Daily Meditation: Monday, December 6, 2010

Sadness and upsets - using the mind to overcome them

12/06/2010

Some people habitually take refuge in weakness, sentimentality and over-sensitivity, and what a bad habit that is! At the slightest annoyance, rather than reacting by immediately bringing thinking and reasoning to bear, they adopt a passive attitude, whining and waiting for others to come and feel sorry for them and console them - 'Oh, how sad. I do understand!' That is what they want to hear, and then they feel twice as sorry for themselves. It's like children, when they fall over and start crying. If you say, 'Oh, darling, you've hurt yourself, you're suffering,' their crying will become twice as loud. But say to them, 'Look, it's not serious, there's nothing wrong with you,' and they stop; they dry their tears and go back to their games. But so many adults are just like children! They react to the slightest thing with endless complaints. And others, in their ignorance and thinking they're acting for the best, spend hours listening to them, trying to make them feel better. But what is the point of it all? When you want to help humans, you have to do it intelligently, you even have to shake them occasionally; otherwise you further encourage their weaknesses.