when ANGRY


Hsihu Center, Formosa Dec. 25, 1995.

Always keep a peace mind.

Whenever someone angers you or you feel anger towards someone, don't put all this anger on that person. Just remember the Holy Names and try to center yourself as much as you can. If you forget, okay, when you remember, try to be centered again and forget that person.

As soon as you become centered within yourself, love will flow. Then you will forget. You will think it is a small matter and it's easy to love thy neighbor or love thy enemy. Otherwise, if we keep rushing toward that person with all our anger, then we forget our real Self. We project all our energy to that person and then we, the practitioner, having a very good energy, just give it all to them even though with hatred. You've lost everything. You have emptied your pockets. You have thrown it at him just like when I throw candies to you. Do I still have any candies left in my pocket? No.

You have seen my mini-car with the big basket and you have seen me with a lot of big boxes sometimes, but all I do is throw it at everyone that comes near so that in the end I have nothing left. Whether I throw it with anger or with love, I still throw it at them. Of course when I throw, I throw with love. But similarly, if we throw anger at someone, that is still our capital as well. All our attention, all our energy is thrown at that person and the whole day's meditation or maybe the whole month's is spent; empty pockets. Then you have to start from A, B, C again. "Oh Master, please, I can not see anything, all black." Or maybe you can not hear anything, you become spiritually deaf and blind.

So actually, we cannot afford to be angry. Anytime, try to control, anytime, try to get back our center. Then spend it as you like. Don't be forced to spend by the power of anger, the power of grief or anything like that.

We can always save ourselves if we are centered all the time -- self centered, not selfish self-centered, stay always stable in the face of typhoons, hurricanes, etc.

It is very difficult to get along with our family members, neighbors and friends sometimes; but it is even more difficult if we don't try to get along. We will lose some of our power, our loving kindness and our enlightenment anytime we hate our neighbors.

Anytime we think negatively about someone we lose some of our Self, we lose some of the light, we lose some of the heavenly happiness that normally belongs to us. So if we can see clearly all this, we actually cannot afford to hate anyone.