by Gnanawimala Bandaraulpatha of Dhamma Sarana Buddhist Temple, Keysborough
We see the big masses of rocks, no matter how fast the wind blows, it’s not shaken.
The Buddha said same like that rock, wise people are unshaken by the praise or the blame in their lives and that is the strong mind set.
To have such a mind-set, it is important to maintain a stable mind set in ups and downs in life. These ups and downs are experienced in eight worldly conditions that no one can escape. They are praise and blame, gain and loss, fame and disgrace, and pleasure and pain.
Mind should be trained to accept these ups and downs in life.
Whenever people criticise you, blame you, go through tough times, if you can be mindful about your mind, your emotions and your feelings, not to chase these emotions and feelings then you can be more stable in these situations.
You can be emotionally balance in these situations.
So it is important to be mindful and to have self-awareness in these situations
Another thing is to build resilient mind.
It’s the ability to stand up back when you go through adversity and challenging situations.
The ability to practise this, one thing you have to understand is that what is in your control and what is not in your control.
It is always a choice, you can think that should I become angry with this, should I take this negativity, and be negative as them.
If you can question like that then you are not ready to take that negativity.
You also have to cultivate a problem solving mind-set.
If you’re easily panicked or triggered by problems then it is not easy to solve the problems.
But if you can maintain calm and peaceful mind-set even when you go through tough situations then it is easy to go into the root and solve the problems.
Finally, you have to practise a mind-set of self-love and self-compassion.
If you truly love yourself, you’re not going to take others’ negativity with you.
Whatever negative thing that comes to you, you say I am not going to take this negativity with me.
The strong mind-set is not disturbed by the ups and downs in life.
So, practising these simple steps, build a stable mind-set, make your mind resilient, and love yourself.
When you practise these steps, you can build up a mind-set that is unshaken by the ups and down in life.
