The first person harmed by anger is oneself. The Buddha said that harming others in anger is like thrusting a burning torch at another person, but doing it upwind, so that the flames blow and scorch our own face. In this episode we look at an antidote to anger, the practice of loving kindness. Lovingkindness is the intention that wishes another to be happy. A prayer of loving kindness is “May you be happy, may you be free [from suffering]”. In this episode we meditated on loving kindness in three rounds as an antidote to our own anger. First loving kindness to ourselves, recognizing the anger harms us terribly. Secondly, will you choose someone that we normally have intermittent anger towards at the moment and weTo think about the ways that this person suffers and wish them to be happy and free. Finally, we generated loving kindness towards all living beings and imagined we sent out rays of light to each living being bringing them happiness and freedom from hatred. We imagined a world beyond hatred, where all wars have ceased and all  people practice lovingkindness towards one another. Being mindful of our own anger and trying to quell it before it manifest through lovingkindness is our mindfulness practice for the week.

 

Ah, so happily we live, 

Without hate among those with hate. 

Among people who hate 

We live without hate. (197)*

       —Buddha, The Dhammpada

 

References 

 

Buddha. The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom. Translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita. Buddhist Publication Society Kandy, 1985. pp. 53.

 

Doering, S. (2004). In This World, Hate Never Yet Dispelled Hate. Insight Journal [article]. Retrieved from https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/in-this-world-hate-never-yet-dispelled-hate/. 

 

Je Tsongkhapa. Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, by Je Tsongkhapa, Volume 2. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Joshua Cutler, Editor-in-Chief, and Guy Newlan, Editor, pp 161-164.