five steps to transformation
tnh advocates five steps (that i have attempted to summarize below) to deal with and transform feelings that are undesirable and hinder our growth. as i learn to practise them more and more, i find they are increasingly helpful towards realizing the path of peace. the applicability of these steps is indeed enormous; they can be effected to work with a variety of negative seeds of emotion. the key perhaps is to attack the seed before it grows into a full-fledged oak. the mantra, again, is mindfulness.
the first step is to recognize each feeling as it arises. to do this, one must be mindful of each feeling. when there is fear within us, this mindfulness should spring from within and recognize that fear.
the second step is to become one with the feeling. instead of shooing the fear away, it is better to say, "hello, fear. how are you today?" the mindfulness will chaperone our fear so the fear is no longer singled out.
the third step is to calm the feeling. by letting our mindfulness tend to the fear as a mother tends to her crying child (an analogy i have documented here), it can begin to calm it down. the key is not to avoid our feelings, not to say "you are not important. you are only a feeling."
the fourth step is to release the feeling, to let it go. in the state of calm achieved by the third step, we know that we are capable of taking care of our fear. we should now smile and let the fear go.
the fifth step is to look deeply. calming and releasing are medicines, but we focus a greater effort on transforming the source of our fear. by looking deeply, we can understand where this fear stems from - what its fundamental cause is. only by transforming the source can we truly claim to have transformed our feeling of fear.
the first step is to recognize each feeling as it arises. to do this, one must be mindful of each feeling. when there is fear within us, this mindfulness should spring from within and recognize that fear.
the second step is to become one with the feeling. instead of shooing the fear away, it is better to say, "hello, fear. how are you today?" the mindfulness will chaperone our fear so the fear is no longer singled out.
the third step is to calm the feeling. by letting our mindfulness tend to the fear as a mother tends to her crying child (an analogy i have documented here), it can begin to calm it down. the key is not to avoid our feelings, not to say "you are not important. you are only a feeling."
the fourth step is to release the feeling, to let it go. in the state of calm achieved by the third step, we know that we are capable of taking care of our fear. we should now smile and let the fear go.
the fifth step is to look deeply. calming and releasing are medicines, but we focus a greater effort on transforming the source of our fear. by looking deeply, we can understand where this fear stems from - what its fundamental cause is. only by transforming the source can we truly claim to have transformed our feeling of fear.
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