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

Why we love the LORD who hates (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Lorde; Clevver.com, Clevver News; Shalom Auslander

What do Justin Bieber, Lana Del Rey, Britney Spears, and Amanda Bynes have in common? Aside from losing their childhood innocence to fame, money, illegal drugs, and the Illuminati? They have all been bashed by pop superstar Lorde! 

G-d d-mn, I hate filthy sinners!

You think Lorde is bad? What about "the Lord"? The Lord is a name for the many Gods of the Judeo-Christian Bible -- Yahweh, El, Elohim, Adonai, and many other titles and personal names, many of them plural, even as we all pretend it's a monotheistic "there's only one God" faith that somehow emerged from a rich polytheistic history.

Hope you're not tracking my sins, God.

The Bible was not rewritten to make it monotheistic, just translated in ways to cover up its polytheism. But no one covers up how angry their "angry God" is. So more honest readers, or those familiar with more than one biblical language -- Greek, Coptic (Egyptian), Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, and so on -- say, "There's only one true God" as if all the other ones in the Bible are fake. And "God is love...but don't read the Old Testament because that was the old deal; here's the new deal."

Who's even keeping score? - Come on, dad.

Why does this angry, jealous, proud God, this GROUP of Gods, constantly referring to themselves in chapter after chapter of their bestseller in the plural, HATE so much?

"God is love"? Many Christian fundamentalists and Jews say different: Who can argue with Shalom Auslander's many points? Has any Christian read the Book of Judges (Sefer Shoftim, ספר שופטים, is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible), the Old Testament where the Christian Gods (the Lord) revel in war, command killings, and order other atrocities?

Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander on reading the Bible as history and realizing what it means to be a punishing God's "chosen people."

The Bible is dangerous reading.

Is it any wonder that Christians may be the world's most formidable terrorists, crusaders, invaders, rapists, conquistadors, (hypocrites?), enslavers, sexists, patriarchs... The God(s) of the Bible revel in cruelty, revenge, destruction, punishment, smiting, scaring, threatening. And yet we love it/him/them. It must be Stockholm Syndrome at work deep in our earthling psyches.

Christian forgeries?

"The Old Testament doesn't count!" Come on, we're modern people. God only became love in the New Testament? Angry dad, happy son, no mother, mysterious dove -- this is the "Holy Family"? What about giving Asherah, prana (the real "holy spirit," the subtle-breath full of chi), Mary, and direct mystical experience their due? The Catholics (and Buddhists) give Mary (as Guan Yin) plenty of attention, and we don't know who Asherah is.

God wants us to stone, kill, rampage

• [God's wife] Asherah, Tree of Life, Snakes Tree of Life (date palm), Asherah [wife], and the God of the Bible. The snake eats the plant of eternal life, from the Huluppu Tree, in the Gilgamesh Epic...
• God's wife "Asherah" edited out of the Bible Was God's wife edited out of the Bible? Atheist claims the Almighty had partner known as Asherah (Daily Mail, March 19, 2011).
• God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible - Almost

Christian terrorist: 7 dead near UCSB (video)

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; AP, May 24th, 2014, 9:27 am, SCPR.org

Henley Gate at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Ryosuke Yagi/flickr.com)

What is at the root of our Judeo-Christian sexism? Porn, shame, Sharia law? (alarbiya.net)

(ORIGINAL VIDEO, from FurioHerovito, REMOVED. Replaced with "crazy Prozac/Zoloft eyes." 

Christian terrorist [Elliot Rodger?] talks about his planned rampage against humanity and women in particular for not paying enough attention to him as his God intended. Is God's gift to women working for the CIA's Boko Haram American chapter to keep females out of college, or is he just blowing off steam after watching cartoons and playing first-person-shooter video games and eating aspartame, processed foods, sugar, and corn syrup?
 

Christian terrorist kills, injures from car (UCSB)

Investigators are studying YouTube video after family warned police about alarming videos being made by possibly brainwashed Christian terrorist assassin. Was it made to prove all guns need to be remove from citizens? Was he on pharmaceutical antidepressants, too?

 

C'mon, man, we're just cartoons.

A drive-by shooter went on a nighttime rampage near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara [home of the biggest parties in Isla Vista, which has become a police state that will only take this tragedy as use it to amp up surveillance, policing, mass arrests, and police brutality in the name of "security"] that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.

(I'm Shmacked) WARNING: Hedonism, alcohol abuse! DelTopia, the UCSB Southern California party scene in Isla Vista. Pretty and privileged, introducing our future leaders. Woo!

 

Don't shoot! (yogasoup.com)

The gunman got into two gun battles with deputies Friday night in the beachside community of Isla Vista before crashing his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

 

Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.

 

A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Investigators know the gunman's name [Elliot Rodger? as suggested by the title of the video above], but Brown said he couldn't release it pending notification of relatives.

 

"We're analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder," Brown said.

 

Investigators study video following deadly drive-by shootings

A disturbing YouTube video posted that shows a young man describing plans to shoot women appears to be connected to the attack, police said. Officials would not say whether the person in the video was a suspect in the shooting. [It's probably another guy talking about shooting women.]

 

In the video, posted Friday, the man sits in a black car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity.

He describes loneliness and frustration because "girls have never been attracted to me," and says, at age 22, he is still a virgin. The video, which is almost seven minutes long, appears scripted. The identity of the person in the video could not be independently confirmed.

 

The shootings started around 9:30 pm in Isla Vista, a roughly half-square mile community next to UC Santa Barbara's campus and picturesque beachside cliffs. More + Updates

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (talk)

Seven, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Dr. Joy DeGruy; Margaret Prescod (KPFK.org)

Public talk, Pacifica Radio fundraiser, Sat., March 15, 2014, 2:00-5:00 pm (KPFK)

 

The chains at Lady Liberty's feet (USS)

While Americans managed to emerge from chattel ("property") slavery and the oppressive decades that followed with great strength and resiliency, we did not emerge unscathed.

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Slavery has produced centuries of physical, psychological,  and spiritual injury -- on both the descendants of former slaves and slave exploiters.

 

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing lays the groundwork for understanding how the past has influenced the present. And it opens up the discussion of how we can use the strengths gained thereby to heal. More

• DOWNLOAD ($14.95) .epub file available to be read on Adobe Digital Editions and Calibre
• TALK: Fullerton College, Orange County, March 28th
• How Racism Harms White Americans (John Bracey Jr.)

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.

Abusing the Buddha (sutra)

Seth Auberon and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly based on Acharya Buddharakkhita translation of the Discourse on "Abuse" or "Reviling" (Akkosa Sutra, SN 7.2)

Anger motivated by delusion, wrong view, greed, frustration, fear...is a terrible thing (PB)

Cartoon anger and cruelty. Like it or lump it! (bananatriangle.com)

  

Afghan Gandhara Buddha Maitreya (Boonlieng/flickr)

Once the Blessed One was staying at Rajagaha [the "Royal Ringed City," capital of Magadha] in the Bamboo Grove near the Squirrels' Feeding Ground.

The Brahmin Akkosa-Bharadvaja [Akkosaka* of the clan of Bharadvaja Brahmins, whose nickname literally means "The Reviler" according to M. Walshe] heard this about his brother:
 
"The Brahmin Bharadvaja, it seems, has become a monk under the great ascetic Gotama (the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama)."

Angry and peeved, he went to see the Blessed One. He approached, abused, and reviled him in foul and harsh words.

But reviled, the Blessed One spoke gently to the Brahmin Akkosa Bharadvaja: "Well, Brahmin, do friends, acquaintances, relatives, kinfolk, and guests visit you?"
 
"Yes, Gotama, sometimes they do."
 
"Well, Brahmin, do you not offer them, snacks, food, and drink?"
 
"Yes, Gotama, sometimes I do offer them snacks, food, and drink."
 
"But, Brahmin, what if they do not accept it? Whose is it?"
 
"If, Gotama, they do not accept it, I keep it. It is mine."
 

"Even so, Brahmin, you are abusing those who do not abuse, are angry with those who do not get angry, are quarreling with those who do not quarrel. As we do not accept it, Brahmin, all of this is yours. When, Brahmin, one abuses in return when abused, repays anger with anger, and quarrels back when quarreled with, this is called 'associating with each other in mutual exchange.' This kind of association and exchange we do not engage in. Therefore, Brahmin, you keep it. It is yours."
 
"The king and his people believe that the ascetic Gotama is an arhat [a fully enlightened person], and yet the good Gotama can get angry!"
 
The Buddha replied in verse:

"Where is anger for one freed from anger,

Who is subdued and lives perfectly equanimous,

Who truly knowing is wholly freed,

Supremely tranquil and equipoised?

"One who repays an angry person in kind

Is worse than the angry person;

Who does not repay anger in kind, 

That person alone wins the battle hard to win:

"One promotes the welfare of both, 

One's own as well as that of the other. 

Knowing that the other person is angry, 

One mindfully maintains one's peace

 

"And endures the anger of both,

One's own as well as that of the other,

Even if the people ignorant of true wisdom

Consider one a fool thereby."

 
When the Blessed One proclaimed this, the Brahmin Akkosa Bharadvaja responded:

Going forth (Nyanamoli Bhikkhu/Google Plus)

"Wonderful, O venerable Gotama! Herewith I go to the venerable Gotama (Buddha) for guidance, to the Teaching (Dharma) for guidance, and to the Noble Order (Arya Sangha) for guidance!

"Most venerable sir, may I have the privilege of receiving from the revered Gotama the initial and higher monastic ordinations?"
 
The Brahmin Akkosa Bharadvaja received from the Blessed One the initial and higher monastic ordinations. Then in no long time, Venerable Akkosa Bharadvaja -- living apart, secluded, diligent, zealous, and unrelenting -- reached that incomparable consummation of enlightenment for which those of noble families, having abandoned the household life, take to the life of wandering (the left-home life).

With direct knowledge he realized the ultimate, here and now, and lived having access to it. He saw with supernormal knowledge-and-vision: "Ceased is rebirth, lived is the higher life, completed is the spiritual task, and henceforth there is nothing higher to be achieved." Venerable Akkosa Bharadvaja, indeed, became one of the noble ones.

HOW TO abandon anger

Acharya Buddharakkhita (translator) BPS/ACI

Positive Response (Wisdom Quarterly)

The booklet Positive Response: How to Meet Evil With Good contains a collection of short sutras by the Buddha and a passage from the ancient Path of Purification, each preceded by a brief introduction by the translator. The unifying theme is called a "positive response" for dealing with provocative people and situations. The ancient texts set forth practical techniques taught by the Buddha for anyone to overcome anger, resentment, hatred, and other such defilements. Moreover, it shows how it is possible to cultivate elevating mental qualities like forbearance, goodwill, amity, and compassion. Anyone intent on spiritual development will find these practical instructions a great help to cleansing the mind/heart thereby unfolding its great hidden potentials. More

*Why was Akkosa angry?
PaliKanon.com

Angry and abusive (techenclave.com)

Akkosaka-Bhāradvāja was a Brahmin from Rājagaha (Rajgir). He was incensed that his eldest brother -- a member of the Bhāradvāja Brahmin clan and probably its head (KS.i.201, n. 4, see also Dhānañjānī -- had become a Buddhist monk after visiting the Buddha. He paid the Buddha a visit to abuse and insult him. But like his brother, he asked for ordination and later became an arhat (S.i.161f.; MA.i.808). "Akkosaka" was a nickname given to him by the Sangītikārā to distinguish him as the author of a lampoon of a large number of verses against the Buddha (SA.i.177). Asurindaka-Bhāradvāja was his younger brother (SA.i.178); he had two others, Sundarī-Bhāradvāja and Bilangika-Bhāradvāja, who also became disciples (lit. "hearers") who later also became arhats (DhA.iv.163).

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)