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Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammâ Sambuddhassa!
Work Stress
By Rasika Wijayaratne
People often complain that
they have a lot of work stress. Stress arises when we respond unskilfully to conflicts created by others
in the work place. Stress is self-created, it is not created by others as is commonly, and wrongly, believed.
Understanding this key concept goes a long way towards diminishing our stress levels.
The more we try to justify that it was caused by others, the more stressed we shall
become.
Lets analyse how stress arises
in a work situation. Someone may provokingly criticise our work, but if we also
give in and retaliate then we have also acted in response with anger (dôsa). How can stress not arise
within ourselves when we give into anger? We have responded and acted just as unskilfully
as they have. If we brood over it and bear grudges with them, then each time we
see them we will become stressed (because of the anger). This is how we create stress
for ourselves in response to others' actions. There is not a lot that can be
done about others causing us problems (as we cannot control others), but how
we respond
to it determines how stressed we become.
Stress only arises within
us if we meet force with force. The Chinese have a saying that goes along the lines
of: 'While the mighty oak, stout and strong, crashes to the ground with the storm
wind, the flexible reed sways with the wind and survives the storm.' We need to
be like that reed and sway (tolerance) rather than clash (retaliation) with our
attackers. If we lower ourselves to that level and resort to the same sort of negative
(re-)actions that were employed against us, then we are only asking for one thing,
stress. There is no need to sink to that level; there is a better way, the Buddhist
way.
The key in such situations
is tolerance, kindness and understanding (however depending on the particular situation
some additional pro-active positive action may be required such as informing someone of
the situation). When we develop kindness towards our attackers, our anger (one of
the chief causes of stress) towards them diminishes, and our minds become calm and
stress-free. As long as we know that we have not done anything wrong worthy of criticism
(i.e. have a clear conscience) it doesn't matter how people criticise us or what
they think of us. A good conscience is a source of great strength. Additionally
when we don't retaliate and react negatively, we can later look back be glad that
we didn't do anything wrong in that conflict situation, and the fault only lies
with the other party. This is good kamma (action), which gives rise to a positive
conscience, and also stress-less-ness.
In summary when we respond
with negative mental, verbal and physical actions to others we become stressed,
when we restrain ourselves we don't. If we analyse why conflicts arise in the work
place from a Buddhist perspective we can see that it primarily comes from the root
of
lôbha (greed),
as people chase positions, pay-rises, recognition, etc, and conflict with
anything that
is in the way of these things. This is why we are taught to constantly practice
dâna (giving),
sîla (self-restraint with five precepts) and
bhâvana (meditation,
especially the
Metta meditation), so that
our
lôbha as well
as other negative roots are diminished to a point that we are not blindly controlled
by them, making us harm others. When we are in control, we act skilfully (i.e. in
accordance with the Dhamma or natural law), even when others
are provoking us with negative actions. The result of this is that we remain calm
and unstressed in such situations.
Related Youth Articles
1.
Daily Dâna by Rasika Wijayaratne (on generosity)
[ http://vihara.org.au/go?to=dailydana
]
2.
Five Precepts by Rasika Wijayaratne (on morality)
[ http://vihara.org.au/go?to=pansil
]
3.
Metta Meditation by Rasika Wijayaratne (basic instructions on the meditation
on loving-kindness)
[
http://vihara.org.au/go?to=mettamed ]
4.
Mental Purity by Rasika Wijayaratne (on subduing anger, etc) [
http://vihara.org.au/go?to=vitakkasantana ]
Related Suttas
1. MN 20, Vitakkasanthana Sutta,
The Relaxation
of Thoughts, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
[ http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.020.than.html ]
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