跟一个朋友有了意见上的冲突，可是我及时恢复正念，在情况恶化之前止息了怒气，把内心的紧绷的情绪松开。这并没有什么了不起，如果我真的了不起的话，那么我应该一开始就保持正念，不让嗔心升起。
我看到了自己狭窄坚硬的心，于是立刻把它粉碎。我的心灵有个开阔的空间，几朵乌云漂流其中。我感到些许可笑。因为我小题大做，所以才会起愤怒。当你有这样的发现的时候，你就会感到可笑。随之而来的还有一种不可思议—没有燥热感，只有很舒服的清凉。由愤怒突然转变为平静，让我深刻地感悟到心灵开阔的可贵。
当心灵开阔，任何迎面而来的愤怒的言语将成为空中的回音，你可以毫无成见、真切地聆听。而当心灵封闭，愤怒的言语则变成锋利的箭，深深刺入内心。因为封闭的心先入为主地把这些言语看成是对方蓄意伤害的武器。一颗开阔的心永远不能被伤害。有谁能伤害广阔无边的空间？中文里，我们用“开心”两个字来形容快乐的情绪，是不是一种巧合？
(1月7日 – TDE 1)
Had a conflict of opinions with a friend, but was mindful enough to cease and extinguish the anger, and released the tension in the heart before the situation worsened. That’s nothing great—if I were really great, I would have been mindful enough to not let the anger arise in the first place.
I saw in my mind’s eye a small hard heart, and immediately let it disintegrate. There was an open space with a few dark clouds in my mind. There was a mild sense of amusement. I had somewhat made a fuss of the matter—that’s why there was anger. This realisation is funny when you are aware of it. There was amazement too—no heat; just cool niceness. The sudden switch from the moment of anger to peace allowed me to appreciate deeply the value
of open mindfulness.
With this openness in the heart, any angry words which come your way become echoes in space that you can truly hear deeply—without prejudice. With a closed heart, angry words become sharp arrows piercing it, as they are taken with bias, assumed to be weapons shot to harm. He who is open can never be hurt. How can you hurt openness? Incidentally, “happiness” in Mandarin means “open-heartedness”!
(7 Jan – TDE 1)
