
                        THE ELIMINATION OF ANGER

            With two stories retold from the Buddhist texts


                                   by
                        Ven. K. Piyatissa Thera


                          Bodhi Leaves No. 68


           Copyright 1975, 1995 Buddhist Publication Society


                      BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
                      KANDY              SRI LANKA

                                 * * *


                         DharmaNet Edition 1995

                       Transcription: Myra I Fox
                Proofreading & Formatting: John Bullitt

        This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
            via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher.

                        DharmaNet International
                 P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951


                            * * * * * * * *



  
  The ultimate goal of Buddhism is the deathless condition of Nibbana,
  the sole reality.  Hence, one who aspires to that state should
  renounce mundane pursuits and attachments, which are ephemeral, for
  the sake of that reality.  But there are very few who are sufficiently
  mature to develop themselves to achieve that state in this very life.
  Thus the Buddha does not force the life of renunciation upon those who
  lack the spiritual capacity to embark upon the higher life.
  
    Therefore, one should follow the path of mundane advantage which is
  twofold, namely, the advantage obtainable here in this very life and
  the advantage obtainable in future lives, as steps on the path to the
  spiritual life.  Although one may enjoy the pleasures of life, one
  must regard one's body as an instrument with which to practice virtue
  for one's own and other's benefit; in short, one should live a useful
  life of moral integrity, a life of simplicity and paucity of wants.
  
    As regards acquisition of wealth, the Buddha said:  "One must be
  diligent and energetic," and as regards the safeguarding of one's
  wealth, "one must be mindful and economical."
  
    It is not impossible that even the life of such a man may be somehow
  or other disturbed and harassed as a result of the actions of
  "unskillful" men.  Although this might induce him to abandon his chosen
  path, it is at such times that one must not forget the steps to be
  taken for the purpose of establishing peace.  According to the
  teaching of the Buddha this includes the reflection:  "Others may be
  harmful, but I shall be harmless, thus should I train myself."  We
  must not forget that the whole spirit of Buddhism is one of
  pacification.  In the calm and placid atmosphere of the Buddha's
  teaching there is every chance, every possibility, of removing hatred,
  jealousy and violence from our mind.
  
    It is no wonder if we, at times, in our everyday life, feel angry
  with somebody about something.  But we should not allow this feeling
  to reside in our mind.  We should try to curb it at the very moment it
  has arisen.  Generally there are eight ways to curb or control our
  anger.
  
    The first method is to recollect the teachings of the Buddha.  On
  very many occasions the Buddha explained the disadvantages of an angry
  temper.  Here is one of his admonitions:

     Suppose some bandits catch one of you and sever his body limb from
     limb with a two-handed saw, and if he should feel angry thereby
     even at that moment, he is no follower of my teaching.
                                -- Kakacupama Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 21
  
  Again:

     As a log from a pyre, burnt at both ends and fouled in the middle,
     serves neither for firewood in the village nor for timber in the
     forest, so is such a wrathful man.
                                --  Anguttara Nikaya II, 95

  
  Further, we may consider the Buddha's advice to be found in the
  //Dhammapada//:
  
     He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me of my
     property.  Whosoever harbor such thoughts will never be able to
     still their enmity.
  
     Never indeed is hatred stilled by hatred; it will only be stilled
     by non-hatred -- this is an eternal law.
                                                -- Dhp., vv. 4-5
  
     Do not speak harshly to anyone.  Those who are harshly spoken to
     might retaliate against you.  Angry words hurt other's feelings,
     even blows may overtake you in return.
                                                -- Dhp., v. 133
  
     Forbearance is the highest observance.  Patience is the highest
     virtue.  So the Buddhas say.
                                                -- Dhp., v. 184
  
     Let a man remove his anger.  Let him root out his pride.  Let him
     overcome all fetters of passions.  No sufferings overtake him who
     neither clings to mind-and-body nor claims anything of the world.
                                                -- Dhp., v. 221
  
     Conquer anger by non-anger.  Conquer evil by good.  Conquer
     miserliness by liberality. Conquer a liar by truthfulness.
                                                -- Dhp., v. 223
  
     Guard your mind against an outburst of wrong feelings.  Keep your
     mind controlled.  Renouncing evil thoughts, develop purity of
     mind.
                                                -- Dhp., v. 233


    If by contemplating the advice of the Buddha in this way one cannot
  curb his anger, then let him try the second method.
  
    Naturally, any bad person may possess some good quality.  Some men
  are evil in mind but speak in deceptive language or slyly perform
  their deeds in an unsuspecting manner.  Some men are coarse only in
  their language but not in their mind or deeds. Some men are coarse and
  cruel in their deeds but neither in their speech nor in their mind.
  Some are soft and kind in mind, speech and deed as well.
  
    When we feel angry with any person, we should try to find out some
  good in him, either in his way of thinking, or in his way of speaking
  or in his way of acting.  If we find some redeeming quality in him, we
  should ponder its value and ignore his bad qualities as natural
  weaknesses that are to be found in everyone. Whilst we think thus, our
  mind will soften and we may even feel kindly towards that person.  If
  we develop this way of thinking we will be able to curb or eliminate
  our anger towards him.
  
    At times, this method may not be successful and we shall then have
  to try the third method.  Basically, this entails reflecting thus: "He
  has done some wrong to me and in so doing has spoiled his mind.  Then
  why should I spoil or impair my own mind because of his foolishness?
  Sometimes I ignore support or help offered by my relatives; sometimes
  their tears even shed because of my activities. Being a person of such
  type myself, why should I not therefore ignore that foolish man's
  deed?

    "He has done that wrong, being subject to anger, should I too follow
  him, making my mind subject to anger?  Is it not foolish to imitate
  him?  He harboring his hatred destroys himself internally.  Why
  should I, on his account, destroy my reputation?
  
    "All things are momentary.  Both his mind and body are momentary
  too.  The thoughts and the body with which the wrong was done to me
  are not now existing.  What I call the same man now are the thoughts
  and physical parts which are different from the earlier ones that
  harmed me although belonging to the same psycho-physical process.
  Thus, one thought together with one mass of physical parts did me some
  wrong, and vanished there and then, giving place to succeeding
  thoughts and material parts to appear.  So with which am I getting
  angry?  WIth the vanished and disappeared thoughts and physical parts
  or with the thoughts and material parts which do not do any wrong now?
  Should I get angry with one thing which is innocent whereas another
  thing has done me wrong and vanished?
  
    "The so-called 'I' is not the same for two consecutive moments. At
  the moment the wrong was done there was another thought and another
  mass of molecules which were regarded as 'I', whereas what are
  regarded as 'I' at the present moment are a different thought and
  collection of molecules, though belonging to the same process. Thus
  some other being did wrong to someone else and another gets angry with
  another.  Is this not a ridiculous situation?"
  
    If we scrutinize the exact nature of our life and its happenings in
  this manner, our anger might subside or vanish there and then.
  
    There is another way, too, to eliminate upsurging anger.  Suppose we
  think of someone who has done wrong to us.  On such occasions we
  should remember that we suffer harm or loss as a result of our
  previous //kamma//.  Even if others were angry with us, they could not
  harm us if there were no latent force of past unwholesome //kamma//
  committed by us which took advantage of this opportunity to arouse our
  adversary.  So it is I who am responsible for this harm or loss and
  not anybody else.  And at the same time, now while I am suffering the
  result of past //kamma//, if I, on account of this, should get angry
  and do any harm to him, by that do I accumulate much more unwholesome
  //kamma// which would bring me correspondingly unwholesome results.
  
    If we recall to mind this law of //kamma//, our anger may subside
  immediately.  We can consider such a situation in another way too.  We
  as the followers of Buddha believe that our Bodhisatta passed through
  incalculable numbers of lives practicing virtues before he attained
  Buddhahood.  The Buddha related the history of some of his past lives
  as illustrations to teach us how he practiced these virtues.  The
  lives of the prince Dhammapala and the ascetic Khantivadi are most
  illustrative and draw our attention.
  
    At one time the Bodhisatta had been born as the son of a certain
  king named Mahapatapa.  The child was named Culla Dhammapala. One day
  the Queen sat on a chair fondling her child and did not notice the
  King passing by.  The King thought the Queen was so proud of her child
  as not to get up from her chair even when she saw that her lord the
  King passed that way.  So he grew angry and immediately sent for the
  executioner.  When he came the King ordered him to snatch the child
  from the Queen's arms and cut his hands, feet and head off, which he
  did instantly.  The child, our Bodhisatta, suffered all that with
  extreme patience and did not grow ill-tempered or relinquish his
  impartial love for his cruel father, lamenting mother and the
  executioner.  So far had he matured in the practice of forbearance and
  loving-kindness at that time.
  
    At another time, our Bodhisatta was an ascetic well-known for his
  developed virtue of forbearance and consequently people named him
  Khantivadi, the preacher of forbearance.  One day he visited Benares
  and took his lodgings at the royal pleasure grove. Meanwhile, the King
  passed that way with his harem and, seeing the ascetic seated under a
  tree, asked what virtue he was practicing, to which the ascetic
  replied that of forbearance. The King was a materialist who regarded
  the practice of virtue to be humbug.  So, hearing the words of the
  ascetic, he sent for the executioner and ordered him to cut off his
  hands and feet and questioned the ascetic as to whether he could hold
  to forbearance at the severing of his limbs.  The ascetic did not feel
  ill-tempered but even at that time he lay down extending his
  loving-kindness and holding his forbearance undiminished.  He spoke to
  the King in reply to the effect that his forbearance and other virtues
  were not in his limbs but in his mind.  The King, being unsuccessful
  in his attempts to disturb the ascetic's feelings, grew angrier and
  kicked the stomach of the ascetic with his heel and went away.
  Meanwhile, the King's minister came over and, seeing what had
  happened, bowed before the dying ascetic and begged him saying:
  "Venerable one, none of us agreed to this cruel act of the King and we
  are all sorrowing over what has been done to you by that devilish man.
  We ask you to curse the King but not us." At this the ascetic said:
  "May that king who has caused my hands and feet to be cut off, as well
  as you, live long in happiness. Persons who practice virtues like me
  never get angry."  Saying this, he breathed his last.
  
    Since the Buddha in his past lives, while still imperfect like us,
  practiced forbearance and loving-kindness to such a high extent, why
  cannot we follow his example?
  
    When we remember and think of similar noble characters of great
  souls, we should be able to bear any harm, unmoved by anger.  Or if we
  consider the nature of the round of rebirths in this beginningless and
  infinite universe, we will be able to curb our upspringing anger. For,
  it is said by the Buddha:  "It is not easy to find a being who has not
  been your mother, your father, your brother, sister, son or daughter."
  Hence with regard to the person whom we have now taken for our enemy,
  we should think: "This one now, in the past has been my mother who
  bore me in her womb for nine months, gave birth to me, unweariedly
  cleansed me of impurities, hid me in her bosom, carried me on her hip
  and nourished me.  This one was my father in another life and spent
  time and energy, engaged in toilsome business, with a view to
  maintaining me, even sacrificing life for my sake", and so on. When we
  ponder over these facts, it should be expected that our arisen anger
  against our enemy will subside.
  
    And further, we should reflect on the advantages of the development
  of mind through the practice of extending loving-kindness.  For, the
  Buddha has expounded to us eleven advantages to be looked for from its
  development.  What are the eleven?  The person who fully develops
  loving-kindness sleeps happily.  He wakes happily.  He experiences no
  evil dreams.  He is beloved of men.  He is beloved even of non-human
  beings.  He is protected by the gods.  He can be harmed neither by
  fire, poison or a weapon.  His mind is quickly composed.  His
  complexion is serene.  At the moment of his death he passes away
  unbewildered.  If he can go no further along the path of realization,
  he will at least be reborn in the heavenly abode of the Brahma Devas.
  
    So, by every similar and possible way should we endeavor to quench
  our anger and at last be able to extend our loving-kindness towards
  any and every being in the world.
  
    When we are able to curb our anger and control our mind, we should
  extend from ourselves boundless love as far as we can imagine
  throughout every direction pervading and touching all living beings
  with loving-kindness.  We should practice this meditation every day at
  regular times without any break.  As a result of this practice, we
  will be able, one day, to attain to the //jhanas// or meditative
  absorptions, comprising four grades which entail the control of
  sensuality, ill-will and many other passions, bringing at the same
  time purity, serenity and peace of mind.
  

                            * * * * * * * *




                               APPENDIX:
               Two Stories Retold from the Buddhist Texts



                              The Reviler
  
  Once while the Blessed One stayed near Rajagaha in the Veluvana
  Monastery at the Squirrels' Feeding Place, there lived at Rajagha a
  Brahmin of the Bharadvaja clan who was later called "the Reviler."
  When he learned that one of his clan had gone forth from home life and
  had become a monk under the recluse Gotama, he was angry and
  displeased.  And in that mood he went to see the Blessed One, and
  having arrived he reviled and abused him in rude and harsh speech.
  
    Thus being spoken to, the Blessed One said:  "How is it, Brahmin: do
  you sometimes receive visits from friends, relatives or other guests?"

    "Yes, Master Gotama, I sometimes have visitors."

    "When they come, do you offer to them various kinds of foods and a
  place for resting?"

    "Yes, I sometimes do so."
  
    "But if, Brahmin, your visitors do not accept what you offer, to
  whom does it then belong?"

    "Well, Master Gotama, if they do not accept it, these things remain
  with us."
  
    "It is just so in this case, Brahmin:  you revile us who do not
  revile in return, you scold us who do not scold in return, you abuse
  us who do not abuse in return.  So we do not accept it from you and
  hence it remains with you, it belongs to you, Brahmin."...
  
    [The Buddha finally said:]

    "Whence should wrath rise for him who void of wrath,
     Holds on the even tenor of his way,
     Self-tamed, serene, by highest insight free?
  
    "Worse of the two is he who, when reviled,
     Reviles again.  Who doth not when reviled,
     Revile again, a two-fold victory wins.
     Both of the other and himself he seeks
     The good; for he the other's angry mood
     Doth understand and groweth calm and still.
     He who of both is a physician, since
     Himself he healeth and the other too, --
     Folk deem him a fool, they knowing not the Norm." [*]
  
                        Abridged and freely rendered from Samyutta
                        Nikaya, Brahmana Samyutta, No. 2.  Verses
                        translated by C. A. F. Rhys Davids, in "Kindred
                        Sayings", vol. I.
  

     * [The "Norm" or law (dhamma), here referred to, may be expressed
        in the words of the Dhammapada (v. 5):
  
          "Not by hating hatred ceases
             In this world of tooth and claw;
           Love alone from hate releases --
             This is the Eternal Law."
  
                          Translated by Francis Story]
  
  
                                 * * *



                         THE ANGER-EATING DEMON

                 Retold from an ancient Buddhist Story
  
                          by Nyanaponika Thera
  

  Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet:  he fed on the anger
  of others.  And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was
  no lack of food for him.  He found it quite easy to provoke a family
  quarrel, or national and racial hatred.  Even to stir up a war was not
  very difficult for him.  And whenever he succeeded in causing a war,
  he could properly gorge himself without much further effort; because
  once a war starts, hate multiplies by its own momentum and affects
  even normally friendly people.  So the demon's food supply became so
  rich that he sometimes had to restrain himself from over-eating, being
  content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment found close-by.
  
    But as it often happens with successful people, he became rather
  overbearing and one day when feeling bored he thought:  "Shouldn't I
  try it with the gods?"  On reflection he chose the Heaven of the
  Thirty-three Deities, ruled by Sakka, Lord of Gods.  He knew that only
  a few of these gods had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will
  and aversion, though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels.
  So by magic power he transferred himself to that heavenly realm and
  was lucky enough to come at a time when Sakka the Divine King was
  absent.  There was none in the large audience hall and without much
  ado the demon seated himself on Sakka's empty throne, waiting quietly
  for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a good feed. Soon
  some of the gods came to the hall and first they could hardly believe
  their own divine eyes when they saw that ugly demon sitting on the
  throne, squat and grinning.  Having recovered from their shock, they
  started to shout and lament: "Oh you ugly demon, how can you dare to
  sit on the throne of our Lord?  What utter cheekiness!  What a crime!
  you should be thrown headlong into the hell and straight into a
  boiling cauldron!  You should be quartered alive!  Begone!  Begone!"
  
    But while the gods were growing more and more angry, the demon was
  quite pleased because from moment to moment he grew in size, in
  strength and in power.  The anger he absorbed into his system started
  to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist.  This evil aura
  kept the gods at a distance and their radiance was dimmed.
  
    Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall and it
  grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka emerged, the King of Gods.
  He who had firmly entered the undeflectible Stream that leads
  Nibbana-wards, was unshaken by what he saw.  The smoke-screen created
  by the gods' anger parted when he slowly and politely approached the
  usurper of his throne.  "Welcome, friend! Please remain seated.  I can
  take another chair.  May I offer you the drink of hospitality?  Our
  Amrita is not bad this year.  Or do you prefer a stronger brew, the
  vedic Soma?"
  
    While Sakka spoke these friendly words, the demon rapidly shrank to
  a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of
  malodorous smoke which likewise soon dissolved.
  
  
                                   *
  
  
  The gist of this story dates back to the discourses of the Buddha. But
  even now, over 2500 years later, our world looks as if large hordes of
  Anger-eating Demons were haunting it and were kept well nourished by
  millions slaving for them all over the earth.  Fires of hate and
  wide-traveling waves of violence threaten to engulf mankind.  Also
  the grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord,
  manifesting in angry thoughts and words and in violent deeds.  Is it
  not time to end this self-destructive slavery of man to his impulses
  of hate and aggression which only serve the demoniac forces?  Our
  story tells how these demons of hate can be exorcised by the power of
  gentleness and love.  If this power of love can be tested and proven,
  at grass-root level, in the widely spread net of personal
  relationships, society at large, the world at large, will not remain
  unaffected by it.
  
                Based on Samyutta Nikaya, Sakka Samyutta, No. 22

  
                            * * * * * * * *
  


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