The cycle of suffering is constantly caused because we blame the person or situation we think is bringing us pain. How often do we spend time thinking about our current irritating person? The mention of their name and we cringe. The sound of their voice or footsteps coming near us bring instant annoyance. When asked how our day was we cannot help but bring Mr. or Miss irritating into the conversation.And then one day a miracle occurs. Our irritating person has left the job and no longer is in our life. Within weeks we practically forget that they ever existed, let alone took up so much negative space in our life. Ahhhh, peace.
Wait: what's this? Where did this person come from? Oh no! New irritating person is here. Starting the cycle once again. Stopping us from being happy. Causing us to be in a continuous state of suffering.
And here is one of the Greatest Mistakes we make. Going after specific people and situations. Blaming them as the reason we cannot find peace The affliction will aways be there and will continue to be there even after the person is gone. We need to stop and redirect or anger. We need to put our efforts into fighting a cause that will bring about the desired result. One that will literally change who we are. We need to use our anger (or whatever affliction we are feeling) to fight our anger. We need to go after the affliction itself. Imagine a state were you never had to feel _______ again. How much clarity, creativity, virtue you would gain.
Everything we feel, think, and say plants a seed. To make changes we need to go after it like there is nothing else worth working for. When we get angry, jealous, greedy, a certain physical feeling arises in our gut or chest. This is one kind of seed. Then we start the thoughts... "I cannot believe he did this to me, said that, had the nerve to treat me this way." This is a second seed. Then we say it all out loud to the person or a friendly ear. This is another seed.
Change starts small. The feeling of anger comes up, we think the thoughts, and then maybe once in a while we do not say it out loud. Or at least stop ourselves during our self justified rant. This is a postive seed we are planting. Conscious planting to stop our anger from bringing future suffering. And then maybe we start the feeling of jealousy, but are able to redirect the thoughts as well as our words towards the happiness of all beings. And at some point we eventually never even get the feeling of anger, etc again.
This is how we change who we are. If you keep taking steps towards planting seeds of happiness, one day you will be happy. And it will be impossible to feel any sort of affliction or klesha again. Those seeds will have all sprouted. Nothing will be able to disturb your peace. And you will no longer be so self consumed with the voice inside your head: talking, complaining, thinking. Instead, there will be silence. The kind of Silence in which Freedom is created. You Will be living your life fully, every moment. Imagine what you could do, what opportunities you would see around you that you never noticed before. Imagine walking down the street being completely available to everyones needs around you. You could literally create, live in, and change the World into Perfection.
Start imagining what it would be like if you were Perfect. Eventually each one of us will become exactly that.
Geshe Michael: What would life be like without anxiety? You could make conscious choices and then just relax? 6 Billion People without anxiety."
Imagine that
