Integrating Dharma into Everyday Life: Lama Yeshe
Eliminating Anger
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Emptiness is a remedy for the foundation of all delusions - ignorance. The minute one
meditates on emptiness, anger for example, will stop. Anger arises when you believe in
the false I, false object - all this that does not exist. So when one meditates on
emptiness of the self and other objects, there is no foundation for anger. This is the
most powerful antidote. But if it arises again, it is because there is no continuation of
the meditation; the meditation, the mindfulness, has stopped. The problem is to
remember the technique. Once you remember the technique, it always works. When
you don't remember the technique, it is delayed and the delusion, anger and so forth,
has already arisen and taken you over.
One thing I tell people is always to think about karma. His Holiness always says
Buddhists don't believe in God. This basic Buddhist philosophy helps you remember
there is no separate mind outside of yours that creates your life, creates your karma.
Whatever happens in one's own life comes from one's own mind. These aggregates,
all the views of the senses, all of the feelings happiness, sadness and so forth - your
whole world comes from your consciousness. The imprints of past good karma and
negative karma left on the consciousness manifest, become actualised. The imprints to
have a human body, senses, views, aggregates, all the feelings, everything is realised
at this time, and all of it comes from consciousness, from karma.
If your meditation on emptiness is not effective, this teaching of karma is very powerful
for us ordinary beings. The minute one meditates on karma, there is no room in the
mind for anger because there is nothing to blame. Thinking of karma is practicing the
basic Buddhist philosophy that there is no creator other than your mind. It is not only a
philosophy but also a very powerful technique. Anger is based on believing in a
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