Mindfulness in Plain English

by Henepola Gunaratana

Your fortunes go up, and they go down.

Unless you are in the middle class. Then your fortunes will always go down a little more than they got up. And if you're a white male? Wow, your unearned privilege is slowly disappearing, and you are angry. Even if you think of yourself as liberal, and understand that your privilege is unearned, you're still a little angry.

He went up to the Buddha and scolded him for all sorts of things, insulting him and calling him awful names. At the end of his tirade, the Buddha asked this man if he had any friends and relatives. “Yes,” he replied. “When you visit them, do you take them gifts?” “Of course,” said the man. “I always bring them gifts.” “What happens if they don’t accept your gifts,” the Buddha asked. “Well, I just take them home and enjoy them with my own family.” “And likewise,” said the Buddha, “You have brought me a gift today that I don’t accept. You may take that gift home to your family.” With patience, wit, and loving friendliness, the Buddha invites us to change how we think about the “gift” of angry words.

I'm pretty sure this type of smugness is a capital offense in some states.