Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 35-minute meditation instruction, Ven Lobsang Namgyel guides practitioners through transforming reactions to verbal abuse and insult. He begins with a scenario: someone insults or abuses you harshly, and instead of the self shrinking inward to react, he teaches listeners to redirect attention toward the other person’s afflicted mind. Rather than taking the incident personally, the focus shifts to recognizing how the other person is controlled by their own mental disturbance, and cultivating compassion to pacify their state. He then broadens the frame to explain how personal anger and abuse perpetuate suffering globally, arguing that real self-protection comes through patience and contentment rather than anger or desire. The session concludes with a visualization of liberating all beings from suffering by first transforming one’s own mind, generating the aspiration to become a bodhisattva for the benefit of all sentient life. Suitable for practitioners already familiar with Buddhist meditation and the concept of ego-deconstruction.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 20 Meditation Neg. emotions.mp3
UUID: eb75b37c-c75a-4b88-8b60-db01797558e4
Teacher: Ven Lobsang Namgyel
Collection: VenNamgyel Thought Transformation (Ven Lobsang Namgyel)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 34.9 minutes
Words: ~1,003
Then in your mind, to relieve a situation, well, create one in which somebody insulted you or is insulting you. Perhaps even abusing you with very harsh words. Blaming you, trying to put you down. Think how you would normally react. This sense of self that becomes so intense.
Perhaps even shrink, becomes smaller and feels that it has to react. All that appears is the self. Not the person in front. And then at once, really without hesitation, just push yourself away. Move it completely away.
And try to connect with the other person’s mind. What happened to this person? Why he behaves or she behaves like that? Instead of thinking of yourself being under under attack, think of the other person as being under attack. Something very wrong, very unpleasant is going on in his mind.
We are all familiar with similar experience and states of mind. We know how unpleasant it is. We were out of control. And now it happens to somebody else. We perhaps were just the easiest target.
So it came out on us. Then again try to forget about us. Let go and then don’t get caught up. Try to make not to make this incident all about you, but your focus is the other person. The other person unpleasant state of mind.
And then imagine that with great concern for the other person, you try and you manage to pacify the situation. To pacify this person’s afflictions, uncontrolled mind. Becoming closer to that person instead of distant. You don’t hold any hard feelings in your heart. You don’t think I didn’t deserve that or this person should apologize?
Think that’s the thought of the selfish childish mind. Not a strong brave compassionate mind. The only thing you wish for is to be able to see this person again. Smiling, happy, pacified. And if it’s a person that you’ve never seen like that, you wish to be able to experience that person that way.
Very happy, very relaxed. And you can take a moment and relax your posture. Stretch your legs. You can think that there’s already so much abuse and anger in this world. And when we think about it, we genuinely wish that there would be much less.
That people would be more kind to each other and kind. But if we wish for less abuse, less expressions of anger and harm, We should be able to try very hard to stop taking part. When we abuse or become angry, even if it’s getting angry back or abusing back when somebody else’s start. We are actually contributing. To more anger, more abuse.
So if we want less anger and less abuse Where we really have control, where we can really make a change is by stopping abuse and anger within our own minds no matter what. The third verse encourages us to be vigilant so that the moment a delusion appears in our mind which endangers ourselves and others, we shall immediately confront and avert it without delay. So we might instinctively think that by doing like this, we are protecting others. We’re protecting others from receiving harm from us. But the one that we actually really protect is ourselves.
We think we use anger to protect our happiness. But in fact the moment we become angry, our happiness is completely gone. Perhaps for a very long time. We think that when we follow desire and getting what we want, we’re establishing happiness. But does a desire ever satisfied?
Think about these two points for a moment. Don’t you think that contentment and patience are the best protections we can have to ensure a happy mind. A mind that can never be harmed. Lama Zopa Rinpoche said that the real way to love ourselves, to be loving towards yourself, is to be patient, to develop patience.
To be content, A feeling of no need in the mind. And to find a way to completely overcome the selfish mind. So the best thing we can do for ourself and for this world, to make this world a better place, is to find a way to eliminate the delusion. To completely eliminate selfishness from within our own minds. To find a way to completely eliminate anger.
Even the slightest wish to arm. To eliminate jealousy, eliminate pride, eliminate covetousness. To find a way to really eliminate all these afflicted emotions. And only then we will be able to really inspire others and we’ll know how to lead others to do the same. Then we can think how within this ocean of afflicted minds is samsaric existence.
We are only one. Ocean of afflicted minds and suffering all around us, everywhere. There are also family and friends. Our loved ones. Then imagine that you manage to eliminate your own confusion, delusion, problems.
You have perfected your mind, your experience. Not even a potential for suffering remains. You find a way out. Perfect happiness all the time. And then imagine that you gradually manage to pull out others.
First those ones that are close to you. You place them in the same state. And then gradually pulling others out. Sick people, abused people, fearful people, dying people, animals. You’re leading them out to this protected, blissful state of mind.
Imagine that gradually you manage to pull out everyone. Not even the slightest suffering remains anywhere. It is all finished now. And then you can generate an aspiration that no matter how long it might take, and no matter how hard it would be, you’ll be able to do that. And then you can dedicate completely the sessions to as many beings as you can.
Friends, loved ones and others. And for yourself to become a bodhisattva or a Buddha as quickly as possible. Or if you think this is something that is hard to believe in at least to become as beneficial person as possible. As beneficial as possible for everyone.