Meditation can be used to control and manage emotions and stress |
Shamatha includes stopping and calming,
meaning we need to stop to think about what is bothering us in order to calm
down and think of a solution. Typically, the looking deeply aspect of
meditation is the most emphasized because it can give us insight into why we
are feeling stressed and can help us free ourselves from that stress. However,
Thich Nhat Hanh writes in her book, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching,
that “the practice of shamatha is
fundamental. If we cannot stop, we cannot have insight” (24). The importance
stopping comes from the fact that when emotions run through us at the speeds
that they do, sometimes we are powerless. We simply just react, but if we were
to stop and control those emotions rushing through us, we can use our
mindfulness to make sense of it all and calm down. Two sources of stress I have
are my final exams and my relationship with my mom after my parent’s divorce. Buddha
taught to recognize, accept, and embrace your stress. Once I stop to actually
process this stress, I will be able to do all of these things to improve my
mindfulness of my stress and problems. When it comes to my finals, stopping and
understanding my stress will allow me calm down and manage it. For example, it
might allow me to make a study schedule for my three exams. Referring to my
relationship with my mom, Buddha has taught me that I need to reflect about all
the reasons and aspects of our relationship I am stressing about. This will in
turn permit me to brainstorm some ways to get our relationship back to where it
was.
Studying for final exams are a common source of stress |
Vipashyana means “looking deeply” and is
the second aspect of Buddhist meditation. Once we have stopped to really
understand what is causing us stress, we need to think deeply and come up with
what is truly causing this stress. Consequently, we gain insight. Thich Nhat
Hanh writes that insight is “understanding the many causes and conditions,
primary and secondary, that have brought our anger” (26), or stress in this
case. Once we have realized these causes of our stress, it’s much easier to understand
where it is coming from and put it into perspective. For example, if I think
deeply about my stress for my final exams, I’ll realize that I have plenty of
time to prepare and come with ways to do so. Once you think deeply about your
stress, you start to believe that it’s not as serious or as big of a deal as
you thought it was in the beginning before you stopped to actually think about
it. Regarding my mom and I, when I think deeply about where this stress comes
from and ways to fix it, I realize that it’s going to take a great means of
communication. It takes a lot of effort and passion to get a relationship back
to where you want it to be, especially when you don’t live together. Applying
Buddha’s technique of gaining insight, I have come up with ways to improve our
relationship, such as calling her more often and taking time out of my schedule
to visit her. I believe both of these actions will strengthen the bond between
my mom and I, possibly make it stronger than it ever was.
References
Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. New York City: First Broadway, 1999. Print.
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