To “know” the emotion is to understand that, as it has no root, there is and never has been an emotion. Some people talk about emotion, particularly the negative emotions, as if they were some kind of hideous, demonic force that willfully invades your being, but they are not like that at all.
When you feel angry, just watch your anger. Not the cause of the anger or its result, just the emotion of anger. As you stare at your anger, you will discover there is nothing you can point to and say, “That is my anger.” And the understanding that there is absolutely nothing there is what is called the “dawn of wisdom.”
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book Not for Happiness: A Guide to the So-Called Preliminary Practices
Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Further quotes from the book Not for Happiness:
- Very little time left for practice
- It cannot be fixed
- What Is Bodhichitta
- We must also practice it
- Everything we experience is a product of mind
- Without the personal advice of Buddha
- For the sake of all other beings
- Spiritual practice is like riding a bicycle
- Our most important companion
- Practise whichever method works for you
- Right intention
- The merit of maintaining mindfulness
- Obstacles Create Fertile Ground for Practice
- Wealth is contentment
- Where does low self-esteem come from
- To reject your aggression is a weakness
- Dealing with Emotions
- Adapting the Dharma
- Altruism bolsters self-confidence