The Anxious Buddhist

When we cultivate the desire to calm the mind in order to gain insight into the true impermanent nature of our anxieties then we are set upon the path of transformation.

Because we have the capacity of imagination, we can spend our time visualising and worrying about negative scenarios that could happen 10 minutes, an hour, a day, or a year or more in the future.

An enemy can only be transformed into a friend through deep listening and compassionate understanding.

When we can recognise this narcissism, then we take a step toward happiness. As we have learnt, only when we recognise our suffering as suffering can we awaken to happiness. Like two sides of a coin, happiness and suffering are non-dual – they are merely two subjective experiences of the same objective reality.

because we are in control of our body, we assume we are also in full control of the mind. The reality of course is somewhat different!

now. It also highlights the limited benefit of exhaustively analysing the past through intellectual means.

Like an enemy, our anxieties can only continue to exist while we remain at odds with them through anger and hatred.

elimination of wrong views and ignorance. To do this we should cultivate the virtues of patience and compassion.

When new experiences impact our consciousness the mind tends to cling to those that evoke pleasant feelings, and avoids those that evoke unpleasant feelings.