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48 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS
is our anger that will destroys us.
Can Anger be a Therefore, the cause of anger is
nothing but our selfish desire. It is
only loving kindness that can take
Positive Emotion? care of our anger. Love is the only
source that can heal us.
Anger is one of the great obstacles Theravāda tradition they are called
Geshe Dadul: I prefer calling
in Buddhist practice as mentioned the three unwholesome roots. Dosa
the three poisons, hatred (Skt:
in many texts. It is also regarded is the easiest to identify because it
doșa or dveșa), attachment (Skt:
as contagious and dangerous. In is always accompanied by mental
rāga or lobha), and ignorance or
the Dhammapada verse 233, the displeasure whereas the other two
delusion (Skt: avidya or moha).
Buddha said, “Conquer anger by are not. It is characterised by non-
“Anger” can be included here. The
non-anger. Conquer evil by good. acceptance or rejection of its object
reason for this is in the Buddhist
Conquer miserliness by liberality. of attention or hitting at it and can
sources (from Abhidharma to the
Conquer a liar by truthfulness.” range from slight disappointment
Likewise, in Shantideva’s Guide to fury. Prajnāpāramitayāna to that of the
Vajrayāna scriptures), as far as I
to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,
am aware, the doșa or dveșa, on the
the first verse in the chapter on The root cause of dosa is ignorance
one hand, and pratigha (usually
Patience reads: while its proximate cause is lobha.
rendered as “anger” in English), on
Lobha arises because one is
the other, are two different terms for
Whatever wholesome deeds, ignorant of the fact that nothing is
Such as venerating the buddhas and worth desiring or clinging to in the the same affliction. However, I doubt
the modern psychologists consider
[practicing] generosity, ultimate sense. It is also ignorance
That have been amassed over a of the second Noble Truth that hatred and anger, as they relate to
them, as one and the same emotion.
thousand aeons, lobha (which is a superset of
Will all be destroyed in one moment craving) is the cause of suffering.
of anger. Dosa arises because one cannot get That said, this mental affliction of
doșa has the character of a deep
what lobha wants. For this reason,
biased resentment and repugnance
Yet modern psychology seems to dosa is one type of suffering defined
towards its object with the
think that anger, which is a very in the first Noble Truth.
potential to grow into a harmful
human emotion, has a positive
intention and, further down
side, especially when confronting Ven Min Wei: In Buddhism, we
the line, trigger harmful action,
injustice as they arise in the world, learn that anger arises mainly from
depending on intensity and degree
or when we want to send a strong our desires, greed, and ignorance.
of indulgence in it.
message to another person not We should be aware that it is our
to take advantage of someone’s anger that is causing us to suffer,
On the surface, it arises from of a
weakness. We ask our three not another person. Our problems
sense of dissatisfaction, disapproval,
Buddhist teachers their views from come from our selfishness and little
or hurt, but as with all the afflictive
their respective traditions if there is understanding of how anger and
mental states, underneath that
any spiritual value to anger. other defilements arise in our minds.
is an exaggeration of the reality
In Buddhist teachings, anger The arising of anger is generally at hand, here in the case of doșa,
(dosa) together with greed a response to something that we that results in the experience of an
(lobha) and delusion (moha), are wanted but could not get. When overblown displeasure embedded
called the three poisons. What we are angry, we usually blame in a misinterpretation.
are the characteristics of anger, someone else as the source of our
and why does it arise? suffering. Thus, we become angry When anger arises, what did the
Buddha suggest we do? Suppress
with this person and think that
it or transform it from a negative
Ayasma Aggacitta: In the he is out to destroy me! In fact, it
