A Meditation on Anger from the Dalai Lama [Excerpt]

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The following meditation is an excerpt from the book, The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama.

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Let us imagine a scenario in which someone who you know very well, someone who is close or dear to you, is in a situation in which he or she loses his or her temper.

You can imagine this occurring either in a very acrimonious relationship or in a situation in which something personally upsetting is happening.

The person is so angry that he or she has lost all his or her mental composure, creating very negative vibrations, even going to the extent of beating himself or herself up or breaking things.

Then, reflect upon the immediate effects of the person’s rage.

You’ll see a physical transformation happening to that person.

This person who you feel close to, who you like, the very sight of whom gave you pleasure in the past, now turns into this ugly person, even physically speaking.

The reason why I think you should visualize this happening to someone else is because it is easier to see the faults of others than to see your own faults.

So, using your imagination, do this meditation and visualization for a few minutes.

At the end of that visualization, analyze the situation and relate the circumstances to your own experience.

See that you yourself have been in this state many times.

Resolve that ‘I shall never let myself fall under the sway of such intense anger and hatred, because if I do that, I will be in the same position.  I will also suffer all these consequences, lose my peace of mind, lose my composure, assume this ugly physical appearance,’ and so on.

So once you make that decision, then for the last few minutes of the meditation focus your mind on that conclusion; without further analysis, simply let your mind remain on your resolution not to fall under the influence of anger and hatred.

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If you enjoyed this excerpt from The Art of Happiness then you’ll definitely want to check out the book in full.  It comes highly recommended.

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