Anger

Terran from Kerikeri District

🌼 Anger can also lead to other negative emotions, such as jealousy. And when you are angry, jealous and attached, you will never experience peace.
🌼 So we see that the mental suffering and anxiety we experience in our daily lives are not caused by external factors.
🌼 They are caused by our own negative emotions. As soon as anger arises in our mind, we no longer feel peaceful. Anger not only disturbs our peace of mind, but also disturbs our immediate circle, our family members, our neighborhood and, in a broader sense, the entire world. Indeed, the biggest problems we face in the world today arise from anger.

🌼 Even when we realize that anger is the main cause of suffering, it is very difficult to control it immediately. But if we know that anger is the cause of suffering, then at least we can feel motivated to change and we can do something to calm down. As soon as you calm down your anger, you can experience peace in your mind. And then you can experience peace in your family, in your neighborhood, and in the whole world.
🌼 We should not blame the problems we face on the outside, but instead, we should try to look at how the problems arise from within. A person who is not angry cannot have enemies. An angry person naturally has many enemies. An enemy is a reflection of your own anger, just like your face is reflected in a mirror. When you are angry, this anger inside will be reflected back and the enemy will appear outside. If you try to destroy your enemy with anger, the other party will also be angry, and the situation will escalate. Even if you destroy one enemy, there will always be another, and more and more enemies will appear. Instead of defeating external enemies, you should look at your own anger as the real enemy, the enemy that causes suffering. The real enemy is not outside, but within your own mind. Even if you cannot completely eliminate your anger, trying to see things this way will help you break it. It is difficult to completely overcome anger because we have been attached to it for a long time, and we have formed habitual tendencies that accumulate and cause it to recur. For example, we know that certain behaviors such as drinking alcohol and smoking are harmful. Everyone knows that smoking is harmful, but a person who is used to it will form a habit that is difficult to break. Although every package clearly states that smoking is harmful to one's health, people who have developed the habit of smoking cannot give it up. Likewise, we know that anger is harmful, even in this life. When you are angry, you cannot experience peace and happiness. You also lose your appetite, lose sleep, and lose comfort in your daily life. That is unmistakably harmful.
🌼 Also, when your mind is disturbed, many physical diseases also arise. When your mind is very unhappy, and you experience great stress or anxiety, this causes diseases such as high blood pressure. Many doctors have told me this. Anger is clearly very harmful, and if something is harmful, we should not do it.
🌼 Even trying to think about this will be helpful. Instead of projecting anger outward, see that the problems, difficulties, and negative circumstances we face in our daily lives do not come from outside, but mainly from our own negative emotions such as anger.
🌼 So, why do we get angry in the first place? The answer is that anger and craving are like two sides of the same coin. When you have strong craving, anger will arise. This understanding arises from the basic Buddhist perspective.
His Holiness 41st Sakya Trizin.