The science of thankfulness and forgiveness

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

I know what he means and applaud the idea, but how well do these remedial practices/exercises survive the first contact with real life? If you get up in the morning and the crap hits the fan as soon as your feet touch the floor - which often happens to be my lot (i.e. today - text first thing -motor insurers requiring me to go through some complex questions and processes which were going to rob me of what I'd planned to be the first properly relaxing day of my Christmas holiday) - it's all surely often going to have to be be done through gritted teeth?

I deleted a longer reply, and leave just this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Yourse...ot_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knowledge-F...ps%2C64&sr=8-1


I know what you talk about, happens to me, too. Still, I have learned to look beyond that. That can be learned for sure, says Buddhist psychology. That cannot be learned, we must immediately react in thought and emotion to whatever comes to our mind and sense, we must judge, says psychoanalysis ("stimulus-response coupling"). Well, Western psychology has it wrong, and stoicism and Christian mysticism know it since long, so does Buddhism. It takes time, however, to learn it, by meditation for example. Its very difficult because it is so very simple. Its confusing because it is so obvious. We can only learn it to understand that nothing was to be learned. Alles klar?

However, "every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." (H.-L. Mencken)