may arise again at any time even though they appear to be under control and are temporarily dormant Thus we must seek the means to eradicate them completely This is like distilling water and removing all impurities No matter how clear the water looks, if a sediment of mud remains, it will make the water cloudy as soon as it is disturbed Meanwhile, however, we must become skilled at recognizing different disturbing states and at counteracting them Anger and hostility are easy to identify as negative since they are accompanied by unpleasant feelings, but attachment and desire are initially often accompanied by pleasurable feelings and not seem harmful When trying to counteract them we need to consider the unattractive aspects of the object on which they focus, but we feel reluctant to this We should begin working with whichever disturbing emotion we find predominates By watching the kind of stimulus required, whether weak or strong, and the strength and duration of our response, we can determine how habitual a disturbing attitude is If a small stimulus creates a disproportionate reaction, we may infer prolonged familiarity with this response in past lives When we recognize the detrimental effects of these emotions, we will want to control them instead of allowing them to control us Just as there are many forms of attachment and desire, there are many antidotes We must discover what is effective in our own case Where attachment to our body is concerned, we may find thinking about its unclean nature useful We may also try a meditation which begins by imagining a small spot in the center of the forehead which is bare to the bone Gradually we enlarge this, stripping away skin, flesh, muscle, sinew, etc., baring our bones until our whole skeleton is exposed We then imagine this growing larger and larger until it fills the whole world and nothing but our skeleton remains The process is then reversed To counteract an excessive preoccupation with food we may try to regard it as medicine A sick person takes medicine and follows a specific diet not because it tastes good but in the hope of getting well Similarly we should think of food merely as sustenance for the body so that we can use it for others' well-being and happiness To help overcome a preoccupation with clothing, we should think of it as a means to cover the body and protect it from the elements, like the dressing on a wound which is applied for protection and not for the sake of appearance Thinking about the imminence of death and its unpredictability is one of the most effective ways to loosen the grip of attachment and desire Enjoyment and pleasure are not in themselves harmful, but we must be alert to the craving and discontent that tend to follow Cultivating a sense of contentment and considering the instability and dissatisfactoriness of the things for which our greed and desire reach out are valuable as antidotes The unhappiness and anger we frequently experience when something we own is lost or damaged is proportionate to our attachment Our acquisitiveness leads to many difficulties For instance, if we are building up a collection, we go to much trouble and expense to acquire the specific items we wish to include We then protect the collection from the detrimental effects of the climate and ensure it against theft What was intended as a pleasurable pursuit becomes an expensive, time-consuming and tiring chore We end up the servant of our possessions Anger is like a fire that first makes us bum inside Then our palms and armpits turn damp and beads of sweat appear No matter how fine our clothes and jewelry, no one finds us attractive when our face is contorted with rage Anger destroys our own physical and mental peace and upsets others, inciting them to respond aggressively, which makes the fire grow Even animals feel uncomfortable in our presence and try to escape when we are in a bad temper Realizing how disturbing anger is and how good it feels to remain calm, we will want to prevent anger rather than suppress it The aim is not to hold anger inside but to stop its arising When we feel unhappy and anxious, either for specific reasons or for no specific cause, irritation and anger arise easily Therefore we must attempt to relieve the unhappiness and anxiety which are characterized by tightness If there are specific causes, we should direct our energy toward trying to resolve the problem If it is not possible to so, letting go and accepting the difficulties is a more positive approach than dwelling on the seeming injustice of the situation which reinforces the unhappiness and helplessness It is useful to think of the experience as a maturation and ending of past negative actions, allowing it to show us the unsatisfactory nature of cyclic existence There are many situations in which we already know we are vulnerable to anger This knowledge gives us the opportunity to remain calm and apply antidotes effectively to prevent anger altogether If it does arise we should ensure it is short-lived and does not breed aggression, resentment, spite and other negative feelings When the mind is under the influence of anger it is hard to arouse feelings of love and compassion for the other or to consider how one has set oneself up as a target through past actions or through present intentional or unintentional provocative behavior Since it is essential to train ourselves to think in these ways and gain familiarity with them, meditation on these themes when we are calm is encouraged It is also valuable to imagine provocative circumstances and rehearse an appropriate and constructive response We should not confuse anger which is based on a wish to harm with the need to act sternly at certain times arising from a positive beneficial intention When positive states of mind are operating the negative ones cannot assume an overt form Thus, the cultivation of constructive states of mind provides us with a way to deal with difficult circumstances Only our eventual understanding of reality, of how everything arises dependently without inherent existence, will enable us to deal with the confusion and ignorance that lie at the root of all other disturbing attitudes and emotions However, even without a full understanding of this, thinking how we, our emotions, situations and others not exist as they appear and how our hard delineation of them is a superimposition which does not correspond to reality, may help to decrease the intensity and duration of feelings which disturb and trouble us Chapter VII Abandoning Attachment to Sense Objects One must first think about the disadvantages of cyclic existence in order to give up the contaminated actions which are its cause The beginningless cycle of rebirths is an ocean of suffering without any end at all, infested by thirty-six sea snake fetters' of ignorance, pride and craving of worldly existence.' It is churned by sea monsters of the sixty-two wrong views3 and fraught with whirlpools of birth and death Why are you ordinary childish people, drowning in it since beginningless time, not afraid? If one should fear to drown in a sea whose depth and breadth are apparent, how much more so in this one! It is like the following analogy: A sage who had five kinds of superknowledge wanted to go beyond worldly existence With miraculous speed he placed his foot on the summit of Mount Meru but died before he could reach the other side After his death he was reborn as a god [and came before the Buddha who told him, "I will show you the world, the source of the world, cessation of the world, and the path that leads to the world's cessation in relation to your body which is just four cubits high." When taught the four noble truths in this way, the sage understood them.] Assertion: Though cyclic existence has many disadvantages, those who are proud of their youth and so forth are not afraid Answer: Since youth and the like not last, pride on that account is unreasonable In this life youth lies behind old age; after death it is once more ahead and then again it is behind old age Though one imagines one can remain young, in this world youth, old age and death compete as if in a race, claiming, "I'm ahead, I'm ahead!" Since none can always remain ahead, it is unreasonable to feel proud because of that It is like the following analogy: The shadow of the wheel which crushes sesame seeds [sometimes falls in front and sometimes behind.'] Assertion: Though one must go on to another life, it is not frightening Answer: In worldly existence childish beings like you not have the power to will their own rebirth in good rebirths as gods, humans and so forth, but are under the control of other factors-contaminated actions and disturbing emotions While in such a frightening situation, what intelligent person would be fearless? One should feel repugnance at being controlled by contaminated actions and disturbing emotions One is like a piece of wood swept along by the current The words gzhan yang which appear in some versions of the text refer to time and mean "never."6 Assertion: Though unable to cut through worldly existence in this life because of being enthralled by pleasure, one will try to so in a future rebirth Answer: Future rebirths are endless and the past is beginningless Throughout the past you were always only a common being Act so that the present and future will not be as meaningless as the past during which you failed to free yourself from worldly existence Some versions of the text read "again," which should be taken to mean "again in the future."' It is like the following analogy: Though the friends of a man who was going with someone else's woman tried to stop him, he did it again later The Array of Tree Trunks Sutras says: ... actions or through present intentional or unintentional provocative behavior Since it is essential to train ourselves to think in these ways and gain familiarity with them, meditation on these themes... path that leads to the world's cessation in relation to your body which is just four cubits high." When taught the four noble truths in this way, the sage understood them.] Assertion: Though cyclic... repugnance at being controlled by contaminated actions and disturbing emotions One is like a piece of wood swept along by the current The words gzhan yang which appear in some versions of the text refer