The story of my path to Buddhahood through the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin
28 Nov 2014 2 Comments
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Animality, Determination, Injustice, Reforms, Social Values
There are times when our anger can be used productively, providing it is used correctly.
Nichiren wrote that wrath can be both good and bad.
Self-centred anger generates evil, but wrath at social injustice becomes the driving force for reform.
Strong language that censures and combats a great evil often attracts adverse reactions from society, but this must not intimidate or deter those who believe they are right.
Remember, a lion is a lion because he roars.
24 Sep 2014 1 Comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Buddhahood, Buddhism, Climate Change, Ecology, Poetry, Practice
Sometimes, when anger wells up inside us, an outburst can actually do more harm than good.
But when it’s wrapped in poetry, the power is conserved but the harshness is somehow diluted, allowing the message to get through without causing an aggressive backlash.
Here’s a poem that encapsulates some of the anger I feel about climate change …
Mr Angry
My practice is that of a Buddhist
For practice makes perfect they say
So why do I still get so angry
When resources are frittered away?
The Earth has a finite collection
Of minerals, water and air
So why are we all quite so blasé?
It’s almost like nobody cares
They hoover the bed of the oceans
Till every fish has been caught
Then they freeze ’em till prices go mental
‘Cos profit’s their first and last thought
They cut down the trees in the forests
The lungs of the world it’s been said
To make palm oil for everyone’s cookies
Pretty soon Planet Earth will be dead
We marched in the sun at the seaside
In the hope that somebody would hear
Our demands that our leaders take action
To reverse all the climate change fears
But I fear for my grandchildren’s future
On a planet we all have sucked dry
They will never ever forgive us
When they find we’ve condemned them to die
Richard Blake © 2014
13 May 2014 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Challenges, Problems, Proof Of Practice, Ten Worlds
With ever increasing mindfulness, our own feelings will change as we reflect on the causes for those feelings.
We know that acting in haste, motivated by anger, disappointment or desperation will result in the causes of unwanted effects.
So when you encounter what appears to be an insurmountable challenge, a wall if you will, you should tell yourself, “Since there is a wall here, a wide open expanse must lie on the other side.”
Rather than becoming discouraged, you should realise that the very fact you are encountering this wall is actual proof of the progress that you have made so far.
So if you find yourself facing such a wall, prepare to strive with all your heart, and you will surely find a way to get to the other side.
08 Oct 2013 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Challenges, Problems, Proof Of Practice, Ten Worlds
With ever increasing mindfulness, our own feelings will change as we reflect on the causes for those feelings.
We know that acting in haste, motivated by anger, disappointment or desperation will result in the causes of unwanted effects.
So when you encounter what appears to be an insurmountable challenge, a wall if you will, you should tell yourself, “Since there is a wall here, a wide open expanse must lie on the other side.”
Rather than becoming discouraged, you should realise that the very fact you are encountering this wall is actual proof of the progress that you have made so far.
So if you find yourself facing such a wall, prepare to strive with all your heart, and you will surely find a way to get to the other side.
22 Apr 2013 2 Comments
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Buddhism, Burma, Death, Violence, Wisdom Courage and Compassion
With more reports emanating from Myanmar, Burma, regarding the violence between Buddhist and Muslin groups, it is difficult to see how any good can come from actions fuelled by anger or hatred.
But Nichiren wrote that wrath can be both good and bad. Self-centred anger generates evil, but wrath at social injustice becomes the driving force for reform. Strong language that censures and combats a great evil often attracts adverse reactions from society, but this must not intimidate or deter those who believe they are right.
Remember, a lion is a lion because he roars. Having said that, the roar should be one of strength rather than anger.
Anger that is misdirected or caused by illusion or misconception is a wholly bad thing and can be very damaging. So before you vent such anger on an unsuspecting victim, take stock and let that anger fade. Compassion is far more positive and will achieve far more in the long run.
With the sanctions imposed on Burma by the United Nations being set to be lifted this week, let us hope and pray that wisdom, courage and compassion hold sway and that the violence between people of the same nation will stop before any more death and destruction are caused.
22 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Cause And Effect, Chelsea FC, Rafa Benitez, Responsibility, Robbie Di Matteo, Words
As a lifelong Chelsea fan, I have been rather upset (understatement of the century alert) at the debacle that has unfolded over the last forty eight hours. The manner in which Chelsea manager, and long time crowd favourite, Roberto Di Matteo was dismissed has left a very bitter taste in the mouth of many fans.
To compound the hurt, it now transpires, that the Chelsea board and Mr Abramovic, have appointed ex-Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez as a short term replacement. Now anyone who follows football will know that Red and Blue doesn’t mix well in football terms, and Chelsea and Liverpool have a long and rather angry history between the clubs.
If that were not reason enough to preclude Benitez’s appointment, there are a number of well documented statements, made by Benitez during his time at Liverpool, which suggest that he will have a rough ride during his time with the club, starting with his opening game in charge, against Premiership Champions Manchester City, this coming weekend.
I can hear the mutterings from here. What has any of this to do with Buddhism? Well let us see. As Buddhists, we are responsible for every one of our thoughts, words and deeds, and for the effects those actions may have at some point in the future.
Words are like weapons if we use them in the wrong way. They can permanently injure people and relationships. They can destroy years of trust in a single second and set friend against friend. Very much like weapons, once said, they cannot be unsaid again in an attempt to remedy any resulting damage.
So, before you are tempted to load your next salvo of hurtful words, think what the long term consequences might be. Imagine how you might feel if those same words were the last you ever said to someone. Sometimes it is better to keep your thoughts to yourself and let the angry words drift away unsaid. You can never, ever, take them back.
23 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Compassion, Donald Trump, Evil, Money, Violence
Money, or rather the love of money, is said to be the root of all evil. I think that is a little harsh on money, there are many, many roots of evil, but watching a program last night about Donald Trump did provide a deal of evidence to support the premise.
The much publicised Trump International Golf Links in Blamedie, Aberdeenshire was hailed as a shot in the arm for the local economy when it was planned in 1995. Mr Trump visited the area and made all the right noises about creating jobs and attracting tourists to the area.
What he, and his good buddy Alex Salmond failed to say, was that he was going to ‘sanitize’ the area, clearing residents from their land and family homes, in order to save his visitors from having to look out over ‘slums’ and ‘pig stys’ whilst playing golf on his new course.
He also failed to mention that far from sculpting the course to fit the rare and protected dune habitat, his course designers and architects would completely rebuild the area in order to force nature to fit the course.
In a documentary that mimicked ‘Local Hero’, a film about Scottish locals fighting against the development of the oil industry in their own back yard, You’ve Been Trumped takes us through the battles and underhand tactics used against a small number of locals.
If I were Scottish, and considering my choices in the upcoming independence referendum, I would be very concerned by the way that Alex Salmond has not only bowed to financial pressure, but literally sold his true fellow Scots down the river.
In a modern re-enactment of the infamous Highland Clearances, the Trump organisation, the Scottish government, the local constabulary and the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, left morals and decency back in the club house as they turned a blind eye to the use of strong arm tactics against defenceless residents.
Watch the documentary and then write to Trump or Salmond to tell them just where they can stick their mashie niblicks.
26 Aug 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Common Sense, Communication, Gardening, Life-Energy
The privet hedge down the left hand side of the cottage garden is becoming a bit of a monster. The garden side was getting far too high to be trimmed without the aid of a safety net and the lane side is more in the domain of steeple jacks.
It had been decided that we would use the hedge trimmer to give it a good haircut and Bumble had already started the job earlier in the week. It had, however, also been decided that we would give ourselves a rest this weekend and do fun things rather than just chores.
So I set to with the trimmer and had finished the job B had started in about an hour. Feeling pretty satisfied with my efforts I was rather dismayed (huge understatement) when I found Bumble talking to Roy, one of the neighbours, about how the hedge had been managed in the past, and how it would be much easier if we were to lop a couple of feet off the top.
I was pretty miffed and made no secret about it. B went into one of her ‘leave it and I’ll do it myself’ moods, which just made me more annoyed. So having delivered a wise instruction to ‘not speak to me’ I got well and truly stuck in with the tree loppers.
I wouldn’t recommend using anger as a way to boost your life-energy, it’s pretty volatile stuff. But by the time we had decimated twenty or so feet of the top of the hedge my mood was much improved and we hadn’t killed each other.
What started off as a one man hedge-mashing exercise turned into a two man (well one woman and one man) project. I burned off all my angst and Bumble forgave me for being less than sociable for the initial half an hour.
Speaking about it later, we decided that the whole incident could have been avoided with a little better communication and we have promised to try to achieve that in the future. Neither the course of true love, nor the path to enlightenment are without their challenges, but having overcome the problem, we are better for the experience, and we have a much more manageable hedge.
18 Apr 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Compassion, Ten Worlds
Nichiren wrote that wrath can be both good and bad. Self-centred anger generates evil, but wrath at social injustice becomes the driving force for reform. Strong language that censures and combats a great evil often attracts adverse reactions from society, but this must not intimidate or deter those who believe they are right.
Remember, a lion is a lion because he roars.
Having said all that, anger that is misdirected or caused by illusion or misconception is a wholly bad thing and can be very damaging. So before you vent such anger on an unsuspecting victim, take stock and let that anger fade. Compassion is far more positive and will achieve far more in the long run.
28 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in Buddhism Tags: Anger, Email, Personal Touch
There is no doubt that modern communications such as email, texts and Skype are very useful, but they all come with an underlying problem. We all tend to read the message in the mood we are in when it is received, rather than that of the sender when it was sent.
Having returned to work today, to be confronted by over 150 emails regarding different issues with our new software, I was dismayed to read some of the vitriol of the messages.
Being the sort who prefers to speak to our clients in person when issues arise, I made a number of phone calls, particularly targeting the most venomous email senders.
To my pleasant surprise, every one, without exception, greeted the call with gratitude and all the conversations were cordial and ended with satisfactory resolution of the issue in question. So the personal touch works much better than the sterile environment of the electronic age. Thank heavens for small mercies.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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