(Half bell)
(Bell)
When I am angry,
how do I let my anger out?
How to let my anger out?
Do you think that your anger has come from the outside, went in,
and now you want to let it out again?
Are you sure that the anger is coming from the outside?
That is a counter question.
(Laughter)
In Plum Village, we learn
how to deal with our anger,
how to take care of our anger.
Anger is not something pleasant.
It is like the mud.
But without the mud,
we cannot grow lotus flowers.
So the mud is useful, somehow...
so your anger is useful, somehow.
So, maybe you should not let it out.
You should not throw it away.
If you know how to make good use
of your anger,
you can grow the lotus of peace,
of joy, of forgiveness.
This is a very deep teaching in Plum Village.
We have been learning about this.
Anger comes "up" --
not from the outside, but from inside.
Because we do not understand,
that is why we cannot love.
And, if we look deeply,
if we listen deeply,
we'll be able to understand.
And, when we understand,
there is love.
And when there is love,
anger just transforms itself.
You don't have to take anger
and throw it away.
In fact, anger is something that you can use.
And, if you hold that anger
in understanding, in compassion,
then, anger becomes something like love...
like compassion.
I will give you an example.
The other fellow, this morning,
said something unkind to you.
He did something or he said something unkind to you,
and you suffered.
And, anger is coming up.
And, usually,
if you are not good practitioner,
you want to give that boy or that girl a punch,
to punish him or her.
And that is anger "in" us.
And that anger is a kind of mud
to smear everything.
So, we need to be aware that
we have to control that mud of anger
and do not let the mud to smear us
and the other person.
So, you might like to breathe in,
calmly, mindfully,
and look at that boy or girl.
And, what do you see
in him or in her?
You see that there is a violence in him.
There is anger, suffering in him
or in her.
If that boy or girl is happy,
he or she would not have said something
mean like that.
He or she wouldn't have done something violent like that.
But, he does not have the happiness in him.
That is why he suffers.
And, when he suffers like that,
he wants to get his suffering out,
by saying something mean to you,
or doing something unkind to you.
And, he thinks that, by doing so,
he will suffer less.
That is not very intelligent.
So, when you look and you see that
that boy is unhappy,
there is anger or violence in him,
and he does not know how to handle
the violence in him, the unhappiness in him,
that is why he suffers.
And, when he suffers like that,
it is natural that he makes people
around him suffer like that.
So, when you see the anger in him or in her,
and you understand
that anger...
you are no longer angry at him.
Poor little boy. Poor little girl.
They suffer.
I don't want to punish him,
to make him suffer more.
I want to make him suffer less.
And, you smile to him. .
You say: "Dear friend, I know that you suffer."
"I am not angry at you,"
"even if you have said something"
"like that to me."
"Even if you have done something like that to me."
"Because you suffer a lot."
"So, I do not blame you."
"I am not angry at you."
"I am breathing in and out."
"I understand you."
"That is why I am not angry at you."
"I do not suffer."
You are a good practitioner.
And, he will be amazed.
Other people will react differently.
They will hit him or tell him
something very mean.
But you are not doing that.
You are reacting in a very different way;
with tenderness, with loving kindness,
...smiles.
And, he will be amazed.
And, one day, he will ask you:
"How can you do that?!"
"When someone said something"
"very brutal, very mean,"
"and did something violent like that"
"and you can still keep your calm,"
"your peace."
"How?!"
And, then, you tell him, you tell her
how you have come to Plum Village
and learn that kind of mindful breathing,
and recognize the anger in yourself,
and recognize anger in you
and in that person.
So, you come here as a very young people,
and we learn these wonderful things.
And, you might be able to share that
with your friends,
when you go back to school.
That is also a good question.
(Half bell)
(Bell)
Subtitles by the Amara.org community