So we have to understand, how, what was the existence of the anger? Nowadays, when we look at all the political issues around the world. No political leaders, they came to position naturally just because they gave an amazing speech. They came to the position where they are, due to centuries of issues that we have been challenging, and facing and overcoming, and also challenged constantly, and then we come to some kind of a result. Then again we try make a new restart, or we try to change, we try to overcome.
So just like that, the anger itself, it did not came out of nowhere. It came, or it appeared, or it is there, due to some chain of emotions. So the very existence of the anger itself, appeared or it is there, due to the self-righteousness. In Tibetan we call it, [Tibetan], “I am knowledgeable, I am intelligent, I am good, I am great” that is called self-righteousness. The very existence of the anger came to where it is due to self-righteousness. Due to the very self-righteousness sensation, I’m not talking about the result of the self-righteousness, I’m not talking about the result of the self-righteousness itself. I’m talking about the self-righteousness itself, the self-righteousness itself, came due to the ego and the pride.
The ego and the pride exist due to the ignorance that is inseparable with illusion. Ego gives excuse to the pride. Pride give birth to self-righteousness. Self-righteousness gives birth to the anger. Anger creates suffering. And then regret. And then the real sensation of suffering starts later on.
So you have to understand that anger did not appear from out of this universe all of a sudden. Anger exist due to self-righteousness. Self-righteousness, the very sensation of the self-righteousness, “I’m very knowledgeable, I’m a great practitioner, I’m a great poet, I’m a great painter, I’m a great musician, I’m great, I’m good”, that is self-righteousness. Just having a self-righteousness doesn’t mean that you have to harm other people. We are talking about the very actual sensation of the self-righteousness. We are not talking about the result of the self-righteousness. We are talking about the very sensation of the self-righteousness. The very sensation of the self-righteousness appears or exists due to our own pride and self-attachment. And then the very sensation of the self attachment exists due to the illusion, [Tibetan]. The very state of the illusion exists due to ignorance and ego.
Ego, illusion, ignorance, all these three are not separate. All these three are inseparable together, and it is functioning together. Illusion, ignorance, ego, is always inseparable together. With these three emotions combined together, and then the birth to attachment, the birth to self-righteousness, the birth to anger, jealousy, starts from there. So that is our human understanding that you can achieve it. You don’t need Manjushri’s wisdom sword to bless you. This is a common understanding that you can actually have.
Even we can achieve that understanding we are in denial. The very reason that we are in denial, is due to our pride. The very existence of the pride is due to our own ego. The very existence of the ego is due to the illusion. Illusion itself is due to the state of the ignorance. The very state of the ignorance is absent, or it is the opposite of recognizing the nature of the mind. If you recognize the nature of the mind, you recognize what is the true meaning of presence without any duality, without any creation, but simply being at now, simply being at the present, and not imagination of being present.
If you have an imagination about present, you are no longer present. Therefore previous Kalu Rinpoche’s teaching, he said “No meditation, no distraction and no alteration.” So that was the teaching I gave yesterday in some ZOOM group teachings with the North America Sangha. So that’s what I said.
So therefore, you should not make a judgement to the anger. You should not exaggerate from what it is. If you exaggerate the anger from what it is, it will be more challenging to overcome, because there is a vast imagination that we are implementing into our own mind. So therefore you should not say the anger is bad. You should not say the anger is negative. You should simply question “How did I become angry as I was, and what was the sensation of the anger itself when I was experiencing it, and then where does this sensation of the anger appear from?”
This sensation of the anger did not appear from nowhere, it appeared from somewhere. As all our emotions, all our emotions are interrelated. It is never independent. It is all interrelated. So with that understanding, you must examine. So that is important.
Kalu Rinpoche
FB Livestream – November 15, 2020
To be continued…
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