than to dissuade anyone from it. How? It does so by hammering and pontificating, by being full of loud hypocrites, sophists, and apologists. How bad the world is with it. How much worse would the world be without it? It would likely be better because this is the world with it, and this world is not working for the good. But it sure is working for inimical forces, seen and unseen.

If one gets depressed and starts believing it's all hopeless -- and we know that what one had done to bear it only made it worse -- made more bad karma -- then it's no surprise one starts talking about suicide. Suicide? Who said anything about suicide? She used to pout, but she's happy now.

• AUDIO: Lana gets interviewed (Amp Radio)

"Feeling super, super, super suicidal" (Lana Del Rey)

Are you calling me the next la Llorona?

How wise was the Buddha, knowing-and-seeing things as they really are. There are only three roots of all unhappiness, three sources of all unwholesome karma, three problems with life/existence. What are they? They are:

1. greed (lobha, which actually means craving, desire, liking, or preferring and is NOT limited to selfish voraciousness as some people reading Buddhism only in English come to conclude),
2. hatred (dosa, which means all forms of aversion, especially wrath and fear, which we don't normally take to have the same root), and the biggest problem of all, which serves as the root of the other two,
3. delusion (moha, wrong view, unknowing, confusion, doubt, uncertainty, ignorance).

*If greed, hatred, and delusion are poor translations, why does everyone use them? Sometimes a poor translation is still the best possible translation because each of these words represents a range (each is a multivalent term). They represent their categories well.

Root-condition (Pali, hetu-paccaya) is a basis that resembles the root of a tree. Just as trees rest on roots and remain alive only as long as those roots are not destroyed, all karmically wholesome and unwholesome mental states are entirely dependent on the presence of their roots: greed, hatred, delusion or, conversely, greedlessness,hatelessness, undeludedness.

• For definitions of these six roots, see mūla.

"The roots are a condition by way of root for the (mental) phenomena associated with a root and for the corporeal phenomena produced thereby (e.g., for bodily expression)" -- from the Patthāna ("Conditional Relations").
 

(Lana Del Rey) The superstar spectacle of Coachella 2014 performing "National Anthem"

The Affection Sutra

Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; "Discourse on Affection" (Pema Sutta, AN 4.200)

Gazing at the massive Buddha at Thimphu in Bhutan (Nikolas Schrader)

 
"Meditators, four things are born. What are the four? [More] affection is born of affection. Aversion is born of affection. Affection is born of aversion. And aversion is born of aversion.
 
What?

"How is affection born of affection? An individual is [considered] pleasing, appealing, and charming. Others treat that person as pleasing, appealing, and charming, and someone thinks, 'This individual is pleasing, appealing, and charming to me [too. After all,] others treat this individual this way.'  One gives rise to affection. This is how affection is born of affection [popularity].

 

"How is aversion born of affection? An individual is pleasing, appealing, and charming to someone. Yet others treat that individual as displeasing, unappealing, and not charming, and one thinks, 'This individual is pleasing, appealing, and charming to me, yet others treat this individual as displeasing, unappealing, and not charming.' One gives rise to aversion for them. This is how aversion is born of affection.

 

I'm not an attention hog. My meditation and yoga are really cooking (Hilaria Baldwin)

 
"How is affection born of aversion? An individual is displeasing, unappealing, and not charming to someone. And others treat that individual as displeasing, unappealing, and not charming, and one thinks, 'This individual is displeasing, unappealing, and not charming to me, and others treat this individual as displeasing, unappealing, and not charming.' One gives rise to affection for them. This is how affection is born of aversion.

 

"How is aversion born of aversion? An individual is displeasing, unappealing, and not charming to someone, yet others treat that individual as pleasing, appealing, and charming, and one thinks, 'This individual is displeasing, unappealing, and not charming to me, yet others treat this individual as pleasing, appealing, and charming.' One gives rise to aversion for them. This is how aversion is born of aversion.

 

"Meditators, these are four things that are born.

 

"Now, when a meditator, withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful states, enters and remains in the first meditative absorption (jhana) -- with rapture and bliss born of withdrawal, accompanied by initial and sustained attention -- then any affection born of affection does not arise. Any aversion born of affection... any affection born of aversion... any aversion born of aversion does not arise.

 

"When a meditator... enters and remains in the second meditative absorption... enters and remains in the third meditative absorption... enters and remains in the fourth meditative absorption, then any affection born of affection does not arise. Any aversion born of affection... any affection born of aversion... any aversion born of aversion does not arise.

 

"When a meditator, by abandoning mental defilements, enters and remains in the defilement-free release of the heart and release by wisdom, having known and verified them for oneself right here and now, then any affection born of affection is abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump [a tree that does not regrow when topped off], deprived of supporting conditions, not destined for rearising. Any aversion born of affection... any affection born of aversion... any aversion born of aversion is abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of supporting conditions, not destined for rearising.

 

"This is said to be a meditator who does not draw in, does not push away, does not smolder, does not flare up, and does not burn [again].

 

Self

1,000 alabaster Buddha statues (LarryE251/flickr.com)

 
"How does a meditator pull in? One assumes FORM to be THE SELF, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form. One assumes FEELING to be the self, or the self as possessing feeling, or feeling as in the self, or the self as in feeling. One assumes PERCEPTION to be the self, or the self as possessing perception, or perception as in the self, or the self as in perception. One assumes FORMATIONS to be the self, or the self as possessing formations, or formations as in the self, or the self as in formations. One assumes CONSCIOUSNESS [as happens in Hinduism and therefore in Mahayana Buddhism] to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness. This is how a meditator pulls in.

 

Kwan Yin meditation (buddhism.about.com)

"How does one not pull in? A meditator does not assume form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form. One does not assume feeling to be the self... does not assume perception to be the self... does not assume formations to be the self... does not assume consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness. This is how one does not pull in.

 

"How does a meditator push away? A meditator returns insult to one who has given insult, returns anger to one who is angry, quarrels with one who is quarreling. This is how one pushes away.

 

"How does one not push away? A meditator does not return insult to one who insults, does not return anger to one who is angry, does not quarrel with one who is quarreling. This is how one does not push away.

 

"How does one smolder? One may reason, There being 'I am,' there comes to be 'I am here,' there comes to be 'I am like this'... 'I am otherwise'... 'I am bad'... 'I am good'... 'I might be'... 'I might be here'... 'I might be like this'... 'I might be otherwise'... 'May I be'... 'May I be here'... 'May I be like this'... 'May I be otherwise'... 'I will be'... 'I will be here'... 'I will be like this'... 'I will be otherwise.'

 

"How does one not smolder? One knows, There not being 'I am,' there does not come to be 'I am here,' there does not come to be 'I am like this'... 'I am otherwise'... 'I am bad'... 'I am good'... 'I might be'... 'I might be here'... 'I might be like this'... 'I might be otherwise'... 'May I be'... 'May I be here'... 'May I be like this'... 'May I be otherwise'... 'I will be'... 'I will be here'... 'I will be like this'... 'I will be otherwise.'

 

"How does one flare up? One reasons, There being 'I am because of this (or by means of this),' there comes to be 'I am here because of this,' there comes to be 'I am like this because of this'... 'I am otherwise because of this'... 'I am bad because of this'... 'I am good because of this'... 'I might be because of this'... 'I might be here because of this'... 'I might be like this because of this'... 'I might be otherwise because of this'... 'May I be because of this'... 'May I be here because of this'... 'May I be like this because of this'... 'May I be otherwise because of this'... 'I will be because of this'... 'I will be here because of this'... 'I will be like this because of this'... 'I will be otherwise because of this.'

 

"How does one not flare up? One knows, There not being 'I am because of this (or by means of this),' there does not come to be 'I am here because of this,' there does not come to be 'I am like this because of this'... 'I am otherwise because of this'... 'I am bad because of this'... 'I am good because of this'... 'I might be because of this'... 'I might be here because of this'... 'I might be like this because of this'... 'I might be otherwise because of this'... 'May I be because of this'... 'May I be here because of this'... 'May I be like this because of this'... 'May I be otherwise because of this'... 'I will be because of this'... 'I will be here because of this'... 'I will be like this because of this'... 'I will be otherwise because of this.'

 

"How does one burn? A meditator's conceit (mana) of 'I am' is not abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of supporting conditions, not destined for rearising. This is how one burns.

 

"How does one not burn? A meditator's conceit of 'I am' is abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. This is how one does not burn."

Racism in Buddhist Burma: Muslim Rohingya

CC Liu, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Kathmandu Post (ekantipur.com); BBC News America; 

Beloved daughters of Burma must be protected from feared minority? It's racist discrimination. Sandalwood paste is used on many children to lighten and keep skin clear (Dietmar Temps/Deepblue66/flickr)

 

Proposed law is discriminatory

(KP) Burma’s human rights record will hit a new low if a proposed marriage bill becomes law. Couched in an idiom that merely seeks to give “protection and rights” to Buddhists, the proposed law targets the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority and forbids Muslims from marrying into the majority community. 

 

Spearheaded by a monk, Ven. Wirathu, the move, it seems, has officialdom’s blessings. President Thein Sein, succumbing to pressure from the extremist lobby, asked parliament to consider enacting such a law, which proposes a 10-year jail sentence for a Rohingya marrying a girl from the Buddhist community without obtaining her parents’ permission.

Vaguely worded, the proposed law, which bans polygamy, would “balance the increasing population” -- of whom, the legislation doesn’t specify. The proposal has also been criticized by Aung San Suu Kyi, who called it “a violation of women’s rights and human rights.” 

 

Already subjected to a discriminatory two-child policy, the Rohingya community is considered by the UN as the world’s most persecuted group. The state doesn’t recognize the Rohingyas as Burma’s citizens [regarded as rightly belonging in neighboring Muslim Bangladesh, who rejects them] even though most of them have been living in Burma for generations. They are not allowed to own land, and they cannot travel without permission. More

US Army prosecutor accused of groping

 
A top prosecutor of sexual assault cases in the US Army has himself been accused of groping a female colleague, military officials say. [What chance was their for justice for victims of rape and sexual assault in the US military?]

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Campaigning begins in Quebec after Premier Pauline Marois of Parti Quebec dissolved the legislature and launched a bid for a majority.

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Claims by Newsweek to have found the man who invented the Bitcoin virtual cash system have drawn criticism and skepticism.

• VIDEO: "Bad apples in any industry"
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• "Two years" to overcome Snowden's NSA leak It will take the US two years and billions of dollars to overcome the harm done by the Snowden leaks, the top-ranking US military officer claims. [We've been enormously harmed by our lying, which Snowden exposed. It's going to cost us a lot to cover up again. We should imprison that man.]
• Staples closes North American stores American stationer Staples says it will close 225 stores in the US and Canada as sales in the fourth quarter fell 10.6%
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• Money, music, and why LORDE matters New Zealand's biggest popstar represents a cultural turning point in a society exhausted by consumerism 
• Inflation soaring? Currency crumbling? Not now, I’m eating While Argentina’s economy totters, the president lunches with Fidel Castro.

Wall Street's Reefer Madness

The First Precept: abstain from killing (sutra)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Abbot Thanissaro, Metta Forest Monastery, San Diego, California, "Getting the Message" from Purity of Heart

Man viciously attacked by bull after lightly taunting the animal and gently inserting knives into its back while attempting to slaughter him for the crowd's blood lust and amusement (Gustavo Cuevas/i.cdn.turner.com)

 

You'd kill her, but would you -- y'know -- her?

"What is unskillful (unwholesome, karmically unprofitable)?

1. Taking life (killing) is unskillful,
2. taking what is not given... 
3. sexual misconduct... 
4. perjury...
5. abusive speech...
6. divisiveness... 
7. idle chatter is unskillful. 
8. Greed... 
9. ill will... 
10. wrong view is unskillful.

"These (ten) things are unskillful... What is skillful (wholesome, karmically profitable)? Refraining

1. from taking life...
2. from taking what is not given...
3. from sexual misconduct...
4. from perjury...
5. from abusive speech...
6. from divisiveness...
7. from idle chatter...
8. from covetousness... 
9. from ill will... 
10. from wrong view is skillful. 

"These things are skillful." — MN 9

• AUDIO: "I want to kill!" (This American Life)

The result of our cruelty rarely comes so quickly.

Killing is NEVER skillful. Stealing... holding a wrong view is never skillful. When asked if there were any killing he approved of, the Buddha answered that there was only one: anger.

[That is to say, one should destroy the root motivation, the underlying intention -- which is aversion -- to harm or destroy living beings.]

 

In no recorded instance did the Buddha approve of killing any living being. Once when a Buddhist monk went to an executioner and told the man to kill his victims compassionately -- that is, with one blow, rather than torturing them by multiple strikes -- the Buddha expelled that monk from the Order (Sangha) on the grounds that even the recommendation to kill compassionately is nevertheless a recommendation to kill -- something this Dharma never condones.

• [Similarly, according to the monastic rules (vinaya), if one eats meat from an animal one sees, hears, or so much as suspects was killed for one's benefit, or to make an offering to one, is a violation on the grounds that it is tacit approval of killing. Moreover, if one recommends or speaks in praise of abortion or suicide or euthanasia, and life is taken as a result, one is guilty of killing and expelled from the Order. Why? Killing is weighty karma, very bad karma, and the Buddha went to great lengths to make this known. In ancient India he was known as a karma-vadin, a teacher of the consequences of physical, verbal, and mental action.]

Kill. Kill. Kill. And make us rich (BBC).

If a monastic were ever physically attacked, the Buddha allowed for that person to strike back in self-defense, but never with the intention of killing an assailant. 

 

As the Buddha taught monastics, "Even if highway robbers were to dismember one savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, anyone who would allow one's heart to become hateful and angry on account of it would not be following my Teaching. Even then one should train oneself: 

Even reviled dictator could act kindly (iln).

"'Our minds will not be affected, and we will not give vent to hateful words. Instead, we will remain sympathetic, with a mind/heart full of compassion [perhaps for the results they will one day face for their karma], and free of hate. 

"'We will pervade even these bandits with a consciousness imbued with good will. And beginning with them we will continue to pervade the world in all quarters with a consciousness imbued with good will -- abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, and free from ill will.' That is how one should train oneself." — ("The Parable of the Saw," MN 21)

The Parable of the Saw

Acharya Buddharakkhita (Positive Response) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha, Gandhara/Afghanistan (Boonlieng/flickr)

"Meditators, even if bandits were to savagely sever you, limb by limb, with a double-handled saw, even then, whoever harbors ill will at heart would not be upholding my Teaching. 

"Meditators, even in such a situation, train yourselves: 'Neither shall our minds be affected by this, nor for this matter shall we give vent to hateful words, but we shall remain full of concern and pity (mudita, sympathy, compassion), with a mind of love (mettā, friendliness), and we shall not give in to hatred. On the contrary, we shall live projecting thoughts (feelings) of universal love to those very persons, making them as well as the whole world the objects of our thoughts of universal love -- thoughts that have grown great, exalted, and measureless. 

"We shall dwell radiating these thoughts void of hostility and ill will.' It is in this way, meditators, that one should train oneself.

 

"Meditators, if one should keep this instruction on the Parable of the Saw constantly in mind, do you see any mode of speech, subtle or gross, that you could not endure?"

 

"No, venerable sir."

 

"Therefore, meditators, one should keep this instruction on the Parable of the Saw constantly in mind. That will conduce to the well-being and happiness of all for long indeed."

 

That is what the Blessed One said. Delighted, those meditators acclaimed the Teaching (Dharma) of the Blessed One.

• COMMENTARY: How could the Buddha say such a pie-in-the-sky thing? First, when one realizes that ultimately there is no self, no ego, nothing to cling to, it is possible to behave in a universal way. But more down to earth, this instruction follows the Buddha's advice to his disciples to endure the abusive speech of others. Why should they endure it? The Buddha says one should even endure being painfully tortured and murdered without becoming angry -- which only harms the angry one. This being the case, keeping this instruction in mind, how hard would it be to endure mere words? It would be easy, the audience responds. Therefore, keep this instruction in mind.

Meditation for not yelling (video)

Kirsten Johnson (richerexperiences.com); CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

 Meditation = Not Yelling at anyone

 

Ever yell at a stranger? Has a stranger ever yelled back? Sadly, most of us probably answer yes to both! The temptation to yell came upon me this week.

In the heat of the moment it is a challenge to remember that just because we are invited to fight does not mean we have to RSVP. Being intensely emotional reactive, particularly with strangers, only results in toxicity in our body and theirs.

It's emotional poison we drink without even thinking. If we live in a city, it is not uncommon to see strangers yelling at each other, especially in traffic. Road-ragers are the worst.

WARNING: Graphic road rage violence, Los Angeles! (The Young Turks)

Ana Kasparian, Cenk Uygur, Steve Oh, and Hermela Aregawi discuss.*

 

A few days ago a stranger invited me to a fist fight in the parking lot of Whole Foods. Fortunately deep, mindful breaths helped me decline this invitation. It was tough to not engage. I can't imagine what I would have done to her.

She was texting with her back to one-way traffic, so I tapped my horn to alert her that a car (my car) was coming. It seems she was having a different experience. She turned around and started screaming at me. I cruised by her and parked. But not engaging was more difficult when I got out of my car. She ran up to me yelling, and my righteousness started doing flip-flops in my head. After all, I thought, "That's what horns are for!" That was the loud defensive truth blaring through my entitled head.

It's entirely possible for nice and lovely people like us to be provoked to act less than nicely. But there's a better way.
 

Hijack my amygdala?

Our brains are wired to be emotional, but not to be so reactive as they are. Emotions saved us back in our cave days when we needed to flee saber tooth tigers without thinking. (See the neuroscience details for our Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Faint Response in the Amygdala Hijack video). But thoughtless emotional reactions are not helpful in dealing with the stresses we commonly face today -- angry strangers, traffic, texts, calls, emails....
 

Yet, we can train our big brains and hearts through meditation and mindfulness. We can become less emotionally reactive. Observing our emotions and thoughts from a slight distance during meditation teaches us the true nature of emotions. They are not what they seem, not imperative, demands, but rather are more like warning lights on our dash boards -- something to notice and consider before acting. 

We can see them coming and going without attaching to them, without identifying with them as "self," without needing to find ourselves "in" them. This enables us to respond from values instead of reacting from emotions. Meditation benefits extend way beyond a temporarily peaceful mood!

We can observe anger, fear, or irritation without being swept away by anger, fear, or irritation.

 

We can recognize that we are angry. We may even want to excuse ourselves and leave the situation without the compulsion to react from the bubbling emotion. It is basically the difference between recognizing that we are feeling anger rather than falling under the spell that we are the anger we are feeling.

The interesting part for me is that I have learned to become grateful for these emotionally-triggered encounters.

Getting a side of cray-cray with the kale I ordered was not on my Whole Foods' shopping list. Nor is it something I would ever request. However, the net result is being able to practice grounding myself in my values and being less emotionally reactive. This is something I am interested in. And it definitely takes practice.

I would far rather practice with an angry and rude stranger than with someone I actually want to continue a relationship with.

*ROAD RAGE (June 21, 2012) "Three Los Angeles men were arrested in relation to a videotaped freeway fistfight inspired by road rage -- two are suspected of beating and kicking a man who was later arrested on suspicion of being involved in a similar altercation last month, authorities said Thursday. David Mendez, 21, and Edras Ramirez, 27, turned themselves in to a California Highway Patrol investigative services office in Hollywood at about 7:30 pm Wednesday and were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, CHP Officer Ming Hsu said. The man who was beaten in the video, identified as Jerry Patterson, was arrested without incident..." More (Robert Jablon/Huff Post)

• VIDEO: Shift happens: Mindfulness meditation benefits
• VIDEO: Introduction to meditation with Tara Brach
• Life is Right Now: Mindfulness with Jon Kabat-Zinn
• VIDEO: Coming to Our Senses (Jon Kabat-Zinn UCTV)