Working with Disturbing Emotions

Venerable Thubten Chodron guides a meditation on how to work with fear and anxiety when we feel overwhelmed in the present moment. Recorded live.

Transcript

So the present seems quite real and solid to us.

Particularly what is happening in the present for us.

Just survey your feelings now.

Some of them may be feelings about your personal situation,

But some may be about society.

So after the election,

Fear,

Anger,

Distrust,

Anxiety about the future,

Confusion,

And all those emotions are very deeply felt and they seem quite real.

And the external situation that provokes them also seems so solid and real,

Like it's going to last forever.

But let's zoom out for a little bit.

And while today in one way seems so solid and important,

When we compare one day to our entire lifetime,

It's actually quite short.

And when we think in a hundred years,

Which really isn't a long period of time considering all the history we study in school,

In a hundred years none of us are going to be alive.

We'll all be reborn or have been reborn in other realms,

Other places,

With different kinds of identities,

But still with the feeling I.

Now in a hundred years we may have some hope that maybe your children are still alive,

Things about your life,

Stories are still passed on,

Work that you did is still noted in journals or in family get-togethers or in scrapbooks or in boxes full of memorabilia that's passed down from one generation to the next.

So that may still be around in a hundred years,

But we won't be.

And we won't have any satisfaction of knowing that our memory still remains a hundred years from now because we'll have been reborn in a totally different situation.

We won't identify with who we are this lifetime in a hundred years,

Even though all that stuff may still be here.

And then after a few thousand years,

Or even one thousand years,

All of our mementos,

Everything from our life,

All our certificates and awards and photos,

All that surely would have been discarded.

And maybe after a few thousand years even this whole planet won't be here.

Maybe just because of natural change and degradation,

Maybe because of human-made problems.

But at some time or another,

In the vast span of time,

This planet will surely evaporate in one way,

It won't exist anymore.

And even after some more thousands of years,

The sun will also have burned out and won't exist anymore.

New things will come into existence,

But everything indicative of planet Earth and what's happening today,

All of that will be long forgotten.

We'll have taken many,

Many rebirths,

Up and down in samsara,

Hopefully up,

But we're not sure.

And so from the vantage point of several thousand or even millions of years from now,

Today will seem rather insignificant.

And so will our problems of today.

So given that,

Why should our mind feel despair and hopelessness or anger or whatever disturbing emotion we feel?

Because from the perspective of many years in the future,

Feeling negative emotions today is not going to benefit.

It's only going to create destructive karma that we'll experience the result of.

And by letting our mind go into that kind of turbulence,

We'll probably incite other people's minds to be full of disturbing emotions and they too will create destructive karma that will ripen in their suffering.

So from the viewpoint of many thousands of years in the future,

Why spend our time today doing that?

And from that viewpoint,

What's really going to matter is the karma that we've created,

The imprints of the Dharma we've put in our mind,

The understandings and maybe even realizations that we've gained.

When we look ahead to future lives and future societies,

Really it's our virtue and non-virtue,

Our integration of the Dharma that is going to be the important thing in all those years in the future.

So when is it that we create this good karma?

When is it that we plant the seeds of the Buddhist teachings on our mind stream?

When is it that we influence others in a positive direction?

Here we have to come back to today because this is the time to do it.

The present is the only time we ever have to practice.

So transforming our mind,

Creating what the cause for not only good societies but liberation,

Full awakening,

All that has to take place in the present,

In each successive moment that we're alive.

And so seeing that,

Let's have a strong determination today to be compassionate,

To be kind,

To develop our wisdom,

And to contribute to the welfare of other living beings,

As well as to progress on the path to full awakening ourselves.

And in that light of the importance of practicing in this very moment,

If little bumps in the road happen,

Let's not get derailed.

Let's keep our mind focused on what's important in the long term.

So in this way we take care of the long term,

And we also take care of today.

Anything else?

Reviews

This lady right here is wise and inspirational. Thank you for helping me get through so much in my life.

Thank you for a welcomed perspective. Just what I needed. 🙏🏽💕🙏🏽

This literally jerked me out of my self-absorbed misery in a mere 15 minutes. I’ll listen to this one over and over.

Thank you for sharing your time 🙏

What a gift for painting visual analogies. Vivid and wise. Thank you!

Great perspective at a moment I needed to hear this message about taking the long view while being present in the now...Thank you.

Very helpful framing the event in time, and re-framing the focus from "me" to the "other" party, expanding the point of view, bringing compassion to both parties, and then let go.

Great shot practice of impermanence and karma
Thank you Venerable

The gradual build up of the imagery was just great!
Thanks for helping me to see things in a new light ❤
Namaste

Amazing ability to put things into perspective.... and do it in such a kind, gentle, yet logical manner that just makes sense... 😊

Life changing! Challenging to hear but helps calm me down in any crisis

A very helpful meditation that focussed my mind on the reality of life and the here and now. Thank you ❤️

"Keep our mind focused on what's important in the long term"

Love it...thanks

Needed to hear this!!!

I am going to have to listen to this several times. It has a very important message to keep me focused on what's important in the long run.

Thank you for this timely teaching. It's amazing how the election and sad outcome has infected so many of us. It has disturbed my entire being and I'm working hard to regain my peace and good health through my Buddhist path, meditation, etc. ✌

Beautiful. Great tool to bring perspective to life. Thank you 🙏🏼❤️