In his classic book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman shares the story of a belligerent samurai who challenged a zen master to explain the concept of heaven and hell.
The monk replied with scorn, “You’re nothing but a lout, why would I waste my time with the likes of you?”
Feeling insulted, the samurai flew into a rage and pulled out his sword from its scabbard, yelling, “I could kill you for your impertinence.”
“That,” replied the monk, “is hell.”
Startled at seeing the truth in what the master pointed out about the fury that had him in its grip, the samurai calmed down, sheathed his sword and bowed, thanking the monk for his insight.
“And that,” the monk said, “is heaven.”
There’s great truth to this story.
I’ve seen many people who live in the hell of being controlled by their emotions.
Conversely, there are those who live in the relative paradise of being able to control their emotional responses.
So let me ask you, do you live in heaven or hell?
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4 comments
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February 2, 2014 at 5:01 am
sublimationcoaching
I love this one! That book has been on my ‘to-read’ list for a very long time
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February 3, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Darren Poke
It’s a great book, I highly recommend it
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February 2, 2014 at 5:21 pm
03alwi
There is no way in hell 🙂 that anyone could live without getting emotional. What separates the happy and the miserable is controlling those emotions. Anger in itself is a secondary emotion. The Samurai for example felt insulted and thus felt that his honor was being threatened. This subsequently made him angry. So understanding why we get angry goes a long way in helping us being better people. Life becomes easier to swallow and in today’s messed up society, it definitely feels like “heaven”. Thanks for this brief and useful post.
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February 3, 2014 at 8:59 pm
Darren Poke
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
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