On to Tara News page 4|
|
This same verse teaches us to recognize mental distortions as dangers to oneself and others to be firmly faced and fought. What is implied here is that, when one is investigating or keeping guard on the mind, he will now and then see mental distortions, such as attachment and anger, arise and how they start to disrupt the mind as soon as they arise, meanwhile increasing in strength. At that time, remembering the disadvantages of these mental distortions and what effect they have upon oneself and others, one turns away from them. Otherwise, one loses peace and content of mind, one loses reason and rationality, one loses balance and all goodness of mind. Among the various mental distortions, one finds, for example, anger, attachment, jealousy, pride, doubt, ignorance, and so on. There are six primary mental distortions and twenty secondary ones, so there is a wide variety; but now that one is seeking to cultivate the mind to be of service one finds that among them is one type that is especially destructive. The ones we must be most concerned to face and avert are anger and hatred, for these are violent, malicious: they have unfortunate and harmful effects upon others, besides completely robbing oneself of inner contentment, happiness, and equilibrium of mind. Whoever says, "Oh! Today I am so happy because I am angry! It has given me such good thoughts," or something like that? In hospital, does any physician or doctor say, "Oh, you must have this ailment, and in order to get well, you must get angry, that would be very helpful for you"? One finds that anger has only destructive effects.
The fourth verse says: "When I see beings of evil nature oppressed by violent distortions, may they be as dear to me as if I had found a precious treasure." This verse refers especially to beings that are somehow extremely disgusting, such as man-eaters or very evil beings. On meeting such beings, although we may not have any desire to harm them, we may very well have a natural inclination to try to avoid them, to avert our eyes, to have no contact with them. This attitude, however, should be dispelled. What is to be cultivated, whether they are present or absent, is an affectionate concern for such beings: so that, when we meet them, we do not feel, "Oh! Now shall I have to do something about them, here is a burden I must take on, or here is some action I must take." Rather, on encountering such beings, one should feel as if one had found a precious jewel, or treasure, or something very glorious; and accept this opportunity to help them very eagerly.
The fifth verse says: "When others are angry or mistreat me with abuse, slander and the like, may I suffer defeat and offer the victory to them." Hence it is important to cultivate this attitude of being of service, this wish to cherish others: but especially one should take as the very central point of the practice to cultivate such an attitude towards beings who, for whatever reason, have a malicious desire to do us down, whether they harm us physically or simply wish us ill. One should have a special regard for beings such as these, as though they were very precious. With such sentient beings, if their attitude of malice towards oneself leads to some sort of conflict, what is to be done is to accept defeat or loss for oneself and allow them the victory. This is the essence of the preceding verse.
