seventh world of chan buddhism - Zen Buddhist Order of Hsu Yun

After Dad has sympathized with Sonny, he can turn his attention to Sonny's victims.
He can begin to realize that the most important task facing him is rectifying the damage.
Dad knows it's not enough to say, "Well, that's what I paid all those insurance
premiums for." There are moral responsibilities to be met. He and Sonny must go to the
hospital and face the injured and their families. Dad imagines the injuries... the pain and
suffering... a pretty girl's disfigured face. He thinks about this girl's father. Dad has a
daughter, too. He thinks about her. He weeps. What is bankruptcy compared to the
destruction of a sweet and lovely face?
It is at this point, the point at which Dad begins to see the accident from other points
of view, that he has finally gotten control of himself.
It is now possible for him to pray. He prays for the injured to recover. He prays that
no further pain and suffering be caused anyone. He prays for the boy upstairs who has the
troubles of a lifetime on his shoulders. There is no end to the things Dad prays for.
Time to go up and put a comforting hand on the kid's shoulder.
The human brain seems to organize reality around clichés. There is no better way -
perhaps there is no other way - to conquer anger or grief than to use maxims, proverbs,
parables and the like to help us through a crisis.
Of course, if a person is overwhelmed with anger or grief and finds himself in
imminent danger of losing control and doing something that he will surely regret, he should
immediately consult a physician. Once his emotional crisis has been managed, longer term
counseling with a psychologist or clergyman can be obtained. He can see any trained advisor.
(Anybody but a bartender. They do no good at all.)
Self-control is gained through rational consideration of the situation. The old
nostrums such as counting to ten are worthless if they are not followed by an empathetic
regard for the antagonist. Telling people to relax suffices only to raise the level of their
anger. Worst of all are such attempts as, "I refuse to let that miserable so-and-so get to me!
He isn't worth the aggravation! I have to consider the source!" Buddhists are supposed to
consider the source not to accuse or condemn it but to understand how it got to be what it is.
Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) asked his Daoist followers:
"Suppose you were crossing a river in a rowboat and another boat, an empty one,
came drifting toward you in the current. You could be the most irritable man in the world,
yet you would not lose your temper. You would carefully do what was necessary to avoid a
collision or to minimize any damage.
CHAPTER 12 RIGHT THOUGHT OR PURPOSE
S EVENTH W ORLD O F C HAN B UDDHISM
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