Storms
Emotions come on like big storms. They rage in us sometimes as fiercely as a hurricane. Sometimes we can get so hurt, or so mad, or so despairing that it may not be possible to see anything else.
Storms may rage, but they eventually pass, and so too will our emotions.
Emotions come and then they go, they are what they are but they are not unchanging. We can be and in fact are much more than our emotions.
When you can be tuned in to your life you can begin to sense when an emotion is coming along. We can get better at this through continued practice.
At times when we feel an emotion coming on we should think about a storm. When a storm comes along, where should we go; we should seek shelter, of course. We might look for an overhang to protect us from rain, or we might look for something more substantial if the winds are howling. Depending upon the nature of the storm we take adequate precautions.
So too when we feel the emergence of an emotion. We should seek shelter from that emotion. Just as in a storm we would not climb to the top of a tree, in our emotional state we should not approach it deeper.
Learning to be tuned into our selves we can begin to look for shelter. It may be that we just need to take a moment and focus on our breath. Where are you breathing from is a question I have learned to ask myself. Chances are when you are experiencing an emotion you are breathing short shallow breaths from you upper chest. This is sort of like going to the top of the tree.
You may have to also move yourself out of the environment you are in, but that isn’t always possible so focusing on your breath may be where you have to begin. Once you have moved yourself there, begin chanting Odaimoku.
Each time you can touch this seed of enlightenment you will become stronger and better able to handle those situations which generate the strongest emotions.
“I also see some Bodhisattvas being tranquil and peacefully calm, not delighting in being respected By gods or dragons. I also see some Bodhisattvas living in forests, and emitting rays of light in order to save the denizens in hell, and cause them to enter the Way to Buddhahood.” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter I)
When we learn to master the storms of our life then we can begin to offer shelter to others when they are experiencing storms. We can learn to become the calming influence around others in tumultuous circumstances.
