Do Not Give Arise to Anger

Buddhism says we should see friends and enemies as equal. This means we should learn to tolerate unfriendly people, unideal environments, and language that is hard on the ears. There is a saying, “When working, you wish to do what is hard. When living with others, you should wish to live with those who are difficult.” If a task is difficult, do it without hesitation. Doing so shows what we are capable of undertaking. We should conduct ourselves to maintain harmony and resolve conflict with difficult people. If we face others with an accepting spirit, our lives will become much easier.

When we meet people in this world who are of poor character, we should be more lenient with them. That way, we can change their ways. Magnanimity to others is the most beautiful action in the world. All it takes for us to help ourselves and other people is to give a little space, understanding, and tolerance. Look upon all things with a heart of tolerance. Learn to accept all things into the mind.

The world is the world of the mind, and sentient beings are the sentient beings of the mind. If we can’t accept all things, the mind will give rise to anger and we will find ourselves constantly in disputes.

Of all the angry people you have seen, which among them was beautiful? Their faces are ferociously flushed and wicked speech pours from their lips. They have a ghastly appearance, and cause people displeasure. One could hardly call their appearance elegant or proper.

The Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise says,

“Anger deserves the greatest blame. Of all mental ailments, it is the hardest to cure.”

Anger is a mental ailment, and the most difficult to treat. There is a Buddhist saying, “When one thought of anger arises, hundreds of thousands of obstacles are created.” In the natural world, earthquakes are the frightening force. Typhoons are also terrible. However, the fires of rage within the mind put the former two to shame. Once anger arises in people, they frequently lose their sense of reason. They put aside their morals and can loose their sense of humanity.

The Teachings Bequeathed by the Buddha Sutra says,

“Anger is like a fierce fire. We must constantly guard against it, so that it does not enter. Among all things that steal our merit, there is none greater
than anger.”

Anger is a power greater than a surging fire. Not only does it keep people from having an elegant, proper form, but it cuts off their wisdom, burns their wholesome roots, and gives rise to obstructions. Everyone should be careful to protect themselves from anger.

Once, Sariputra, one of the Buddha’s great disciples, ran into an old friend of his and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my, is something wrong? Why do you have such a fierce expression on your face?” His friend replied, “Lately, I have been carving statues of demons.”

There is a saying, “What we sincerely feel inside will manifest outside.” Since Sariputra’s friend carved so many fierce, fanged faces of demons, his own face gradually take on their angry features. Later, on Sariputra’s advice, the sculptor began carving dignified Buddha statues instead. Slowly, Sariputra’s friend became more pleasing to the eye. From then on, each time Sariputra saw him he would happily comment, “You have taken on such a dignified appearance now.”

All phenomena arise from the mind. The mind can change a person’s appearance. Someone who is frequently angry will develop a ferocious appearance. Someone with a mind that is always gentle will have an appearance that emanates kindness.

The Flower Adornment Sutra says,

“The mind is like an artist, it can paint all things.” We can paint an image of ourselves that is a saint or an ordinary person. The life we have depends on how we choose to create ourselves in the mind.

If we have less anger, our lives will transform and become more peaceful. If we find ourselves resenting or blaming others, we should avoid looking for faults in those who do not treat us well. Instead, we should change our perspective and think: “My own compassion, capacity, and respectfulness are insufficient. It is me who is being too selfish…” When we begin to think in this manner, our attitude will change and our hearts will grow.

From Ten Paths to Happiness, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

Trustworthy WordsIf you lie, you will not be trusted. If you cannot be trusted, you will be ineffective in your own life and useless to other people. Lies hurt others because they damage their trust and their sense of what is right and wrong. This is a very serious kind of damage; it wastes time, frightens people and causes them to doubt their basic intuitions Read more
Birth and death are realities of life. Regardless of who we are, we cannot escape either one. While birth is celebrated, death is feared by most. In order to cope with our fear, we often seek comfort in religion. Although each of the world's major religious traditions has its own teaching concerning death, Buddhism is the only one that promotes the doctrine of impermanence as one Read more
We all have our share of headaches and heartaches. Physically, we all have to face aging, sickness and death. Mentally, we have to deal with problems arising from greed, hatred and ignorance. The Chinese have a saying that aptly describes our predicament: “Heaven and hell sometimes end; the threads of sorrow continue forever.” Our afflictions are as deep as the dark blue sea and are Read more
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more
Equality is a truth of human life within the universe, it is an aim of humanity, and it is also the basis of Buddhism.The Avatamsaka Sutra says:“All sentient beings are equal.”The Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise says: “From the very highest level of all Buddhas to the low level of animals, all are equal and there are no differences between them.”The Diamond Sutra says: “All dharmas are equal with no Read more
People often ask me, “What ad­versity have you experienced in your life?” And for a moment, I can­not come up with an answer. I have always maintained the attitude of taking things as they come, as in the sayings “When the soldiers come, de­ploy the generals to fight back; when there is a flood, use earth to stop it” and “When encountering a mountain, cut Read more
In devoting my life to Buddhism, in order to keep Buddhism current with the advances in society, in terms of thoughts, I am always making improvements at every hour and moment; in terms of practice, I am constantly and continuously making adjustments. Even though I know that Buddhism must be reformed, innovation never comes into being in the heat of the moment. My “silent revolution” Read more
It is enough for most monks to only have the ability to chant and teach the Dharma, and of course I too can chant sutras and teach the Dharma. But only being this kind of monk was not something I was willing to do. I wanted to become a monk who was able to engage in propagating the Dharma in a multifaceted way: There is Read more
Greed is a basic disease of all sentient beings. In our realm, the desire realm (kamadhatu), the force and effects of greed can be felt especially strongly. Greed is based on ignorance and cannot function without it. The fundamental ignorance that enables greed to function is the belief in a self that exists separately and independently from other sentient beings. This belief leads to nothing Read more
Though the worlds that we see are fundamentally a product of our own minds, they usually do not appear this way to us. Like images in an intense dream, our perceptions appear to be wholly real to us, and not to have been generated by our own mental activity. For this reason, the Buddha taught many ways to help us comprehend the true nature of Read more
Lessen desire and be without any wishes and the body and mind will be at ease.When our desires are balanced and reasonable, we can be content. The Buddha taught that deep wisdom can be found only by following a “middle way” between dualistic extremes. The middle way can always be found by contemplating which side of a dualistic pair is contending for our attention. If Read more
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more