The Hard Way

When I first read this passage I was really confused. It took me a couple times of reading it before I actually started to understand some of it. The questions and answers that were at the end also helped me a lot in this reading. The first question I wanted to address was on page 252.
Q. If the truly hard way is to expose myself, then should I allow myself to be exposed to what I judge to be evil, knowing I might get hurt?

I agree with the answer to this question. That if we go out of our way looking for “evil” then we are merely doing it for something in return like boosting our ego or to claim a title of hero. Which is not the true way of the hard way because the true way is when you face your “evil” but expect nothing in return and you have no fear of what could happen to yourself or your ego. You face it because you have to because it is a way of life not because you choose to. Plus once you get rid of your self preservation or ego you can truly be yourself you wont let anything bother you and when a problem or “evil” crosses your path and your forced to face it, since you are no longer afraid of protecting your ego (what people think of you) then you can see what would truly be the right way to face this problem.
This ties into the second question I’m going to address on page 252 and 253.
Q. When you feel angry, should you just express that anger in order to open?

Again I would have to agree with this answer that if you were to physically express your anger by hitting someone then you are following the false hard way by defending your ego and therefore can not truly see the right way to deal with your anger. In fact if you think about it. It actually takes more discipline and is harder to control your anger then it does to express it openly by throwing or hitting stuff. If you approach it in a calmer manner and are no longer worrying about your ego then you can take the more skillful and creative action road than the clumsy and unskilled road of hitting someone. It’s kind of like what my mom told me when I was younger. If someone insults you, no matter how horrible it is, they are looking for a reaction/retaliation back so instead of giving them what they want by getting angry/aggressive and being defensive just simply say thank you or give them a complement and be on your way. You will leave them speechless because A. they never expected it and B. you didn‘t give in to what they wanted you to do. You remained true to yourself and didn’t let others influence/get the best of you. This also can tie into other emotions as well because if you let them overwhelm you, you won’t see the whole entire picture but if you keep them in check and under control then you can decide which decision is best. Another case is if you have two friends and they ask you who is right instead of taking one side it is best to try and find a compromise for both of them in the middle. Same goes for yourself if you get into an argument or situation that seems like its going one way or another instead of getting worked up and sticking to just your side you can try to compromise instead and possibly have a better out come in the long run.