WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN THE MIND OVER THINKS IN TROUBLED TIMES
Caller: Master, in the face of illness or when encountering challenging situations, you and other revered monks seem to be able to keep your mind still. Others, on the other hand, view it as, you have shouldered too much karmic burden of sentient beings.
As for us, when faced with such situations, our minds will churn out all sorts of random thoughts such as:
“Have I created new negative karma?”
“Have I done anything that is in conflict with the Buddhist teachings or is it that my karmic obstacles have come to fruition?”
“Have I not been diligent enough in my Buddhist practice such that I have yet to eliminate my karmic obstacles?”
Master, are these considered deluded thoughts? How can we quell them?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Indeed, they are deluded thoughts. Let me illustrate with a simple example. Imagine a person notices a small growth on his body. Someone without any deluded thoughts will think, “I should clean this growth, which tells me that this body part hasn’t been washed for a long time, and hence, this lump”.
On the contrary, someone with a deluded mind will immediately think, “Oh no! Could this lead to cancer or something else? Is it possible that I have been cursed by someone?” Their mind will go into an overdrive, randomly churning out all sorts of deluded thoughts and this is when their mind becomes deranged and troubled. Many a time, this is how hatred comes about and he will start to think, “It must be him, trying to mess around with me”.
How can this be quelled? First and foremost, cultivate right mindfulness. What does this entail? It means abstaining from unnecessary speculation in daily situations, and even when troubles come knocking at your door. You must always cast others in a positive light. By doing so, you will not be deluded when situations arise.
Assuming you trip and fall as you are heading out from home and it so happens that you come across a stone that immediately sets you thinking, “Oh, how careless of me! How could this stone end up here? I must remove it so that it does not cause others to trip and fall too”. In addition, you may think, “Lesson learned. It may well mean that a karmic calamity has come to pass”. In this case, you are looking at things from a positive standpoint. Conversely, a negative thought would be, “You see, it must have been the neighbour trying to harm me”.
Caller: Neither may apply in my case. Instead, I will feel, “Has it got to do with the fact that something is still lacking in our spiritual cultivation? Where have I erred?”
Master Jun Hong Lu: The same principle applies. It’s alright to look inside yourself, but you should not be too hard on yourself. Because if you do so, you will go into a state of unnecessary obsessions.
It’s alright to contemplate on areas that you have erred as long as you make an effort to correct yourself. That said, if you go overboard, you will end up hurting yourself. What about if it so happens to be a karmic pass rather than a particular aspect that you have done wrong? Don’t you think it will backfire on you?
Caller: I got it now.
Source: Wenda20140316A 33:55, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program
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