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When people are angry, they would say, “I can’t take it anymore!”
Why is that so? “Because I have been bullied and taken advantage of….” or “He is unreasonable to me…”
These are usually what people find it hard to tolerate.
Where does anger come from? Anger arises from greed, hatred, and ignorance. People cannot eradicate these three mental poisons in daily life. This is the problem with the human mind. Family members are intolerant of one another due to greed, hatred and ignorance. Many people in society get into conflicts and fight with one another due to hate as well.
Life is meant to be happy and good. However, due to greed, hatred and ignorance, people cannot take it when they feel they have been bullied or taken advantage of. The reason why the Buddha was able to attain enlightenment is because he could endure insults and attacks that others could not bear, and he could do difficult things that others could not do.
A compassionate mind can tame deranged elephants
During the Buddha’s time, there was a monastic by the name of Devadatta in the community of sangha; he was also a cousin of the Buddha. Devadatta was an ambitious man who wanted to take over the Buddha’s position and lead the sangha. Thus, he colluded with King Ajatasattu in an attempt to overtake the Buddha.
One day, when Devadatta found out that Buddha’s major disciples had led most of the monks away to different places, he said to King Ajatasattu, “Now, only the Buddha, Ananda and a group of 500 monks are left in the city. We can seize this opportunity to destroy them while their group is small."
Devadatta suggested to King Ajatasattu to invite the Buddha to the palace to receive offerings the next day. He planned to intoxicate 500 elephants with liquor and then release the intoxicated animals to cause a stampede targeting the Buddha and his monks, while they were on their way to the palace.
Elephants are very strong animals, and an intoxicated elephant is very dangerous as it would go around attacking people and other animals. After the two decided their plot against the Buddha, King Ajatasattu carried it out as planned.
Although the Buddha was aware of their evil scheme, he happily accepted the invitation. The next day, he honoured the invitation by leading his group of sangha to the palace. Halfway through their journey, a herd of deranged elephants rushed out of nowhere, and the townsfolk scrambled frantically to escape the berserk creatures. However, the Buddha, Ananda and the sangha remained calm as they firmly stood on the ground.
Astonishingly, when the elephants came near to the Buddha and his disciples, they suddenly quietened down and fell on their knees. The Buddha smiled gently and patted an elephant’s head. Then, the monks calmly walked past the elephants and continued their way to the palace.
When King Ajatasattu saw what had happened, he was very shocked. He realised that the Buddha not only had the virtuous power to pacify the masses, but he could even tame a herd of deranged elephants. A deep sense of respect for the Buddha thus arose in the king, and he respectfully made offerings to the Buddha and his disciples.
Not only was the Buddha not angered by this manmade “accident”, but he even accepted the offerings from King Ajatasattu and gave the latter his blessings.
Such is the Buddha’s virtue of endurance.
Compassion, forgiveness, and understanding can dissolve hatred
When ordinary people are deceived or bullied by others, their reaction is to fight till the end. But the Buddha did not get angry at all despite being bullied and insulted. Even when others wanted to harm him, putting his life in danger, he still remained calm and unaffected. From this we can see that the Buddha's mind is clear and pure, like a mirror. His heart is always filled with boundless love, and hatred has no space in it.
Love, compassion, forgiveness and understanding can overcome hatred. A person who is filled with kindness, compassion and tolerance will not give rise to anger or hatred. Where there is no hatred, there will not be any conflicts or disputes among people.
Most people tend to overanalyze matters. A person may not mean any disrespect to us nor has he done us any wrong, but if we keep speculating towards the negative, we will suffer painfully.
The story of a fighting cock
During the Zhou Dynasty, there was a man named Ji Sheng Zi, who specialised in breeding fighting cocks. A “fighting cock”, as its name suggests, is a combative chicken. When two fight cocks stand opposing one another and one makes the slightest movement, the other will react immediately, and they will start attacking each other. Sometimes the fight can be violent and bloody, and yet the chickens will not stop until both are severely injured or one of them falls dead.
King Xuan of Zhou loved watching cockfighting, and Ji Sheng Zi was specifically tasked to breed and train fighting cocks for him. One day, someone bought a robust-looking fighting cock for the king, who happily handed it over to Ji. A few days later, the king asked Ji, “How is that fighting cock doing? How is the training going? Is it ready to fight at the battleground?”
Ji replied, “It is not ready to fight yet. This chicken is too energetic and too eager to fight, so it is not suitable to compete yet.”
After another few days, King Xuan asked Ji the same question and was given the same reply. “It is not ready yet, because it gets impulsive whenever it spots another chicken,” said Ji.
Several more days later, King Xuan asked Ji again if the cock was ready to fight. This time, Ji said, “Yes it is ready, because it is now able to remain quiet and still when it sees other fighting cocks or hear their sounds. It is unaffected by others now, like a ‘wooden chicken’. So it is ready to go to the battlefield.”
At the battlefield, this fighting cock remained steadily rooted to the ground; no matter how other fighting cocks tried to incite it to fight, it remained still and unperturbed, like a wooden chicken. And by simply fixing its gaze at the other cocks, it was able to intimidate them. As a result, the latter did not even dare to initiate an attack.
Even an animal knows how to use a psychological tactic to win without fighting, not to mention human beings. Therefore, we must cultivate the ability to remain calm and composed. We should not get angry or agitated easily and think that others are coming against us. Instead, we should be tolerant and accommodating. Do not have the perception that “if we do not fight with others, they will think that we are stupid.”
There is a saying that goes, "People with great wisdom appears foolish". Do not be afraid of being laughed at by others for being foolish. In fact, we should feel worried when people say that we are “too clever”, because what they actually mean is that we are cunning, so it is actually not a compliment.
People may also say, "How can someone be so stupid? How can he not be bothered after being bullied by others?” But in fact, one who is not easily angered despite being bullied or insulted, is the one with true inner strength.
Translated by the Tzu Chi Singapore translation team
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