Intermediate Buddhism

So you want to be a great meditator. You want your life to improve and you want realizations, correct?

Below are 5 basic characteristics you need to cultivate.

1. Honesty
2. Wisdom
3. Enthusiasm
4. Respect
5. Listen

1: Honesty
Being honest means not just telling truths. It mean having the ability to discern personality faults with pragmatism. This may seem obvious but, the ability to see subtle psychological traits is like seeing something from the corner of your eye. If there is not even a willingness to look, there will not be a willingness to see these traits as faults. How will you remove something that you don’t see as a fault?

2: Wisdom
So you have looked into the corner of your psyche now what! Wisdom is the capacity not only to see faults as faults but, also to see qualities as qualities. To know what to cultivate and encourage in our thoughts and emotions and what to remove to a type of wisdom. Simply put, it is knowing right from wrong.

3: Enthusiasm
Without enthusiasm your practice will be like Melbourne weather. Sunny one minute, raining the next.
Without enthusiasm laziness and a lack of joy for practice will easily creep in. Next you will be saying…meditation…what’s that? To combat laziness and engender enthusiasm, one need to see clearly the benefits of the goal at hand. If you are studying difficult philosophical texts or in meditation retreat, the greater appreciation you have for the benefits of your efforts, the less likely that problems will arise when you meet with difficulties…and you will meet them…trust me. Doubt, frustration and negative thoughts will arise, you need to seeing them as just difficulties and move on.

4: Respect
Respect for your teachers, parents, friends, strangers, enemies and yourself is the foundation of compassion. If you do not respect your own life, how can you expect to generate this for others. If you cannot generate genuine respect, how can you expect to generate compassion. Enough said!

5: Listen
Listen to your teacher, this is an easy one right? Anyone that has spent time with high Lamas will know that to really listen is not so easy. Many times when we seek the benefits of a teacher, we do so with baggage from past relationships. We can simply and without even knowing so, try to make the teacher become the father we never had. This approach will not work. To listen means to listen with an open mind and a willingness to do what your told. If you ask a question about how to practice or whether to accept a job. Ask the question with an openness that is willing to do whatever they say regardless of the answer. If you are not willing to do this, don’t ask questions.

This is the first post of a series on Buddhist epistemology entitled Awareness and Knowledge. An introductory post for this series can be found here the benefits of understanding Buddhist epistemology and psychology. If you haven’t read this post as yet, do so before reading further.

As I post each new section I will link to it from here. This will enable people to bookmark this page for future reference and make it easier for new readers to follow the progress of the series.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to the blog either via RSS or email and receive updates as they are posted.

Part One: Objects
(1) Appearing objects.
(2) Determined objects.
(3) Objects of engagement

Part Two: Subjects
I. Persons

II. Awarenesses
   (1) Valid cognizers
      (A) Direct perceivers
         (1) Sense direct perceivers
         (2) Mental direct perceivers
         (3) Self-knowing direct perceivers
         (4) Yogic direct perceivers
      (B) Direct valid cognizers
         (1) Self-knowing direct valid cognizers
         (2) Sense direct valid cognizers
         (3) Mental direct valid cognizers
         (4) Yogic direct valid cognizers
      (C) Facsimiles of a direct perceiver
         (1-6) Conceptual facsimiles of a direct perceiver
         (7) Non-conceptual facsimiles of a direct perceiver
      (D) Inferential valid cognizers
      (E) Terminological divisions of valid cognizers
         (1) Inference for oneself and for another
         (2) Ancillarily, minds apprehending a sign
         (3) Valid cognizers that induce ascertainment by themselves and valid cognizers when ascertainment is induced by another
         (4) Valid cognizers that are persons, speech, and consciousnesses
      (F) Definite enumeration of valid cognizers 
   (2) Non-valid consciousnesses
      (A) Subsequent cognizers
         (1) Directly perceiving subsequent cognizers
         (2) Conceptual subsequent cognizers
      (B) Correctly assuming consciousnesses
      (C) Awarenesses to which the object appears without being ascertained
      (D) Doubting consciousnesses
      (E) Wrong consciousnesses
   (3) Threefold division of awarenesses and knowers
      (A) Conceptual consciousnesses that take a meaning generality as their apprehended object
      (B) Non-conceptual non-mistaken consciousnesses that take a specifically characterized phenomenon as their apprehended object
      (C) Non-conceptual mistaken consciousnesses that take a clear appearance of a nonexistent as their apprehended object
   (4) Twofold division of awarenesses
   (5) Another twofold division of awarenesses and knowers
      (A) Minds
      (B) Mental factors
         (i) Five omnipresent factors
            (1) Feeling
            (2) Discrimination
            (3) Intention
            (4) Contact
            (5) Attention
         (ii) Five object determining mental factors
            (1) Aspiration
            (2) Belief
            (3) Mindfulness
            (4) Meditative stabilization
            (5) Wisdom
         (iii) Eleven virtuous mental factors
            (1) Faith
            (2) Shame
            (3) Embarrassment
            (4) Non-attachment
            (5) Non-hatred
            (6) Non-ignorance
            (7) Effort
            (8) Pliancy
            (9) Conscientiousness
            (10) Equanimity
            (11) Non-harmfulness
         (iv) Six root afflictions
               (1) Attachment
               (2) Anger
               (3) Pride
               (4) Ignorance
               (5) Doubt
               (6) Afflicted views
                  (a) View of the transitory collection
                  (b) View holding to an extreme
                  (c) Conception of a afflicted view as supreme
                  (d) Conception of afflicted ethics as supreme
                  (e) Wrong view
         (v) Twenty secondary afflictions
               (1) Belligerence
               (2) Resentment
               (3) Concealment
               (4) Spite
               (5) Jealousy
               (6) Miserliness
               (7) Deceit
               (8) Dissimulation
               (9) Haughtiness
               (10) Harmfulness
               (11) Non-shame
               (12) Non-embarrassment
               (13) Lethargy
               (14) Excitement
               (15) Non-faith
               (16) Laziness
               (17) Non-conscientiousness
               (18) Forgetfulness
               (19) Non-introspection
               (20) Distraction
         (vi) Four changeable mental factors
               (1) Sleep
               (2) Regret
               (3) Investigation 
               (4) Analysis
   (6) Ancillarily, the mode of asserting tenets

III. Expressive Sounds
(1) Names
(2) Phrases
(3) Letters

Yesterday I read with interest, Daniel Goleman’s blog post on the unexplained gamma increases in highly trained Tibetan Lamas. This morning I had an idea that might shed some insight into the reason why some meditators, with roughly the same amount of training as others, can have massively different gamma readings.

The idea is based on how these monks engage their object of meditation. Daniel did state that all the participants were meditating on compassion, however his findings assumes that all participants engaged in this meditation on compassion are of the same type of compassion. According to Mahayana Buddhism there is more than one type of compassion.

Candrakirti a 7th CE Buddhist scholar-yogi, abbot of the famous Nalanda monastic university, and author of many famous Buddhist treatises enumerates in his treatise of Madhyamaka philosophy entitled Engaging in the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara) three types of compassion.

Three Types of Compassion

1. Compassion observing mere sentient beings.
2. Compassion observing impermanent sentient beings.
3. Compassion observing dependently-related sentient beings.

This theory says that all three compassions have as their observed object sentient beings, with a subjective aspect of wishing them to be free from suffering and wanting to protect them from suffering but, their engaged object or conceived object are (1) real sentient beings, in the sense of being substantially existent; (2) Impermanent sentient beings and; (3) Sentient beings that do not inherently exist. Candrakirti states that the three compassions increase in depth, scope and power from the first through to the third. I would add, a meditator who possesses this third type of compassion has fewer dysfunctional states of mind compared with one who only has the first or second type. This perhaps is a way of explaining the different degrees of gamma in the participants. Although a person with the 3rd type of compassion may look simpler in appearance to another monk or Lama, their mind would be far from simpler.

I believe that in order to get to the bottom of this conundrum, scientists need to starting asking questions of meditators. Get them to describe their meditational objects, rather than assume they are all meditating on the same objects. Currently scientists are reluctant to do this or at least reluctant to speak about it in public. Yet, this is the area that will show in my opinion how dualistic thought processes are the root cause of suffering. I believe science can play a role in this endeavor but, only after they get over their fixation with the materialistic notion of consciousness. 

Awareness and Knowledge an Introduction

Buddhism asserts the mind is not merely a function of the brain nor is it an emergent property of physical processes. Buddhist epistemology - a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge - defines consciousness as: that which is clear and knowing. Consciousness, knower and awareness are synonymous. Awareness is ‘clear’ as in it is not obstructed by physical phenomena. It is the luminous aspect of mind and the knowing is the minds capacity to know or cognize phenomena - both internal and external phenomena. Therefore it is that which is clear and knowing.

Regardless of your inclination toward either the current Western notion of the nature of consciousness or the Buddhist definition. The project of developing a ‘good life’ or to use Buddhist terminology ‘practicing Dharma’ or ‘the path to Enlightenment’ is contingent upon understanding your own mind. Given that consciousness in the Buddhist tradition has been the primary object of investigation for more than 2500 years, it makes sense to at least understand what Buddhist literature has to say about the subject regardless of whether you are Buddhist or not.

The Buddhist approach to epistemology and psychology is one of enumerating the basic functions of the mind, as opposed to understanding it through brain processes or behavioral manifestations. By understanding how perception, conception and various mental factors such as the mental factor of feeling - one of the Five Omnipresent mental factors - operate and how the mental factor of feeling plays a crucial role in determining how we relate and react to most of life’s events, one can develop a greater understanding of our dependent nature. We, that is, you and I are after all dependent on various factors other than ourselves. My mind is not me, although it is a part of what makes up me. So by developing a deeper understanding of this very fact, we can better understand who we are, and how we exist. To a greater of lesser extent, it is this process that Buddhists are undertaking.

The lineage of Buddhist epistemology comes from two Indian scholars Dignaga 5th CE and Dharmakirti 7th CE. Dignaga wrote a treatise on what constitutes valid cognition, valid ways of knowing, called Compendium of Valid Cognition. While Dharmakirti wrote Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition his treatise called Commentary on (Dignaga’s) Compendium of Valid Cognition is the foundational text for much of Tibetan monastic education of Buddhist logic and epistemology . The study of mental factors or psychology comes from Compendium of Knowledge written by Asanga 3rd CE.

In the Tibetan monastic education system, the study of epistemology and psychology are studied under the topic of Awareness and Knowledge (blo-rig) pronounced Lo-rik. Lo-rik is the study of consciousness, of mind and the understanding of mind is seen as essential in both it’s practical and theoretical aspects, as the process of the enlightenment project is one of replacing dysfunctional mind with functional ones. Therefore the clear identification of dysfunctional states of mind and the recognition of why they are dysfunctional is of vital importance in the progression from an unenlightened experience to an enlightened one. Meditation which is seen as an indispensable tool in a spiritual aspirant life, is used as both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in this process. The culmination of this process is a state of mind, an experience that is free from all dysfunctional states. According to Buddhism, such a mind has the capacity to know all objects of knowledge without error. Buddhists merely label this experience Enlightenment. Perhaps this is what can explain gamma levels leapt’s of 700 to 800 percent

In Lo-rik, consciousness is studied by dividing it into types and sub-types from several different point of view, such as the seven-fold division of:

1. Direct Perceivers
2. Inferential cognizers
3. Subsequent cognizers
4. Correctly assuming consciousness
5. Inattentive awareness
6. Doubting consciousness
7. Wrong consciousness

The Three-fold division:

1. Conceptual consciousnesses that take a meaning generality as their apprehended object.
2. Non-conceptual non-mistaken consciousnesses that take a specifically characterized phenomenon as their apprehended object.
3. Non-conceptual mistaken consciousnesses that take a clear appearance of a nonexistent as their apprehended object.

The Two-fold division:

1. Self-knowers
2. Other-knowers

Another Two-fold division of:

1. Minds
2. Mental factors

This enables a student to develop a sense of how consciousness exists and manifests, by understanding the various types, their functions and how they interrelate. The study of Lo-rik also plays the role in formulating foundational concepts that a student will use in their future studies of Madhyamaka, as well as the Grounds and Paths found in texts like Maitreya’s Ornament for Clear Realizations.

Awareness and Knowledge - Table of Contents

Here are 3 books I recommend for more information on death, dying and associated meditations.

But you may also want to have a look at these posts also.

Prayer and meditations for the dying
The death process in Buddhism
The purpose of prayer in Buddhism

1: Theory based book on death etc.If you want to know the details of the death process this is a great book for that.
Intermediate Buddhism

Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth by Lati Rinpoche Read more about this title…

2: A great book for new comes to Buddhism or for someone dealing with death wither directly or indirectly.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick D. Gaffney, Andrew Harvey Read more about this title…

3: Practice based book by a an outstanding and popular Tibetan Lama/yogi. This books deals with meditation practices for the sick and dying.

Ultimate Healing: The Power of Compassion by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lillian Too Read more about this title…

Death is a progressive process of the dissolution of body and mind that can be divided into eight main stages. As the body deteriorates, the energy required to sustain sense consciousness such as our eye awareness, then course conceptual consciousness - thoughts and emotions - and finally subtle consciousness is lost. At the same time there are specific signs or appearances to mind that mark these eight stages. The last stage being called the Clear Light of death or Mother Clear Light.

The point at which this Clear Light of death becomes manifest is of vital importance in a meditators life, as it is at this stage that one’s meditation can herald deep realisations into the nature of reality and propel a yogi along the path to enlightenment in very short period of time.

Also from an ordinary point of view, when death comes to an ordinary human it comes in a series of dissolutions. Since we will all face this process at some point, it is seen as important to understand the death process, if only to not let oneself fall subject to fear and so forth.

The Mind at Death

It is said that the state of mind of an ordinary being at death plays a large role in determining the type of rebirth that the being will take. Therefore it is very important to die with a positive state of mind. Therefore it is very useful for the dying to practice meditation, practice generosity by giving away their belongs, and saying goodbye to loved ones.

The Twenty Five gross objects

The Five Aggregate:

1. Form
2. Feeling
3. Discrimination
4. Compositional factors
5. Consciousness

The Five Basic Wisdom:

1. Basic Mirror-like wisdom
2. Basic wisdom of equality
3. Basic wisdom of analysis
4. Basic wisdom of achieving activities
5. Basic wisdom of the nature of phenomena

The Four Elements:

1. Earth
2. Water
3. Fire
4. Wind

The Six Sources:

1. Eye sense
2. Ear sense
3. Nose sense
4. Tongue sense
5. Body sense
6. Mind sense

The Five Objects:

1. Visible forms
2. Sounds
3. Odours
4. Tastes
5. Tangibles

These 25 gross/course objects constitute one way of enumerating our mind-body complex.

The dissolution process as stated earlier can be presented in 8 stages.
In the first four stages there is the simultaneous dissolution of a group of the 25 gross object from the list above. Don’t think of this process as one thing dissolving into another, it is more like the power of one group can no longer operate and so another becomes manifest. At each stage there is both an internal sign and an external sign associated with the dissolution of the various elements of the body and mind.

The Dissolution Process

The First Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the form aggregate, the basic mirror-like wisdom, the earth element, the eye sense and visible forms.

Internal sign - Mirage like vision.

External sign - the body withers, sights become unclear, and there is a feeling as if the body has become heavy.

The Second Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the feeling aggregate, the basic wisdom of equality, the water element, the ear sense and sounds.

Internal sign - Smoke like vision.

External sign - Feelings of pain and pleasure associated with the body are no longer felt. The bodies liquids dry up and sounds can no longer be hearing, including the buzzing in one’s ears.

The Third Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the discrimination aggregate, the wisdom of analysis, the fire element, the nose sense and odours.

Internal sign -The vision of sparks against a dark background.

External sign - The name’s of people and objects can no longer be remembered. The body loses it’s heat, and so the power to digest food is also lost. Exhalation of the breath is stronger than inhalation, and breathing becomes more difficult. The ability to smell is also lost.

The Four Stage:

Simultaneous dissolution of the compositional factors aggregate, the wisdom of achieving activities, the wind element, the tongue sense and taste.

Internal sign - flickering light, like a very small candle.

External sign - Breathing has stopped and all ability to move has been lost. Because the wind element has dissolved and therefore the breathing has stopped in the west most people are renounced dead at this point. But according to Buddhism death does not occur until the mind has left the body which is sometime after the 8th stage.

The Fifth Stage:

Gradual dissolution of the eighty indicative conceptions and the mind of White Appearance. As the mind of White Appearance becomes manifest a vision of pure white light is seen. It is said that at this point, the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of White Appearance.

As the mind of White Appearance loses it’s power, the Mind of Red Increase becomes manifest.

These appearances occur as the subtle energies of the subtle body (nervous system) are lost. or dissolve into one another.

The Sixth Stage:

The mind of Red Increase is a vision of redness, like a bright sunset in summer. At this point the mind is empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Red Increase.

As the mind of Red Increase loses it’s power, the Mind of Black Near Attainment becomes manifest.

The Seventh Stage:

The mind of Black Near Attainment is a vision of complete darkness or blackness. At this point the mind of empty of all conceptuality other than the mind of Black Near Attainment.

As the mind of Black Near Attainment loses it’s power, the Clear light of death becomes manifest.

The Eight Stage:

Clear light of death is an experience of the pure radiance of the mind. This experience is of complete clarity and awareness, it is the most subtle aspect of the mind and is that which all phenomena manifest. A yogi can meditate on this mind for weeks.

The Actual point of death
One can still recognize if someone is alive at this point by whether or not there is any heat remaining at the point of the heart - the centre of the chest, not the physical heart. Once the mind leaves the body - the actual point of death - the heat at the heart will be lost.

Check you this post on Why do Buddhists meditate on death for more details on death and meditation.

Buddhism is not just a religion; it is a pragmatic description of life that details our very existence and shows us methods for eliminating the dissatisfactory nature of much of our everyday experiences. The Buddha showed us the true nature of conditioned existence. It can be said the teachings of the Buddha are a set of mind training instructions that lead anyone who diligently practices these trainings to lasting happiness. Not just the happiness found through physical stimuli but, a happiness that is far deeper and meaningful than can be found through ordinary activities, money or fame.

The Buddhist Path

The Buddhist path is rich in history and has many different methods used in training the mind. In fact, the Buddhist canon extends to 84,000 different teachings. All of those 84,000 teachings are presented with one goal in mind, to eliminate suffering at its source so that the conditions that give rise to these dissatisfactory experiences will never return again. The Buddha showed us in his enumeration of the Four Noble Truths; that conditioned life bound by karma and delusion is by nature dissatisfactory – true suffering. That the source of this dissatisfactoriness is a basic belief in a non-existent imaginary – true existence – and that by employing certain methods – true paths – one can permanently eliminate the true source of our problems - delusions such as anger, attachment, pride, jealousy and so forth.

The Buddhist path could be summarized as having two main aspects. The removal of dysfunctional states of mind, such as anger, attachment and ignorance and the development of functional minds such as compassion and wisdom – the wisdom knowing the nature of reality.

Why are minds such as anger dysfunctional? Because, although wishing for happiness the mind of anger in fact produces an agitated experience. Often when we get angry we lash out either physically or verbally, thinking this will make things somehow better but, in fact these actions often make things worse. For this reason the mind of anger does not function as we intent and is therefore dysfunctional. In contrast to this the mind of compassion and wisdom are functional because they operate in way that is concordant with our fundamental intentions.

The purpose of prayer in Buddhism

Buddhist Prayer and by extension chanting, as chanting is nothing more than rhythmic vocalization of prayer, are guided meditations used to remind us of the internal knowledge that prayer can render. They are also affirmations, by reciting them with heartfelt devotion the spiritual aspirant is reaffirming their commitment, not to some deity or another person, but to the development of ideal inherent in the prayer. For instance, the purpose of this prayer composed by Shantideva in his famous text Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds

For as long as space endues

and for as long as living beings remain

may I too remain,

to eliminate the suffering of the world

is the generation of compassion and the universal responsibility that is a prerequisite to the development of Bodhichitta. Matireya’s Ornament for Clear Realisations defines Bodhichitta as: Bodhichitta means for the sake of others, wishing to achieve complete, perfect enlightenment.

By reciting this prayer the spiritual aspirant is implicitly endorsing compassion and bodhichitta - the mind of enlightenment - and reaffirming their commitment to the development of these minds. All Buddhist art, literature and music has the same intention. Even the folds in a monks robes have symbolic meaning related to the Buddhist path.

So does this mean there is no benefit in praying to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas? No, there is benefit but, if the Buddha is omniscient and has infinite compassion, they, all Buddhas, are already helping us whether we ask for it or not! By praying to these beings for help and inspiration we are opening ourselves to their influence even more than if we do not pray and, we are also implicitly saying, I think the qualities of the enlightened beings is useful. I would like to have these qualities myself. Therefore I will practice the methods that are the causes of these qualities.

Have you been in the position where although you have tried hard you just can’t seem to get your dharma practice working? You keep telling yourself that you should learn how to meditate or meditate each day for a week but, then life gets in the road!

You are not alone!

Most practitioners have faced this problem at some point. Some make it through, while others simply give up. If you want to be one of those who makes it, you need three key elements - patience, perseverance and consistency.

Patience is key for any endeavor be it spiritual or not. Would you expect someone to become a great musician in months? No of course you wouldn’t. So why get frustrated. Have patience and you will become better and always remind yourself that it will take time and in some cases allot of time. How much time I hear you ask! Well that will depend on the individual and your natural abilities. But most importantly it depends on consistency. Your consistency has a direct bearing on just how long that is.

Consistency is related to perseverance, in that without it, consistency will not arise naturally. Don’t think that just making up your mind to practice meditation each day is enough to set you self on a stable course. The decision to start is great but, if it no more than a spurt of energy or a reaction to an event in your live, then you are doomed to fail. For dharma practice and meditation to stay in gear so to speak, consistency is the most important element of the three.

Think of your practice like a set of scales. If you wanted to shift the balance of a set of scales from one side to the other, and you could only move one small weight per day. It will take longer if you only move a weight once a week or when we you have some free time, correct! Not only that but, what if on every day you didn’t move a weight, a weight was moved back to it’s original side! You will never shift the balance of the scales. So you can see from this that consistency is very important. 20 minutes of meditation a day everyday is better than 2 hours every week on a Sunday. Is 2 hours on a Sunday worthwhile you bet but, without a regular session your mind like a set of scales cannot make great advances along the path.

Perseverance without the ability to keep trying many people give up! They are unable to see the benefits of meditation and after a while think that it would be better if they go and do something…anything!
When you feel you motivation waning, read material on the benefits of meditation, or the biographies of the great yogis. Inspire yourself to give it one more crack!

With consistent practice you will be meditating just like the great masters of the past and present.
But remember meditation without proper study is like trying to cut a piece of steak with your finger.

Here is another post on developing a meditation practice

Negative emotion, we all have them. So whether your a passive-aggressive who suppresses your anger or a rageaholic that let’s fly at the slightest provocation, anger can be one of the most devastating forces known to humans. In it’s most course form, it is the source of all violence - violence at the domestic, community and international levels. It is the source of ill feeling between work colleagues, family members and even the pain that can occur subtly in our bodies is a result of anger.

Anger has no good qualities, it destroys your relationships, your health and can even be the cause of you losing your life.

Is letting anger out the correct method?
Thanks to modern psychology, it is a commonly held view that we should not suppress anger. Psychologists say that suppressing anger can result in pent up energy, that may explode sometime in the future expressed as rage. While it’s true that suppressing strong emotions such as anger can over a long period have ill effects, letting anger out can have an even greater negative effect and it’s in the short term. Can you honestly think of any occasion when getting angry helped a situation? Sure, it might make you feel better at the time, but later on if you look back at that experience with an open mind, most people would agree that by getting anger they couldn’t articulate what they wanted as succinctly as they would have liked. Angry is that voice in your head that goes over and over the experience, working out smart and witty things you could have said. Now, if in that some situation you were able to calmly and perhaps even with aggression, expressed your views you would have been able to effect a better outcome. Anger and aggression are not equivalents but, that another story.

Also looking at it this from a third person point of view. Have you ever seen someone get into an argument while angry? They look silly don’t they! Anger distorts our perception not to mention distorting our physical appearance. Anger makes everything seem threatening and hostile. I’m sure they’ve heard these words before don’t get anger at me, I’m not the one you should be anger with. Anger can even make the people who are trying to help us seem difficult.

Anger can also have a massive effect on our physiology, in extreme cases it can lead to disease.
Certainly in the short term it changes our appearance - even super-models will look ugly when they are angry!

I will become like a Sponge?
Learning to deal with your emotions is a part of the process of becoming an adult. As children we don’t always understand why we are feeling angry and so forth, and this can lead to frustration. Wanting to eliminate this frustration becomes paramount, and that is why anger seems to be an attractive solution - it’s gratifying in the short term - and we carry this short sightedness through into adulthood. We see anger as a solution because in the short term it makes us feel better just as it did when we were a child. Part of the process of seeing through anger or letting go of anger is to see with wisdom that anger is not a viable solution. We must clearly see and know with certainty that anger is no longer a solution that can effect any positive outcomes in any situation. This does not mean that you should become a passive sponge soaking up everyone else’s anger and negative emotions. It is also not a case of just turning the other cheek! It is possible to engage hostile colleagues or whoever, even with aggression in some cases but, not never with anger.

Many people when first hearing these methods immediately do one of two things. They agree and think that this practice is about not responding - this just reinforces their door-matt-ish type behavior. The other is to not agree, because for them this would mean they could never stand up for themselves. Both are incorrect! All that is being said here is that anger not your actions are the problem. It is true however that as your anger diminishes you do become more passive but it is in no way because of a weakness rather you find said when confronted by anger or difficult people thinking…ok whatever! Your not affected by their silly childish actions.

Ok hopefully I have convinced you to read further

Seeing through negative emotions
Firstly we need to clearly see the effects of anger by meditating on anger and the direct opposing force of anger - Metta or Loving-kindness. There are some people who don’t like this meditation, they don’t like generating anger but, it’s ok! Generating anger in a controlled environment is permissible. Just as scientist may handle dangerous chemicals when conducting experiments, so we can safely generate minds like anger in order to conduct experiments. We do this by following a meditation I presented a couple of days. The meditation is a guided meditation on the conventional nature of mind, the ultimate nature of mind and then a meditation on generating anger and loving-kindness or in Sanskrit it is called Metta. Read through that post and in particular meditate on the generation of anger and Metta. The stronger you can generate anger, and then loving-kindness, the clearer it will be to you that anger is not a reasonable solution.

Your ability to see through anger is largely brought about by experiencing - preferably through meditation as that experience will would stronger and deeper - the ill effects of anger itself. This is done by meditating on anger and then loving-kindness. By meditating on anger in a controlled environment, we can use a small part of our mind to observe anger and the accompanying minds and feelings it generates.

For those who did not go and read the post on generating anger and metta I will go over the meditation in abbreviated form now. But it would be better if you use the other post as a guide for your meditation.

Anger
Generate anger, let yourself get into an angry state of mind by observing someone who you finding supremely annoying. Someone who is difficult to communicate with, someone that you just don’t like! Then once that mind of anger has arisen, from a corner of your mind, observe the feeling of anger. Is it painful? Observe the impulse aggregate. That agitated impulse to lash out and harm either verbally or physically. Is that constructive? The labeling or perception of anger – this is my enemy! Is this truly valid? Would their mother feel the same? Observe the consciousness aggregate. How anger distorts your view making everything not just the so called enemy seem threatening. Then observe the form aggregate. How anger makes your body harsh, tense and agitated. Take the time to generate each of those states. You should spend at least 5 minutes on this or until you clearly see each point. The longer you can stay on this part the more affect the next section will have.

Now turn your attention to loving-kindness.

Loving-Kindness
Generate the mind of loving-kindness by remembering someone who is very dear to you. Someone who has shown you great kindness, who you care for deeply. Remembering that person, remembering their kindness and all that they mean to you, allow a mind of loving-kindness to develop. Remember the person to the point at which loving-kindness is generated, and then concentrate on just the mind of loving-kindness - moving your object of observation from the person to the mind of loving-kindness itself so that it completely fills your awareness. Then as you experience loving-kindness, look at the components of that experience – the aggregates. The easiest to see is the aggregate of feeling. The wonderful feeling of the mind of loving-kindness. The impulse aggregate of the mind of loving-kindness - the emotion or movement of friendliness. The movement to help not harm. Then the aggregate of discrimination of loving-kindness - the way of labeling or describing loving-kindness - the wish for another’s happiness. What we are feeling now is the experiencing of the wish for another’s happiness. Then observe the consciousness aggregate of loving-kindness - the way loving-kindness effects and influences our view of the world. Then the form aggregate in relation to loving-kindness. Some of you may even be able to identify to endorphins or at least a soft warm feeling through the body.

Then gently release your concentration and finish the meditation.

Once you have mastered that you can move onto more advanced practices like seeing all things as like an illusion.

Anger Meditation dealing with emotions

Guided Meditation
Below is a guided meditation that I was first taught by one of my teachers Gen Loden Jampa (we have very similar names)

Breathing Meditation

Begin by settling the mind by focusing it on just the breath.

So we consciously relax away from our involvement in the worlds of the senses. The external world that dominates most of our waking experience.
The world of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tangible things. The phenomenal world, the material world, the external world.
Instead focus our inner awareness on a single object, the natural rising and falling of the breath.

Allow your awareness to settle, by simply observing the breath. As we breath naturally, watch the ebb and flow of the breath. As we observe the breath we let go of all other thoughts and concerns - all discursive thought. We release ourselves from the past, from thoughts of the past, thoughts of last year, last week, last day, last hour, last instant. Every thought dwelling in the past is a mere memory. We release ourselves from thoughts of the past and allow ourselves to be fully present, simply observing the breath.

And likewise, we release ourselves from thoughts of the future, thoughts of next year, plans of next week, of the next day, of the next instant. All thoughts into the future are mere speculation on what may come to be. We release ourselves from speculation, to be fully present, simply observing the breath.

Allow the mind to completely settle, to relax, as a silent witness watching the breath without discursive thought or comment.

Conventional Nature of Mind

As you watch the breath, have a sense that your awareness is like vast open space free of thought.
An unstructured bare awareness as vast as space, within which flows the movement of the breath - the object of observation. Within the vast space of your awareness, distracting thoughts, sounds or images arise and disappear within that space like a rainbow. A rainbow arises and disperses without ever disturbing space. In this way your mind becomes still. Distracting thoughts don’t carry your attention but arise and disappear without disturbing your space-like awareness.

Now notice that the object of concentration is the breath and that the subject is your still spacious awareness. A vast open awareness free of thought.
Now turn the object of concentration to the subject itself and simply observe the still, clear, spacious mind of bear awareness – the observing subject.

Now with a small part of your awareness analyze this bear awareness - this still consciousness, the unmoving unstructured mind. Does this still, clear, knowing mind have shape or color? Is it form? Is it matter, cells or physical substance? Does it have mass or resistance?

If we examine we find that consciousness itself - the clear knowing bear awareness - is not form, not shape, not color, not mass, nor does it have resistance.
It’s not cells or matter, it have no physical substances. It is simply clear and knowing.

Mind in Relation to Space and Time

And observe the clear knowing nature of mind in relation to space. Does the clear knowing mind have a boundary. Is it bounded by the body or brain? Is bounded by the room? Is there a point in space in which it cannot directly or indirectly know? So we can see that the mind is not bound by any limit of space – up, down or in any direction. It is simply clear and knowing. And again observe the clear knowing nature of mind in relation to time. Does it have a beginning – a point at which awareness started? Does it have an end – a point at which awareness ends? Is there a point in time that it cannot know either past or future? Is it bound by time? And we will see that unlike an individual thought, bear awareness itself has no beginning and no end. No point in time that it cannot know, no boundary within time. This bear awareness, this clear knowing nature of mind, is not bound by space and time.

And observe further and see that the clear knowing nature of mind is not anger – It is not in the nature of anger. It is not attachment. It’s not jealously, pride, anxiety, fear or doubt. It is no negative state. It is not by nature deluded, it is simply clear and knowing.

Ultimate Nature of Mind

And observe again this clear knowing nature of mind, the conventional nature of mind – the knower.
And look to its ultimate nature. Does it ultimately exist? Does it inherently, truly or naturally exists? Is it findable under ultimate analysis? Or is it emptiness of these things – of these modes of existence? And if we look at the clear knowing nature of mind, to find the truly existent clear knowing nature of mind, the inherently existent clear knowing nature of mind. When we look amongst its part – its past moments, its future moments or the present moment of awareness in this stream of consciousness. We see that an inherently existent clear knowing nature of mind is not found. It’s not found in its past moments or it would have ceased. It is not found in its future moments or consciousness would not have arisen. And if we look for the knower in this present moment, in the action of looking the present moment has gone!

This unfindability of the clear knowing nature of mind. The unfindability of the knower is the emptiness of mind – its ultimate mode of existence.
This emptiness is a mere absence, an absence of inherent existence, a permanent phenomena. Meditate on this emptiness single-pointedly.

Then be aware that as we observe emptiness, we in fact observe! That we know that the emptiness of the knower is not the absence of knowing, simply the absence of inherent existence. Then see again in a new light the clear knowing conventional nature of mind. Its conventional existence.

Negative and Positive States of Mind

Both positive and negative states of mind have such an impact of us both in a gross and subtle way, that I thought it best to explain these in their correlations – how they impact on each other.

Buddhism asserts that the person is the conventionally existent self. The sense we have when we say “I will this do”, “I am like this”, in my case I have an image of myself…”I am Clarke, the gentle and sensitive person” this is how I see myself and we all have our sense of self, sense of person. Strictly speaking the person is that which is imputed onto the 5 aggregates. What are the 5 aggregates? The 5 aggregates are simply a way of dividing body and mind.

The 5 Aggregates

1. Form: The form aggregate is the appearance of the body and the subtle appearance is more to do with the way you project yourself. Subtle form is included in the form aggregate and it is the way you appear of present to others.
2. Feeling: Feeling is divided in good, bad and natural feeling. There are graduations of feeling but, feelings can be categorized as either good, bad or natural.
3. Discrimination or Perception: Is the way that we label things, the way we classify and label things. This is Fred, this is Joe, this is good, this bad, this is mine, our labeling process. It is normally what we would call thinking.
4. Impulse: Is like the energy of mind, the emotional aspect of experience. It is the moving aspect of mind, it is how you are moved or impelled to act.
5. Consciousness: Consciousness can be divided into many different types but for us here today we will us positive and negative minds.

Generally we don’t think of anger as being a consciousness but being more of an emotion. But anger is also a consciousness, it is a way of knowing. So the way of knowing of anger is a distorted view, a distortion of things into unpleasant and threatening. The emotive aspect of anger is the emotion to lash out and harm someone. The feeling will be a bad feeling. The perception will be “this is my real enemy”. And the subtle form will project and have an influence of the gross form and you will end up looking like this…visual…A darkness will come over the face and so forth.

Similarly with the positive emotion for example loving-kindness you will have the consciousness of loving-kindness which is seeing the object in a favorable light. You will have the emotion of loving-kindness, the movement to caring, benefiting and bringing happiness. You will have the feeling of loving-kindness, the undeniably good feeling. You will have the perception of loving-kindness, may this person have happiness. And you will have the form of loving-kindness, which will be a pleasant, relaxed, open type of appearance.

So essentially the aggregates are the agents of experience of the person.

Below is a guided meditation to demonstrate in meditation the effects that anger and loving-kindness on these 5 aggregates.

Anger

Generate anger, let yourself get into an angry state of mind by observing someone who you finding supremely annoying. Someone who is difficult to communicate with, someone that you just don’t like! Then once that mind of anger has arisen, from a corner of your mind, observe the feeling of anger. Is it painful? Observe the impulse aggregate. That agitated impulse to lash out and harm either verbally or physically. Is that constructive? The labeling or perception of anger – this is my enemy! Is this truly valid? Would their mother feel the same? Observe the consciousness aggregate. How anger distorts your view making everything not just the so called enemy seem threatening. Then observe the form aggregate. How anger makes your body harsh, tense and agitated. Take the time to generate each of those states. You should spend at least 5 minutes on this or until you clearly see each point. The longer you can stay on this part the more affect the next section will have.

Now turn your attention to loving-kindness.

Loving-Kindness

Generate the mind of loving-kindness by remembering someone who is very dear to you. Someone who has shown you great kindness, who you care for deeply. Remembering that person, remembering their kindness and all that they mean to you, allow a mind of loving-kindness to develop. Remember the person to the point at which loving-kindness is generated, and then concentrate on just the mind of loving-kindness - moving your object of observation from the person to the mind of loving-kindness itself so that it completely fills your awareness. Then as you experience loving-kindness, look at the components of that experience – the aggregates. The easiest to see is the aggregate of feeling. The wonderful feeling of the mind of loving-kindness. The impulse aggregate of the mind of loving-kindness - the emotion or movement of friendliness. The movement to help not harm. Then the aggregate of discrimination of loving-kindness - the way of labeling or describing loving-kindness - the wish for another’s happiness. What we are feeling now is the experiencing of the wish for another’s happiness. Then observe the consciousness aggregate of loving-kindness - the way loving-kindness effects and influences our view of the world. Then the form aggregate in relation to loving-kindness. Some of you may even be able to identify to endorphins or at least a soft warm feeling through the body.

Then gently release your concentration and finish the meditation.

So it is importance of your meditation generally to understand the agents of experience – the 5 aggregates. Many people when they are told to meditate on loving-kindness by thinking “may all beings have happiness and all causes of happiness” think that thinking that is the meditation on loving-kindness. But, that is only one part of the meditation, the perception aspect of the meditation. Associated with that perception or thought is the good feeling, also the emotional aspect, and also the change to consciousness – the way we view the world around us. And of course the physical change by the release of little magically chemicals called endorphins at the courser level, and at the more subtle level your appearance also changes to something more pleasant. So when we are cultivating minds in meditation, we should cultivate them right through the agents of experience to deepen our experience.