Excerpted from "An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life", by The Dalai Lama, edited by Nicholas Vreeland.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the strategy of reducing the opposing factor, while fanning the flames of the virtuous quality? Can you share the story of a time you were able to refrain from anger? What practice helps you lessen negative emotions?
I feel being angry and hurling vituperative epithets gives momentary relief giving us a false feel of putting others in place by our decibel power. But over a period of time, we realise being composed is more important than being caustically correct. I at times withdraw into a shell of silence when there are angry vibes all around, and at other times I isolate myself from that negative mood by not being a part of it. Angry thinking or demonstration of bouts of anger only empowers others, I tell myself. So my way of anger control mechanism is to let others vent out their negative emotion and tell them how wrong they are at a later stage when the anger cools down.
Jesus helps me lesson negative emotions. When I think about Him, there is absolute POSITIVITY. Jesus took everything "negative" to His Father. Holy Spirit intervened ... to bring about the Power to overcome evil with good. There is power in the name of Jesus. I call upon Him daily!
My strategy is to cultivate the root(soul)for the blossoming tree. The faith & the firm conviction is in the fact that all human souls are divine, full of Love,power,compassion,joy, friendship & harmony without any exception. Very careful to anything contrary happening/arising ,go back to the above Universal Truth and control the mind. Yes difficult but not impossible if one is serious.Pesistance and perseverance pays.Meditate with open eyes on the visualization of this reality. Lastly surrender to HIM i.e. your own true self earnestly.
Meditation mindfulness teaches is not to judge thoughts because we don't want to get into contracted resistance -- how does undermining the opposing virtue fit with this..?