Physical suffering is devastating, but mental suffering is often much more so.  Anger, greed, hatred, pride and envy wreak havoc on the mind frequently.  Hiding deep within the mind, these vices have the capacity to overwhelm us and make life absolutely miserable.

Let us take anger, for instance.  When we suffer from anger, it is as if we have taken a lit match to a piece of wood; the piece of wood being our mind.  The mind starts burning.  Attacked by envy, we become bitter and restless.  Pride and vanity take away humility, a beautiful ornament of the mind.  And all we do is watch silently as these thieves rob us of our dignity.

What if you could take these vices and convert them into virtues?  Decide that anger is no longer going to torment you!  Turn anger towards anger itself.  How dare you come into my mind and disturb me like this!  Leave my mind this very instant.  Or, you may choose to divert the anger towards yourself for putting up with anger for so long.

Convert envy into genuine admiration, since that is the origin of envy in the first place.  Rather than being envious of your friend's popularity, admire her good nature and the ability to befriend everyone.  Instead of becoming jealous of your colleague's talent, admire the years of practice and hard work that made him so talented.

An effective weapon against pride is the knowledge that you can lose wealth, fame, beauty and all else that makes you proud, in the twinkling of an eye.  This thought itself will do wonders to combat pride.

Take every vice and turn it into a virtue.


Yours,
Didi Ji