simple. from in here.
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| How about Bombs? |
let me illustrate. today i walked into a car dealership. i purposely didn't look at the three salespeople idly sitting around because i felt them staring at me. instead i eyeballed the large hunks of glossy metal-on-wheels scattered across the floors throughout the brightly windowed space.
even more than feeling their gaze i began to hear the thought bubbles emerging from their heads. "cute but i won't close a sale..."
then i had thought bubbles of my own. "stop staring at me like that". small flickers of disappointment and fatigue came up after each thought.
what's this got to do with bombs, you ask? keep reading
a minute later we were discussing one of the hunks of metal. every question i posed resulted in a more disgruntled look, every answer was increasingly snide. and in me, small flickers of anger arose, little sparks... each spark emerged, was witnessed and died out. until finally one caught me off guard. I didn't catch it in time. it was a fire. noticing it appear i excused myself. "thanks, i'll think about it. have a good night". and i left.these little fires make the bombs go off. no lie.
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| It lights itself, notice it and it's extinguished |
sounds like common sense, doesn't it? anger causes violence? but we often fail to recognize two things:
1. it's not just a bomber / terrorist / lost soul's anger, it's the same anger in us.
2. it's really hard to extinguish because we subjectively feel that "our" anger is justified.
extinguishing the spark
so do we resign ourselves to suffer at the hands of fire, anger, violence?the truth is that suffering is up to us to endure. as humans we have the ability to be consciously aware. with some practice (enter mindfulness) we can notice anger as soon as it has appeared in our mind. by doing this it's automatically disarmed and can't breed into action. it's like calling out a villain. at that moment, they stop dead in their tracks. they drop their weapons. they lose their power. the same goes for our anger. once we notice it or call it out, it too loses power.
no force
that's right, the process shouldn't include any force. to do so would mean suppressing the anger, and we all know what happens when a fire is suppressed. it explodes like a bomb. so we notice calmly and without force or manipulation. the impartial noticing is what has the power to extinguish the spark before it blows up.so remember... next time you feel anger or outrage or righteousness coming on:
Watch your beliefs... they become your thoughts,
Watch your thoughts...they become your words,
Watch your words... they become your actions,
Watch your actions... they become your habits,
Watch your habits... they become your values,
Watch your values... they become your destiny.
and in the process of watching, if you notice a nice car for me to buy, drop me a line.
