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Life Situations as Teacher

In contemporary psychology, and in particular cognitive psychology, there is an emphasis on bringing the thought processes to "neutral". From thought processes that are not aligned with reality, and brings depression, anxiety etc., we learn to bring them into a more neutral way of perceiving the world.

Buddhism and other practices takes this further. Instead of neutral, they bring our view into one that is similarly aligned with reality, but also opens for deep compassion, gratitude and sense of belonging and meaning.

A few examples...

Buddhist mind training, lo-jong in Tibetan, helps us to use difficult situations to open our mind/heart.

Tong-Len is a dynamic visualization practice where we take in other's suffering as our own (integrating projections), and wish for others to be fully free from suffering, through awakening wisdom and compassion. This also opens up ourselves for what we wish for others.

Bowing to our adversaries is a powerful individual or group practice where we develop genuine appreciation for what our adversaries help us recognize in ourselves.

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