How To Deal With Negative Emotions By Ajahn Brahm

In today’s video posting, I’m featuring a talk by Ajahn Brahmavamso (or known as Ajahn Brahm) on how to deal with negative emotions. Ajahn Brahm is the current Abbort of Bodhinyana Monastery in Perth and who is trained in the forest meditation tradition of the revered Venerable Ajahn Chah. Although his teachings are based on Buddhist principles, the tips he shares can be easily applied by anyone who is keen to lead a happier life.

It’s quite a long video clip but well worth the time spent. If you don’t already know this, Ajahn Brahm has always delivered his talks filled with jokes and entertaining stories, while embedding some wisdom that invokes you to think more deeply. I’ve been a follower of Ajahn Brahm’s teachings for some years now and would always try to make time to listen to him whenever he comes to town. It’s great that recordings of the talks he give is now available more publicly.

In this video, Ajahn Brahm provided several examples to illustrate how unskilful thoughts and attitudes are often the cause of our negative emotions and how when emotions are negative, wisdom cannot arise. Ajahn Brahm proposed that our negative emotions can also arise due to social conditioning such as in a funeral. He asked poignantly: do we grieve or do we celebrate the life of the person who has just passed away?

He recommended that we give up exercising control over our anger, frustration or worry and that we do not suppress our negative emotions either. Instead, it is best to accept, make peace with them and let them go.

What I liked best is his conclusion: that the goal for us is not about becoming emotionally dead. Instead, it is better to transcend our negative emotions and to fill ourselves with happiness, peace, kindness, compassion and respect for every moment. These can usually be cultivated by practising deep meditation and training our minds. It is to his observation that some of the most learned monks are the ones who are happiest. As positive emotions become stronger to replace negative ones, we can then become beacons to our world.

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