hilitehead

The third verse reads:

In all my deeds may I probe into my mind,
And as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise –
As they endanger myself and others –
May I strongly confront them and avert them.

This indicates that although all of us, as spiritual practitioners, wish to overcome our negative impulses, thoughts and emotions owning to our long habituation to negative tendencies, and to our lack of diligence in applying the necessary antidotes to them, afflictive emotions and thoughts do occur spontaneously and quite powerfully.

Such is their force, in fact, that we are often driven by these negative tendencies. This verse suggest we should be aware of this fact so that we remain alert. We should constantly check ourselves and take note when negative tendencies arise in us, so that we can catch them as they arise. If we do this then we will not give in to them; we will be able to remain on our guard and keep a certain distance from them. In this way we wont reinforce them, and we will be spared from undergoing an explosion of strong emotions and the negative words and actions to which that leads.