Dan Harris

gets better and better over time.

Well, there's some good drugs for that.

Let's talk later.

You holding, dude?

I'll take a first crack at that and then see what you say.

So the instruction, as I understand it, when something comes up,

like anger, let's just take anger, you said you try to figure it out, and I understand the instruction to be check it out.

So one of my favorite ancient expressions in the insight or vipassana meditation tradition, which is much of what we're teaching here, is seeing by dividing.

So you can really see the true nature of anger by looking at it closely and breaking it up into its constituent parts.

So anger feels monolithic and it feels personal, like not only monolithic, but personally monogrammed.

This is my Jonathan's anger.

When in fact, if you look at it mindfully and carefully, oh no, it's actually a bunch, it's more like a meteorological phenomenon

because it consists of a bunch of changing constituent parts.

So maybe a rumbling in the chest or a burning in the ears, a starburst of thoughts.

And if you look at it, if you investigate it with interest,

Instead of trying to intellectualize it, you start to break it apart.

You put it through, as I like to say, a cheese grater.

And then it's much more workable.

And you can allow it to come and go and then not do the stupid shit you would have done in the throes of it.

You can respond wisely, as the cliche goes, instead of reacting blindly.