Spirals and Cycles

If someone mistreats you because they don’t like you but you don’t react negatively with anger, it won’t be long before that person changes their mind about you. They will gradually come to think, ‘This person is not so bad after all, they are easy going.’ Even if that particular person doesn’t change towards you, your manner won’t go unnoticed by others, who will consequently think well of you.

What happens when people think well of you and are fond of you? They greet you with a smile and friendliness, which makes you feel good. What happens when you feel good? You greet those you meet with a smile and friendliness. And so it continues, until eventually, because you don’t let yourself become angry when riled, you become surrounded by people who like and are pleasant toward you, and thus you have very few causes of anger.

The opposite cycle comes into play when you react with anger, leading you eventually to be surrounded by people and things that annoy and anger you.

18.09.2022

Drupon Khen Rinpoche