Table of contents hide 1 What is meant by afflictions? 2 ignorance, attachment and aversion. 3 attention, reflection and meditation 4 recognize and release ...
It may seem exaggerated to conceive our afflictions as a monster and in reality we can observe that at least it is something very similar because of the destructive effects they have on our daily performance and inner stability. If we maintain uplifting thoughts they can enhance our personal growth, but if they are not they can be an obstacle and cause of conflicts in everything and everyone around us.
What is meant by afflictions?
Of course it is necessary to define or understand what the term "afflictions" refers to which is widely used in the East.
In India, Nepal and Tibet are called afflictions to the feelings, emotions and thoughts that come from or derive from the Triple Poison : Ignorance, attachment and aversion.
From the Triple poison all the shades of afflictive emotions arise that in some way to highlight their vastness are said to be eighty-four thousand.
ignorance, attachment and aversion…
This is how from Attachment arise, to name a few, jealousy, envy, greed, selfishness and ambition. From aversion arises anger, resentment, hatred, aggression, resentment, slander and competition. From ignorance come the wrong views, lies, pride, pride, slander and meaningless speech.
Each affliction has a great variety of shades and intensities from the grossest to the most subtle, from the physical to the mental . In fact they arise from the mind and can transcend the physical depending on how much control and awareness we have of them.
If we analyze a little, when we are prey to the monster of envy we can go from the desire of something that another person has to snatch what belongs to him just because we do not want him to be happy. The internal suffering of this affliction is enormous, we can experience impotence, resentment, anger. In fact of envy, more and more destructive feelings arise… something like our inner world was attacked by a monster that ends our tranquility and happiness.
attention, reflection and meditation
It is a reality that when we experience jealousy or other affliction we harm the other or others, but if we reflect it or even better if we meditate on it formally, the most harmed are ourselves, the inner imbalance can range from a small discomfort to a physical manifestation of that feeling as they are physical sufferings as a result of accumulated energy of anger and of not efficiently attacking the root or cause of the situation.
Without a doubt, not controlling, observing and assimilating our afflictions unleashes an inner monster that can harm us physically and emotionally . We should not feel bad or guilty for having them, remember that to experience our environment we must generate feelings, thoughts and emotions, it is advisable to become skilled in its management, we have all the right and ability to choose what is best for our inner well-being. We just have to determine to do it.
recognize and release ...
The recommendation as always is to practice mindfulness at all times, detect when we are experiencing some emotion or distressing feeling and release it, that is to observe and let it go, it is proven that keeping a negative thought in our mind or repressing it makes us sick, necessary It is to observe it, accept that we are feeling it and let it go ... carefully identify how it arises and vanishes.
It is not easy to free ourselves quickly from our afflictions because it requires that we familiarize ourselves with the management of them and try again and again to let them go.
What is certain is that the practice makes the teacher and this is a huge area of opportunity to obtain mental stability, inner peace and happiness.
AUTHOR: Pilar Vázquez, collaborator of the great family of the White Brotherhood
