p17sje3t7n1i5o1l78d401dv11hck4.pdf

One day I again became angry with my teacher in the seminary. I said
unwholesome words to him, but he did not get angry, instead, he treated
me with compassion. I was amazed as to why he reacted in that way. Due to
this reason, I felt remorse for what I did and decided to control myself so
that I did not get angry because of trivial irritations. Since that day,
whenever I met them (teachers), I always had a sense of humor and they
always treated me with much consideration. Due to this, I started treating
them with respect and honor. This also made me think deeply about anger,
what it really means and how beneficial it is to human life. Through my
diligence and respect towards my teachers I discovered that it has a lot of
unwholesome results.
I believe that anger is latent in all humans. I would like to share my views,
experience and knowledge about anger with all human beings in this world
of desires. Anger is a negative emotion that exists in our minds. The chief
cause of anger is ignorance and craving. Due to ignorance, people create
unfavorable conditions for others, as well as themselves, which gives rise to
anger. Because of being ignorant of the situation, misunderstanding arises
that eventually results in anger. In Buddhism, anger is completely
discouraged. It has a serious negative impact upon human life and it harms
both spiritually and physically. The following are some of the dangers
caused by anger: one can loose one’s reputation, job and friends. Families
can break apart and that can create suffering for children, damage to
property , war, physical and mental pain and hatred. It can result in one
attaining lower rebirth, retarding one’s spiritual development. Ultimately
one lacks peace of mind and risks one’s life.
Getting angry is just like fighting with oneself. When we are angry, we don’t
feel peace of mind, we feel uncomfortable and look ugly. The whole
environment and atmosphere becomes bad, but in reality, it is the mind
that creates all these changes. We can observe that when anger ceases, we
feel comfortable and the body becomes relaxed. All this shows that when
one is angry, one only fights with oneself. In Buddhist texts it is written that
anger is one of the greatest hindrances towards one’s liberation. In this
case, it is better to be a great enemy of anger, not a friend.
There are many ways of controlling anger. One of the effective methods is
by using compassion. As written in Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra:
‘Thinking of kindness or compassion, for the illness of anger and hatred, is
called good, effective Dharma.’
Remember, fire cannot be extinguished by applying petrol, but water. In a
room, darkness cannot be dispelled by closing curtains, but by switching on
the lights; hot water cannot become cold by adding some more hot water,
but only by adding cold water. Similarly, anger cannot be surmounted by
anger, but by compassion or loving-kindness. If someone is angry with us or