【Description】
Have you ever felt such pain after stubbing your toe on a stone that it put you in a bad mood all day? Even minor issues can cause emotional disturbances that impact quality of life. How can we alter our thinking and behavioral patterns in order to view both minor and major troubles from a higher perspective? Grandmaster JinBodhi has the answers.
【You will learn】
- How emotions affect our health
- Resolving unpleasant situations with dialectical thinking
【Featured aphorisms】
- Whenever your spirits are low, make some comparisons, and you shall realize how lucky you are.
【Content】
Treating sick humans is harder than treating sick animals. Animals do have feelings, but it is less complicated compared to human sensibility. When your pet dogs or cats get sick, they don’t take long to recover. Humans tend to become emotionally unstable when receiving treatments.
Many illnesses are due to our lack of broadmindedness. That is how we get emotional ups and downs. The pain from kicking a pebble while walking is enough to make people afflicted. Are you happy or unhappy when you hurt yourself while brushing your teeth? (Unhappy.) Nobody would be happy, right? Yes, people are unhappy when they hurt themselves or get criticized.
This class will change your thinking. Next time you hurt yourself while brushing your teeth, you will tell yourself, “It is OK, I still have my teeth.” This is the kind of thinking you need. If you kicked a pebble while walking and felt pain, just tell yourself that you are lucky the road is not slippery. If you slipped and fell, you would break a few bones. A little pain from kicking a stone is nothing.
That is dialectical thinking. It means viewing your issues from multiple perspectives. Then you will know how lucky you are. We get emotional because we lack knowledge. We don’t practice positive thinking. When you feel pain after kicking a stone, you should be grateful that you didn’t fall and hurt yourself further. And then, move that stone away so nobody gets hurt like you did.
Some people prefer to see others suffer like they do. No, we are not like that; let’s practice kindness. Moving that stone away so that people don’t get hurt shows your kindness, and you will be rewarded with merits. When you do that, your pain will be removed. You will be blessed so that your bones are fine. You will even be protected from breaking your bones, if such a mishap does happen next time. The deities and spirits are looking after you.