Life Is Tough: Here's Buddhist Wisdom for Dealing With It

 

LIFE IS TOUGH. HERE’S BUDDHIST WISDOM FOR DEALING WITH IT. Is life suffering? Certainly that notion is commonly thought to be a Buddhist one. Buddhist or not, we can all agree: life is tough. So we live our lives hoping to avoid difficulty — and then feel bad when we fail at this impossible task. But the truth is, we can work with life’s difficulties, and transform them into opportunities for learning, and even happiness. Here are three teachings from Lion's Roar that can help. May they serve you well. —Rod Meade Sperry, Lion’s Roar Digital

Life is Tough. Here Are Six Ways to Deal With It An ancient set of Buddhist slogans offers us six powerful techniques to transform life’s difficulties into awakening and benefit. Zen teacher Norman Fischer guides us through them. Counterintuitive though it may be, avoiding life’s difficulties is actually not the path of least resistance; it is a dangerous way to live. If you want to have a full and happy life, in good times and bad, you have to get used to the idea that facing misfortune squarely is better than trying to escape from it.

How to Move Forward Once You’ve Hit Rock Bottom Pema Chödrön tells the story of when, having hit rock bottom, she asked her teacher what to do. When I sat down in front of my teacher, he said, “How is your meditation?” I said, “Fine.” And then we just started talking, superficial chatter, until he stood up and said, “It was very nice to meet you,” and started walking me to the door. In other words, the interview was over. And so at that point, realizing the interview was over, I just blurted out my whole story: “My life is over. I have hit the bottom. I don’t know what to do. Please help me.”

How to Cool the Flames of Anger with “RAIN” Emily Horn teaches you how to Recognize, Accept, Investigate, and Not identify with our anger. The best way to transform anger and other strong emotions is to befriend them. As with any relationship, it takes time to become intimate with the inner workings of our minds. To do it we need courage and strength. And we need the help of an effective technique. Peeling away the layers of anger moves us closer to life and empowers us to stand up for justice. One of the most effective ways to deepen and transform our relationship with anger is a four-step mindfulness-based practice known by the acronym RAIN. Here’s how it works.

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