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By Pema Chodron
NOT BITING THE HOOK
In Tibetan there is a word that points to the root cause of aggression, the root cause also of craving. It points to a familiar experience that is at the root of all conflict, all cruelty, oppression, and greed. This word is shenpa. The usual translation is attachment, but this doesnt adequately express the full meaning. I think of shenpa as getting hooked. Another definition, used by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, is the chargethe charge behind our thoughts and words and actions, the charge behind like and dont like. Heres an everyday example: Someone criticizes you. She criticizes your work or your appearance or your child. In moments like that, what is it you feel? It has a familiar taste, a familiar smell. Once you begin to notice it, you feel like this experience has been happening forever. That sticky feeling is shenpa. And it comes along with a very seductive urge to do something. Somebody says a harsh word and immediately you can feel a shift. Theres a tightening that rapidly spirals into mentally blaming this person, or wanting revenge or blaming yourself. Then you speak or act. The charge behind the tightening, behind the urge, behind the story line or action is shenpa.
You can actually feel shenpa happening. Its a sensation that you can easily recognize. Even a spot on your new sweater can take you there. Someone looks at us in a certain way, or we hear a certain song, or walk into a certain room and boom. Were hooked. Its a quality of experience thats not easy to describe but that everyone knows well.
Now, if you catch shenpa early enough, its very workable. You can acknowledge that its happening and abide with the experience of being triggered, the experience of urge, the experience of wanting to move. Its like experiencing the yearning to scratch an itch, and generally we find it irresistible. Nevertheless, we can practice patience with that fidgety feeling and hold our seat.
(From Pema's book, Practicing Peace in Times of War
NOT BITING THE HOOK
In Tibetan there is a word that points to the root cause of aggression, the root cause also of craving. It points to a familiar experience that is at the root of all conflict, all cruelty, oppression, and greed. This word is shenpa. The usual translation is attachment, but this doesnt adequately express the full meaning. I think of shenpa as getting hooked. Another definition, used by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, is the chargethe charge behind our thoughts and words and actions, the charge behind like and dont like. Heres an everyday example: Someone criticizes you. She criticizes your work or your appearance or your child. In moments like that, what is it you feel? It has a familiar taste, a familiar smell. Once you begin to notice it, you feel like this experience has been happening forever. That sticky feeling is shenpa. And it comes along with a very seductive urge to do something. Somebody says a harsh word and immediately you can feel a shift. Theres a tightening that rapidly spirals into mentally blaming this person, or wanting revenge or blaming yourself. Then you speak or act. The charge behind the tightening, behind the urge, behind the story line or action is shenpa.
You can actually feel shenpa happening. Its a sensation that you can easily recognize. Even a spot on your new sweater can take you there. Someone looks at us in a certain way, or we hear a certain song, or walk into a certain room and boom. Were hooked. Its a quality of experience thats not easy to describe but that everyone knows well.
Now, if you catch shenpa early enough, its very workable. You can acknowledge that its happening and abide with the experience of being triggered, the experience of urge, the experience of wanting to move. Its like experiencing the yearning to scratch an itch, and generally we find it irresistible. Nevertheless, we can practice patience with that fidgety feeling and hold our seat.
(From Pema's book, Practicing Peace in Times of War
It's based in whole or in part on assumptions and opinions built on a lifetime of experience. It's not always accurate or correct.
And we do it unconsciously. Muscle memory of the mind, if you will. It's mental reflex.
One of the main goals of mindfulness meditation is to develop awareness to the point we can see this process arise at the beginning and not attach to the affective (negative or positive) meaning out of simple mental reflex.
It's also one step further...... Everyone we encounter is a mirror of ourselves.
Reaction is ours to own. What we usually criticize in others, usually lies within ourselves as well.
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1610
And here's a video. She's got such an easy nature and a good sense of humor:
http://pemachodronfoundation.org/videos-new/working-with-shenpa-getting-hooked-in-meditation/
This eventually begins to carry over into daily life, outside of meditative practice. Instant and unconscious reaction and over-reaction starts to melt away and reality is perceived more clearly.
As Pema indicates, these distractions are always present to some degree, and the purpose is not to deny or suppress them, but to not give in to the negative or destructive urges they might trigger. To not get hooked by them.