Master Our Emotion

I read this story from a book for kids, but I think the wisdom is deep enough for any adult. In the African prairie, an intrepid wild horse can often be killed by a tiny bat. When a bat attacks a horse, it attaches to a leg of the horse, and then pricks into the horse skin with its sharp teeth and sucks blood from the horse. However hard the horse runs and jumps, it cannot get rid of the bat. The horse can be exhausted to death by raging, running and bleeding. Scientists analyzed the situation and concluded that the small volume of blood loss can’t kill a horse; actually, the horse dies of its uncontrolled fury and wild running.

Usually, we allow the outside events to take charge of our emotions, to stifle our wisdom and to control our reactions. We are not hurt by the other people, but by our own anger, hatred, anxiety or fear. If we lose tempers, we lose our concentration and wisdom; hence, we can’t judge well and react properly. Our uncontrolled emotion can eat us alive. We had better master our emotions and keep calm in any situation so that we can protect ourselves unharmed.

Some researchers believe spiritual living can lead to emotional freedom. Likewise, in Buddhism, as you reach the realm of enlightenment, you can be unmoved by eight kinds of circumstances: - fortune, misfortune, slander, honor, insult, praise, hardship and happiness. If you don’t have right control of your emotion, the good situations can make you go wild with joy and the bad situations can make you feel infuriated or mortified, and then you will become vulnerable. Either good or bad situations can become hindrances.

Slander and insults are most intolerable things for most people. Zen advises people not to dispute or debate when slandered. Being slandered or insulted is helping you eliminate your karmic obstacles and slanderers are collecting their own negative karma. The more you are insulted, the more you are blessed. To remain unmoved by slander is deep concentration and is the revelation of wisdom. It may not be enjoyable, but it is helpful. I think it works sometimes, but you have the right to fight back by resorting to law to get just dues.

As my understanding, to control our emotion means to keep our peace of mind undisturbed and to stick with our principle and belief system at any circumstance. Some people can be mean-spirited and narrow-minded, we can still be kind and fair; some people can be spiteful and slanderous, we can still be warm-hearted and reasonable; some people can play tricks, we can still be generous and graceful.

If we can maintain an undisturbed mind and be our true self unconditionally, we are close to emotional freedom. An emotional mature and strong person is reliable and likable. As James Allen said, “The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.”

Stories of Zen

Help Yourself

A man was troubled by the hardship of life, so he went to a temple, kneeled down, worshipped a Buddha, and prayed with a string of beads in his hand.

Afterwards, he noticed the Buddha was praying with a string of beads in his hand, too. He was bewildered.

A master in the temple said, “You ask the Buddha for help, but the Buddha has his own trouble, too. He has to help himself first.”

Asking for help is no better than helping yourself first.


Gift


A Zen master met a man on his journey, who disliked the Zen master and tried all his means to insult the master.


Finally, the Zen master turned to the man and asked, “If someone wants to give you a gift, but you refuse to accept it, then who owns the gift?”


The man replied, “It still belongs to that person who intends to give me the gift.”


The Zen master smiled, “Right. Likewise, if I don’t accept your insults, you are insulting yourself.”


A Tea Cup


A student went to visit a Zen master for Zen philosophy. The Zen Master asked the student to sit at a table and he prepared tea for him. The student was very talkative and he told the master he knew a lot of ancient classics.

The master poured tea into the tea cup until it was full; however, he continued to pour tea into the cup. Tea flowed out from the cup to the table, dropped off from the edge and wetted the student’s clothes.


The student watched the master pouring the tea, and shouted, “It is overflowing. Don’t pour again.”


“You are like this cup, full of your own opinions and thoughts.” The master said, “If you don’t empty yourself first, how can I teach you Zen?”


The Light of Comprehension


When studying the Buddhism scripture, a student asked his master, “You described the pure land; I can’t see it, how can I believe it?”


The master led the student to a dark room and said, “There is a hammer at the corner of the room.”


The student opened his eyes wide and then narrowed his eyes; however hard he tried he couldn’t see anything in the deep darkness.


The master lit a candle, for sure, there was a hammer at the corner of the wall.

That you can’t see it doesn’t mean that it does not exist. You have to light the lamp in your heart to vision the pure land.

Wisdom from Buddha (Collected and translated by Jade)

Accept all the fair-weather and bad-weather with a heart full of happiness.

We should have an uplifting heart to respect and accept all the other different from us.

The real greatness is to endure the others cannot endure, and to accomplish the others cannot accomplish.

Getting something you should not obtain will bring you bad luck.

Treat your enemy well, your enemy will disappear.

Hating others will burn you inside and hurt yourself more.

Slandering a person with deep cultivation is like throwing a stone into emptiness, which will cause nothing and hurt nothing.

If you don’t fall down by yourself, nothing can force you down.

Those who say malicious words from a mean heart will hurt their own reputation and bring bad luck to their next generations.

We have to learn to forgive the others’ ignorance.