This week we will begin looking at chapter seven ‘Mad as Hell’, p97-108 (beginning of chapter to ‘Uncurbed in Eternal Glory’).
Darlene begins this chapter talking about how being in pain and the strain of illness can leave us, as she puts it, on a short fuse as regards being short-tempered or reactive. In Buddhism, there can be confusion on how to handle anger. On one hand there is a sense of not denying anything that arises yet the ninth grave precept states ‘refrain from anger’. Darlene points out that often this can lead to people suppressing their anger for fear of not being seen to be a good Buddhist, and she further quotes some Abhidhamma teachings which seem to suggest the ‘domestication’ of our emotions.
Addressing this, she talks about the dangers of either trying to go beyond our emotions, or to distance ourselves from them, becoming uncaring rather than equanimous. She quotes a koan about the Zen Master Chao-chou (also known as Zhaozhou or Joshu) who points out that no one is free of passion nor should we try to be.
Darlene shares a story from her own past about reacting with anger to criticism from another Buddhist at Green Gulch (part of San Francisco Zen Center) and not even being able to see her state of mind as anything other than neutral. In this case, striving to be seen as equanimous when we are anything but can be more dangerous than acknowledging our tendency to anger.
She goes on to talk about how a particular incident in a women’s group in which her outburst led her to examine the roots of her hostile reactions and her emotional fragility when challenged over things which conflicted with how she saw herself. She reports on initially noticing how quickly she numbed her emotions and how ‘jumping to a higher self’ can be a common way of dealing with emotions in spiritual communities, which are harmful both for the person doing it and the community as a whole.
Question prompts:
1. Do you resonate with Darlene’s description of illness and pain often causing us to operate with an emotionally short fuse?
2. Have you observed yourself trying to deal with emotions by suppressing them or interacted with others who have this tendency?
Gassho
Kokuu
Darlene begins this chapter talking about how being in pain and the strain of illness can leave us, as she puts it, on a short fuse as regards being short-tempered or reactive. In Buddhism, there can be confusion on how to handle anger. On one hand there is a sense of not denying anything that arises yet the ninth grave precept states ‘refrain from anger’. Darlene points out that often this can lead to people suppressing their anger for fear of not being seen to be a good Buddhist, and she further quotes some Abhidhamma teachings which seem to suggest the ‘domestication’ of our emotions.
Addressing this, she talks about the dangers of either trying to go beyond our emotions, or to distance ourselves from them, becoming uncaring rather than equanimous. She quotes a koan about the Zen Master Chao-chou (also known as Zhaozhou or Joshu) who points out that no one is free of passion nor should we try to be.
Darlene shares a story from her own past about reacting with anger to criticism from another Buddhist at Green Gulch (part of San Francisco Zen Center) and not even being able to see her state of mind as anything other than neutral. In this case, striving to be seen as equanimous when we are anything but can be more dangerous than acknowledging our tendency to anger.
She goes on to talk about how a particular incident in a women’s group in which her outburst led her to examine the roots of her hostile reactions and her emotional fragility when challenged over things which conflicted with how she saw herself. She reports on initially noticing how quickly she numbed her emotions and how ‘jumping to a higher self’ can be a common way of dealing with emotions in spiritual communities, which are harmful both for the person doing it and the community as a whole.
Question prompts:
1. Do you resonate with Darlene’s description of illness and pain often causing us to operate with an emotionally short fuse?
2. Have you observed yourself trying to deal with emotions by suppressing them or interacted with others who have this tendency?
Gassho
Kokuu
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