Remaining like a Piece of Wood

Today, I had to replace one of the front headlights on my car. In the process of removing the old light bulb, the wire bracket, which holds the light bulb in place, fell into the undercarriage of the bumper. “Hmm! Okay, now what am I going to do? Even after I replace the light bulb, I will need that part to hold it in place. This wire bracket turns out to be a very important little part.”

My immediate response was ‘Oh, Shit!’ But then I stopped. Took a pause, and began looking for the part.

So what do we do with the little inconveniences, the small obstacles, which arise during the day? Is there a way to avoid these occurrences from ruining a wonderful day?

Buddhism has much to say on these kinds of situation. In fact, these situations are a large part of our daily practice opportunities: how to deal with the arising of a disturbing emotion. . In the case of the missing bracket, I immediately felt frustration which could have moved to anger and grown into rage.

There are many approaches to avoiding disturbing emotion from imprisoning our thinking. Applying a method to avoid, eliminate or dissipate a negative emotion before it grows must be learnt and applied. In time, I think that we become more familiar with the methods. Training allows us to apply the methods without even having to think about it

One of my favorite techniques is what to do once we become aware that a disturbing emotion has arisen: “Do Nothing.” Don’t say anything, don’t take any action, just sit still until the disturbing emotion passes: Be like a piece of wood!

I came across the term again in the transcript of a talk by the Dalai Lama. However, the teaching was first given to me by Khenpo Choga Rinpoche back in 2001: “Sometimes a disturbing emotion begins to arise. It is best to stop and do nothing!”

Situations seem to come up daily that could turn into obstacles. Sometimes, I am able to work through them without any problem. Other times, especially when I am in a rush or have unrealistic expectations, I can feel the frustration arising. It is at these times when I remember to become a piece of wood.

The Dalai Lama reminds us when anger begins to arise, remain like a piece of wood. When we begin to experience attachment or desire for an object, remain like a piece of wood. When we feel like bragging or we feel like criticizing another, remain like a piece of wood.

As a child, my parents taught me that if I ever felt angry, I should stop and count to ten before I said or did anything. The essence of this is the same, I think. However, I feel that the Buddhist training is more refined. We should remain like a piece of wood until that disturbing emotion has passed. Whether this takes 2 seconds or 2 hours, we remain like a piece of wood…for as longs as it takes.

Fortunately, when it came to the lost bracket, I caught the frustration arising quickly. I think I stopped for 3-4 seconds. I smiled and then decided that my headlight replacement project just took on a new dimension. It was going to take longer than the 5 minutes I had expected. But that was fine now. Whatever time it took, I was up to the challenge.

I caught a glimpse of the bracket in a place where I could not reach. I got a long stick and moved the bracket to a place that I could reach with my hand. I retrieved the part, put it back on, and completed installing the new headlight. Assignment accomplished!

And the best part: I stayed happy and felt satisfied that I had completed the project..

As stated in The Buddha Path: “May I never abandon Dharma Practice. May I never surrender to obstacles.”

Many Dharma Blessings,

Geoff