{"id":1782,"date":"2011-11-02T09:37:38","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T13:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1782"},"modified":"2011-11-02T09:37:38","modified_gmt":"2011-11-02T13:37:38","slug":"dealing-with-anguish-from-the-bronze-age-to-the-information-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/11\/dealing-with-anguish-from-the-bronze-age-to-the-information-age.html","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with Anguish from the Bronze Age to the Information Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Anguish is a pervasive feature of human life. It seems like this has been so for a long time has continued despite all the advancements of 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Siddhartha Gautama, the soon to be Buddha, observed this to be so in his native land of northern south Asia over 2500 years ago. It wasn\u2019t that life was just difficult \u2013 riddled with disease, aging, and death \u2013 it was something more pernicious, infecting every moment of existence, even those moments that were pleasurable. He set out to find a way to overcome anguish and he found it, substantially though mindfulness.<\/p>\n

When he gave his first teachings he started with the image of ox-cart with a bad wheel as a metaphor for the human condition. If you are on the ox-cart, and we all are, the ride is going to be affected by that bad wheel. The cart will wobble, lurch, and drag along the road. It permeates every moment of experience and there is not escape from it unless you change your attitude in a fundamental way. You\u2019ve got to wake up out of the sleepwalking state of existence that you are currently in. You, me, and everyone else has to wake up out this trance to see reality more clearly \u2013 to see how things change and how the grasping of self \u2013 the constant pushing and pulling of resistance gives rise to anguish.<\/p>\n

Something is off. We can\u2019t quite put our finger on it, especially those of here in the privileged West. Our bellies are full (perhaps too full), we have great material wealth, and sense pleasures, yet happiness remains elusive. It\u2019s not our circumstances. The culprit is what goes on inside our minds \u2013 the constant conversations, chatter, and complaints that comprise our inner mental space.<\/p>\n

Life can be difficult, of course. Sickness, old age, and death are as salient now as they were in ancient India. How we relate to the disappointments, losses, and setbacks of our life determine whether we feel anguish. We have a choice to relate through story or through perception. No story, no anguish. Pain may be present but not the anguished suffering that comes from how we relate to the events in our lives in an overly personal manner. \u201cWhy is this happening to me?\u201d \u201cWhat did I do to deserve this?\u201d \u201cPoor me.\u201d Such self-talk complicates the situations of our lives. Instead of them being just what they are \u2013 a layer of anguish is added. Situations become problems. Problems become problems.<\/em><\/p>\n

So instead of story we can approach through perception. What is happening? Can I pay keen attention to the sights, sounds, and feelings of this situation? Can I be interested in what is happening instead of preoccupied with making it into a problem? Can I be curious about what is happening? Can I be fascinated? And what happens when I approach the situation with such interest? Anguish yields to equanimity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anguish is a pervasive feature of human life. It seems like this has been so for a long time has continued despite all the advancements of 21st century. Siddhartha Gautama, the soon to be Buddha, observed this to be so in his native land of northern south Asia over 2500 years ago. It wasn\u2019t that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,9],"tags":[292,39,294,296,106,293,295],"class_list":["post-1782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindfulnesss","tag-anguish","tag-buddha","tag-dukkha","tag-equanimity","tag-metaphors-for-mindfulness-2","tag-suffering","tag-wealth"],"yoast_head":"\nDealing with Anguish from the Bronze Age to the Information Age - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2011\/11\/dealing-with-anguish-from-the-bronze-age-to-the-information-age.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dealing with Anguish from the Bronze Age to the Information Age - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anguish is a pervasive feature of human life. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1782"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1785,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782\/revisions\/1785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}