Julian of Norwich and Other Tibetan Lamas

For sothely whan a man is sharpely tempted he may than haue hope of gr[e]te vertue / and it is necessary for a man moche to be troubled with temptacyons / for euery virtue is proued by its contrarye. ₁

In defining the term, “antidote” (Tibetan, gnyen po), Thupten Jinpa writes:

Just as a specific medicine is seen as the antidote for specific illnesses, in mind training practice, mental states such as compassion and loving-kindness are identified as antidotes against specific mental ills. Since one of the principal objectives of mind training practice is the purification of your mind, applying antidotes is an important recurrent theme in the mind training texts. The Tibetan tern gnyen po is sometimes translated also as ‘remedy’ or ‘counter force’ as well. ₂    

The Dalai Lama teaches:  

The essence of the Dharma in the Buddhist tradition is that state of freedom from suffering and defilements (Skt. klesha, Tib. nyonmong) that lie at the root of suffering … One could say that for a Buddhist practitioner, the real enemy is this enemy within–these mental and emotional defilements. It is these emotional and mental afflictions that give rise to pain and suffering. The real task of a buddhadharma practitioner is to defeat this inner enemy. Since applying antidotes to these mental and emotional defilements lies at the heart of the Dharma practice and is in some sense its foundation … it is very important to cultivate mindfulness right from the beginning. Otherwise, if you let negative emotions and thoughts arise inside you without any sense of restraint, without any mindfulness of their negativity, then in a sense you are giving them free reign. They can then develop to the point where there is simply no way to counter them. However, if you develop mindfulness of their negativity, then when they occur, you will be able to stamp them out as soon as they arise. You will not give them the opportunity or the space to develop into full-blown negative emotional thoughts. The way … we apply an antidote is, I think, at the level of the manifested and felt experience of emotion. Instead of getting at the root of emotion in general, what is being suggested is the application of antidotes that are appropriate to specific negative emotions and thoughts. For example, to counter anger, you should cultivate love and compassion. To counter strong attachment to an object, you should cultivate thoughts about the impurity of that object, its undesirable nature, and so on. To counter one’s arrogance or pride, you need to reflect upon shortcomings in you that can give rise to a sense of humility. ₃

Endnotes

1. “The Remedy Ayenst the Troubles of Temptacyons,” Yorkshire Writers: Richard Rolle and His Followers. Edited by C. Horstmann. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1999, pages 106-107.
2. “Glossary,’ Mind Training: The Great Collection. Translated and edited by Thupten Jinpa. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, page 655.
3. His Holiness the Dalia Lama, “Training the Mind.” Oral  teaching on the “8 Verses for Training the Mind” at the Wang Center for Performing Arts in Boston, MA, USA on October 30, 2014. Retrieved from: Training the Mind: Verse 3 | The 14th Dalai Lama