Dealing With Difficult Emotions

Susan C: How can we deal with difficult emotions like anger? 

Lama Surya Das: One moment of anger can destroy a life or a world, they say. Anger is poisonous, and erodes the heart and soul as well as body and mind, and must be dealt with in a healthy and intelligent manner. Anger is just an inner energy and an emotion; it is not necessarily the same as violence. Feeling it rather than suppressing or indulging it is one of the most important lessons. Mindful anger management helps us create some time to breathe, reflect, and then choose how and if and when to respond, rather than simply reacting blindly, instinctively, with kneejerk habitual reflex actions, to stimuli and provocation. Mindfulness creates more space in our minds and thus energy to navigate better, whichever way the winds may happen to be blowing. Buddhism teaches us that the enemy, the crisis, the challenging or unwanted events or people can be our greatest teachers and catalytic precipitants for genuine inner growth and transformation

Submitted by Susan C. via “Contact Us” @www.surya.org on September 25th, 2010