If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands

We all like clapping at the moment. We come out and clap for the NHS, for Major Tom, frankly for anyone! And we like it because we associate it with positive emotions like gratitude and kindness.

So, I’d like to suggest that we start clapping for things we don’t like, too, and use that to transfer across some of those positive feelings. No situation is positive or negative from its own side – it depends on how we view it:

“Suppose there are two people who suffer from the same disease. One transforms the affliction into a positive spiritual practice, while the other does not. As a result of his or her positive attitude, the former will remain calm and cheerful all the time, even when in severe pain, and this may even help him to recover from his sickness; but the latter will only become depressed and anxious, and this attitude may worsen his condition.”

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Universal Compassion

So, suppose your internet crashes (because that is labelled under ‘major crisis’ these days!): clap your hands and remember the positive emotions you associate with that action. That stops the immediate negative reaction: clapping has cleared a little bit of space in your mind so that now you can think, ‘see, I don’t have to panic or get upset; it is possible to be peaceful in this moment.’

You can even take it a bit further if you like and use the sound of your clapping as a reminder of emptiness, ultimate truth. Ask yourself, ‘where is this sound? Is it within one hand or the other? Does it exist between the two? Where does the sound come from and where does it go?’ In this way, we contemplate how the sound is merely a momentary appearance to mind. The same is true of the external situation. You have already discovered that as soon as you stop panicking your whole experience changes; this is because the situation does not exist separate from your mind, but is entirely dependent upon the way you view it. It is neither good nor bad; it arises and ceases in dependence upon your mind, like the sound of your two hands clapping.