Negative person or possessed by demons

Help required with personal difficulties.
Locked
User avatar
Mandarava
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:41 pm
Location: Mind in India Body in South Wales

Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Mandarava »

I was wondering if anyone could be of any help to me.I am haveing to work over the next few months with a very negative man.I have only been working with him for a week and he's really getting me down. The trouble is he's very very negative,negative about absolutaly everything.I have a job at a holiday park. During the season I really enjoy it.It's an easy job that pays me enough to take me to India once or twice a year and I'm also left to get on with the job on my own.At this time of year though, the park closes and it's our job to do what is called a winter clean on all the caravans.These winter cleans have to be done in 2's and the negative man is my partner for these winter cleans.I can honestly say I have never met anyone in my life like him and for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, he's negative.
I'm starting to wonder if it's possible that he has some kind of demon making him this way.I can't understand how he can be so negative.I mean, I asked him if he minded the radio being on and he said Yes he did mind, he hated music and didn't want the radio on.I asked him if we could put the fire on in the caravan because it's freezing cold. No he said but then also opened the door and said he was too hot.By the way, believe me these are just tiny examples of his negativities.

One day last week, he moaned all day because he wanted Thursday off so he could go to his daughters Christmas play. Fair enough I thought.The boiler then broke down so we were given the Thursday off.I was thinking 'Great, now he'll be happy' Guess what????? He wasn't! He then moaned for the rest of the day about how we'll be a day short of pay. You just can't please him AT ALL!!!

I've thought about asking if I can work with someone else, but this just gives the problem to the next person. :shrug:
I have ordered myself a Phurba pendant which I plan on wearing once it arrives.Do you think this pendant will help me at all? His energy seems to leave me exhausted and even angry. I need a way of protecting myslf.I have also started doing a simple meditation in the mornings to Guru Rinpoche and surrounding myself in Guru Rinpoche's Vajra Tent.
Any advice from anyone would be very much appreciated.
Please remember him in your prayers.
:soapbox: :shrug: :soapbox: :shrug: :tantrum:
'I really like these teeth.There is a human being who took my teeth and then
there is another human being who gave me my teeth'. ~*~ Palden Gyatso ~*~
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21938
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Grigoris »

Well, I would stop asking him if he minds I do this or that... and just do it. Or you could be cunning, and when you are cold ask him if he minds you open a window to let some fresh air in! :twisted:

Instead of a phurbha I would buy ear plugs. :tongue:

Another option is just to confront him on the issue. "Look pal, I've got enough problems in my life without having to deal with yours, do you mind putting a plug in it please?" One I've used is: "Look, we both need the cash and need to do this job, so we can do it the hard way and get on each others nerves and end up killing each other, or we can do it the easy way and help each other out. Which do you prefer?"

Don't get me wrong, I am actually quite a patient person and can put up with a lot of s**t but when I snap...
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Stewart
Posts: 567
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:40 pm

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Stewart »

Hey Jess,

I agree with Greg, sometimes it just better to be direct. Don't worry about this practice or that Mantra.

Sometimes the kindest thing to do is not to let people wallow in their own self pity.

Good luck!
Last edited by Stewart on Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
s.
Stewart
Posts: 567
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 6:40 pm

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Stewart »

gregkavarnos wrote: Instead of a phurbha I would buy ear plugs. :tongue: :
Brillant! :rolling:
s.
Blue Garuda
Posts: 1967
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:23 pm

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Blue Garuda »

Mandarava wrote:I was wondering if anyone could be of any help to me.I am haveing to work over the next few months with a very negative man.I have only been working with him for a week and he's really getting me down. The trouble is he's very very negative,negative about absolutaly everything.I have a job at a holiday park. During the season I really enjoy it.It's an easy job that pays me enough to take me to India once or twice a year and I'm also left to get on with the job on my own.At this time of year though, the park closes and it's our job to do what is called a winter clean on all the caravans.These winter cleans have to be done in 2's and the negative man is my partner for these winter cleans.I can honestly say I have never met anyone in my life like him and for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, he's negative.
I'm starting to wonder if it's possible that he has some kind of demon making him this way.I can't understand how he can be so negative.I mean, I asked him if he minded the radio being on and he said Yes he did mind, he hated music and didn't want the radio on.I asked him if we could put the fire on in the caravan because it's freezing cold. No he said but then also opened the door and said he was too hot.By the way, believe me these are just tiny examples of his negativities.

One day last week, he moaned all day because he wanted Thursday off so he could go to his daughters Christmas play. Fair enough I thought.The boiler then broke down so we were given the Thursday off.I was thinking 'Great, now he'll be happy' Guess what????? He wasn't! He then moaned for the rest of the day about how we'll be a day short of pay. You just can't please him AT ALL!!!

I've thought about asking if I can work with someone else, but this just gives the problem to the next person. :shrug:
I have ordered myself a Phurba pendant which I plan on wearing once it arrives.Do you think this pendant will help me at all? His energy seems to leave me exhausted and even angry. I need a way of protecting myslf.I have also started doing a simple meditation in the mornings to Guru Rinpoche and surrounding myself in Guru Rinpoche's Vajra Tent.
Any advice from anyone would be very much appreciated.
Please remember him in your prayers.
:soapbox: :shrug: :soapbox: :shrug: :tantrum:
If you approach this with a mind of Compassion then you will seek a solution which does the least harm, and maybe benefits that individual as a consequence.

Your mind is your best protection -if amulets, sadhanas or mantras help you, then incorporate them into your practice. We also have many deity practices to help us work on our minds to be beyond any negative attacks.

However, my view from what you have written is that you do not need protection, but to exercise Compassion, which may lead to you talking over that negativity and, if he wants it, offering him a solution.

As Buddhists I think we should start by trying to give Dharma, Love,Help and Fearlessness.
Left
User avatar
Konchog1
Posts: 1673
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Konchog1 »

Mandarava wrote:[First Post]
When Lord Atisha came to Tibet he brought a very angry servant with him to practice patience with. How wonderful someone like that has come to you! If you can cultivate bodhicitta towards him, you can cultivate it towards anyone. Hopefully, he'll be more negative in the future!
Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

-Paraphrase of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsephel citing the Guhyasamaja Tantra

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.
Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.
Through the qualities of meditating in that way,
Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

-Ra Lotsawa, All-pervading Melodious Drumbeats
Blue Garuda
Posts: 1967
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:23 pm

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Blue Garuda »

Apologies - I missed the 'possessed by demons' aspect.

Many practices deal with this, and you can contact me via PM for those, but what makes you think this may be the case?
Left
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21938
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Grigoris »

Konchog1 wrote:
Mandarava wrote:[First Post]
When Lord Atisha came to Tibet he brought a very angry servant with him to practice patience with.
This is correct, but we are talking about Atisha here! :smile: Anyway, after meeting the Tibetans he regreted bringing the servant 'cause he understood that there was more than enough material in Tibet to practice patience with! :tongue:

From what "Mandarava" says it is clear that she has been patient with him, let's not forget that being compassionate does not equal being a doormat, compassion without wisdom is not compassion at all. Maybe it's smart/wise to deal more directly with the issue right now, especially if her patience has run out, otherwise it will just turn into conflict.
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
User avatar
Adamantine
Former staff member
Posts: 4027
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:09 am
Location: Space is the Place

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Adamantine »

I understand this guy is difficult, cynical, and contrary. I have had to work alongside people like this too...

But what makes you think he is possessed by demons? I mean, that's kind of a leap.

I would follow up on the Atisha reference and practice tonglen focused on this guy in sitting meditation while at home. Then, when you are with him, try to do the tonglen during your working time if you can keep the focus on the breath. He is clearly experiencing a great deal of suffering. This behavior is all too familiar in samsara, the fact you have experienced it so little that when you encounter it you think of it as demonic means you've had great people karma in this life until now. If you study the teachings of Machig Labdron and her Chod you will find she points out the real demons are nothing but our negative emotions and our self-clinging. Try to remember this and don't build your image of this person as an enemy, remember them as an object of compassion. Tonglen, tonglen, tonglen.
Contentment is the ultimate wealth;
Detachment is the final happiness. ~Sri Saraha
User avatar
Mr. G
Posts: 4080
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:36 am
Location: Spaceship Earth

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Mr. G »

Adamantine wrote: But what makes you think he is possessed by demons? I mean, that's kind of a leap.
  • How foolish you are,
    grasping the letter of the text and ignoring its intention!
    - Vasubandhu
User avatar
Quiet Heart
Posts: 269
Joined: Thu May 19, 2011 10:57 am
Location: Bangkok Thailand

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Quiet Heart »

:smile:
Mandarava:
I know the problem, I have to deal regularly with something similar.
You need to understand why he is so negative...it is because he is afraid.
Have you ever seen a dog that has been injured?
Sometimes that injured dog will bite and snap at the very people who are trying to help it.
It is the injury, the pain it causes, and the fear and uncertainty caused by that injury that makes that dog snap at those that try to help it.
The man you are talking about is reacting just like that injured dog, because he is afraid too.
You can't do anything to help him, he has to do that himself...if he can.
But what YOU can do is to understand his problem, use mindfulness to understand his fear and anger; and most of all practice mindful compassion and understanding for him.
I suppose that could be called Right Understanding....or mindful consideration of his fear....Right Action....in responding to his display of that fear....and Compassion....by not responding with anger to his actions,
Do not let the poison of anger and fear that he lives in infect you. Maintain your equanimity, be compassionate and remain cheerful even in the face of his rudeness so as not to let his poison of anger infect you.
If you medtate, then meditate on this fact...you have been given a gift...a chance to practice Compassion and restraint against allowing this person's anger to infect you.
That is a great gift...even though right now you probably don't think so.
:smile:
Shame on you Shakyamuni for setting the precedent of leaving home.
Did you think it was not there--
in your wife's lovely face
in your baby's laughter?
Did you think you had to go elsewhere (simply) to find it?
from - Judyth Collin
The Layman's Lament
From What Book, 1998, p. 52
Edited by Gary Gach
User avatar
catmoon
Former staff member
Posts: 3423
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:20 am
Location: British Columbia

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by catmoon »

We can also consider that force of mental habit is an immensely powerful thing and extremely difficult to alter. Each time you try to get this fellow to brighten up, he demonstrates just how difficult it is to change the general pattern of one's thinking.

Now consider this: we ALL have this problem. Some of us are stuck in political positions, or religious positions, or general cynicism, or beliefs about the nature of humanity that reach back to childhood learning. The human mind has the inertia of a small planet. It's a fundamental obstacle to enlightenment.
Sergeant Schultz knew everything there was to know.
User avatar
Grigoris
Former staff member
Posts: 21938
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 9:27 pm
Location: Greece

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Grigoris »

catmoon wrote:Some of us are stuck in political positions, or religious positions, or general cynicism, or beliefs about the nature of humanity that reach back to childhood learning.
I think you'll find they reach MUCH further back than our childhood! ;)
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
User avatar
Mandarava
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:41 pm
Location: Mind in India Body in South Wales

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Mandarava »

All of you have been very helpful.Thanks for that.
Yesterday we came to blows and had a huge shouting match.Not good I know but still it's done now.
Today we apologised and he kept on apologizing all day long.( he's done some pretty sly things since we've been working together )
He also opened up a little today and told me about some awful things in his life he's had to go though.He talked in a way that shows he hasn't let go of these things yet and I think that's way he's so angy and negative with everything.
I'm glad this has been brought to light and I'm ashamed to admit my mind is THAT small, I thought the poor man was possesed. :oops: but I have NEVER met anyone so negative as him before.
Thanks again everyone.
'I really like these teeth.There is a human being who took my teeth and then
there is another human being who gave me my teeth'. ~*~ Palden Gyatso ~*~
User avatar
Konchog1
Posts: 1673
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Negative person or possessed by demons

Post by Konchog1 »

Mandarava wrote:All of you have been very helpful.Thanks for that.
Yesterday we came to blows and had a huge shouting match.Not good I know but still it's done now.
Today we apologised and he kept on apologizing all day long.( he's done some pretty sly things since we've been working together )
He also opened up a little today and told me about some awful things in his life he's had to go though.He talked in a way that shows he hasn't let go of these things yet and I think that's way he's so angy and negative with everything.
I'm glad this has been brought to light and I'm ashamed to admit my mind is THAT small, I thought the poor man was possesed. :oops: but I have NEVER met anyone so negative as him before.
Thanks again everyone.
That man needs a hug
Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

-Paraphrase of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsephel citing the Guhyasamaja Tantra

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.
Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.
Through the qualities of meditating in that way,
Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

-Ra Lotsawa, All-pervading Melodious Drumbeats
Locked

Return to “Help Required”