Practicing with Unpleasant Emotions | Thich Nhat Hanh

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[Mind]

Now we come

to the 7th exercise of the Buddha.
Recognizing the mental formation,

the feeling

that is painful.

The kind of feeling or emotions.

That feeling, that emotion

is based

on a seed here in the store consciousness.

When it is watered,
it becomes a zone of energy here.

Sadness, or fear,

or anger.

So, the feeling is here
as a mental formation.

[mental formation]

And when it is here,
it is called a seed.

[seed]

A seed.

(Chinese).

Bija in Sanskrit.

[bīja]

Mental formation is (Chinese).

Citta samskara.

[citta samskara]

So when a 'bija'
becomes a 'citta samskara',

and when it is a painful feeling,

the practice is not to allow that feeling
to overwhelm you.

A good practitioner will know
what to do and what not to do

when a painful feeling manifests itself.

She is familiar with the practice
of mindful breathing, mindful walking.

The moment when
the painful feeling arises,

she comes home to her mindful breathing,

and she touches
the seed of mindfulness in her,

and invites the seed of mindfulness
to come up

and to recognize the feeling.

The painful feeling
is a zone of energy here.

We can call it 'energy number 1'.

[E1]

Energy one.

And the mindfulness generated
by the practice of mindful breathing,

mindful walking,

can also be called a zone of energy
created in mind conciousness.

Energy 2.

[E2]

Energy 2 is to recognize energy 1.

Breathing in, I'm aware
of the anger in me.

Breathing in, I'm aware
of the feeling of despair in me.

Painful, difficult to bear.

So, instead of having
one kind of energy in mind consciousness,

you have two kinds of energy.

And the second kind
is the fruit of your practice

of mindful breathing, mindful walking.

The second kind of energy
is not there in order to fight the first,

because in Buddhist practice,
there is no fighting,

there is no violence.

Mindfulness is you,
but sorrow is you.

So mindfulness
does not fight sorrow or fear.

The first thing that mindfulness has to do
is to recognize.

Breathing in, I know that
the feeling of despair is in me.

Breathing out, I smile
to the energy of despair in me.

Recognizing, and not denying,
not trying to run away.

It is very important. Recognizing.

In fact, the first function of mindfulness

is to be aware, to recognize.

'Oh, my dear little pain!

My painful feeling, I know you are there.

I will take good care of you'.

And then, you continue to practice

so that the energy of mindfulness
continues to be generated.

And with that second energy
you embrace the first energy.

Tenderly, tenderly.

With utmost non-violence.

It is like a mother holding her baby.

Baby-anger, baby-despair,
baby-pain.

The mother is not trying to punish,

or to do violence to her baby.

The mother is there for the baby,
because the baby needs her care.

So mindfulness is the mother,
and the painful feeling is the baby.

You, as a practitioner,

every time a painful feeling is born,

you go home and
take good care of your feeling

by the practice of mindfulness,

the energy of mindfulness generated
by the practice of mindful breathing,

mindful walking.

No violence.

No effort to run away.

You have to be there for it.

It is the practice of love.

When your beloved one suffers,

you have to practice the third mantra:

'Darling, I know you suffer.
That is why I'm here for you.'

This is exactly the practice,
the third mantra.

'Darling, I know you suffer.
That is why I'm here for you.'

That is mindfulness talking
to the painful feeling.

If you can continue for a few minutes,

the energy 2 will begin to penetrate
into the energy 1.

And there will be a transformation.

A relief, first there is a relief,
and second, there is a transformation.

It is like a lotus flower
in the morning, in the early morning.

It is still like this.

But if the sunshine
continues to shine on it,

then a few hours later,
the lotus will open to the sunshine.

That is the energy
of the sunshine penetrating.

So the energy of mindfulness
does not attack the energy of anger,

of fear.

But it embraces it and
begins to penetrate into it.

Neutralizes it,

and then, you get a relief.

And with the element of looking deeply,
vipassana,

there will be deep understanding
of the nature of the feeling.

And you can liberate
and transform it completely.

But the first step is to recognize,
the second step is to embrace.

The third step is to bring a relief.

And only with the fourth step,
with deep looking,

you can bring the insight
in order to transform, untie the feeling.

First step, recognize.

[1. recognize]

Second step, embracing.

[2. embrace]

Third,

[3. relief]

bringing a relief.
Fourth, transformation.

[4. transformation]

But in the 7th exercise,

the Buddha advises us
to do the first thing only,

to become aware of the feeling.

And the second thing is to embrace it.

Because the work of transformation

needs some practice of looking deeply

that will be offered in the practice -

in the last four exercises.

Because in the last four exercises,

we practice looking deeply
into the nature of reality.

If you have a copy of the book,

The Path of Emancipation,

you can use that book

to find out more
about this kind of practice.

[Deer Park Monastery
in the great hidden mountain]