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General Buddhism => General Buddhism => Topic started by: DS Star on March 17, 2012, 11:17:36 PM

Title: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: DS Star on March 17, 2012, 11:17:36 PM
Some claim anger can be good because it gets things done faster and it could have positive energy...

In this video, HH the 14th Dalai Lama explained that the positive energy from ANGER is very little and very short. It is a 'blinded energy'.


http://youtu.be/A7_0IJTBoNA (http://youtu.be/A7_0IJTBoNA)

 

1. ANGER destroys our INNER PEACE;

2. ANGER destroys our ABILITY to INVESTIGATE the REALITY.

When we got angry, it blinded our ability to see the REALITY. We need a calm mind to help us see the situation objectively and to find solution to our problems.

Seems the damage done is much greater because when we got angry, we can't control our actions...



Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Tenzin K on March 18, 2012, 02:21:30 AM
Totally agree!

Being angry is a great push to do/act instantly but it’s blindly.
The spontaneous action from anger is without much of rational thought as it refers to HH Dalai Lama said as “Reality”. Anger makes us want to fight back for the sake of wanting to win. It really covers our mind and makes us unhappy an unable to think logically. The emotion has conquered our mind and feelings.

When listening to HH Dalai Lama teaching, I have thought of the 8 Verses of Thought Transformation.

The 3rd verses make me relate more:

In all actions, may I closely examine my state of mind, 
and the moment a disturbing emotion or negative attitude arises, 
since this may cause harm to myself and others,
may I firmly face and avert it.

This verse calls for the sincere practice of mindfulness, closely examining our state of mind throughout
all our actions. Through this practice of mindfulness, the teachings encourage us to firmly face and avert any disturbing emotions or negative attitudes the very moment they arise. The reason for this is that our delusions, disturbing emotions, and negative attitudes can provoke us to think, speak, or act in nonvirtuous ways which may cause harm to ourselves and others. This behavior brings karmic consequences and perpetuates our delusion and suffering. Therefore, throughout the day, while working, driving, walking, studying, talking with others, and so forth, we should closely examine our state of mind and heart. By training our mind in this skillful way, we will be able to firmly face and avert disturbing emotions and negative attitudes as they arise and before
they develop any further momentum or power.

8 verse of mind transformation tt creates a more meaningful life four ourselves. Transform and transcend the problem we face every day and inspire compassion in our aggressive and violent world.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Q on March 18, 2012, 02:38:42 AM
Anything and everything in this world can be used with positive energy to help us through our spiritual journey if one is skillful enough. Personally, I'm not skillful enough, therefore things like anger is something to be avoided as it not only destroyers our merits, but also causes us to create negative karma as our mind at that state is not calm or reasonable.

Anger that arise from our own selfishness will bring no good nor does it possess any positive energy to it. For most of us, anger arises only due to our selfishness... our inability to remain equinimity in our mind when something/someone disturbes our comfort or do something we perceive as 'harm' to ourselves.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: sonamdhargey on March 18, 2012, 06:44:54 AM
Anger arises from ego. We all one way or another will experience anger. What is important is how we control our anger at that moment to not let it explode out of proption and create more problems and the effect is the reacting in anger lingers and most of the time the effect is forever.

There is a story I would like to share about anger:

A Bag of Nails

There once was a young boy with a very bad temper. The boy's father wanted to teach him a lesson, so he gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper he must hammer a nail into their wooden fence.

On the first day of this lesson, the little boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. He was really mad!

Over the course of the next few weeks, the little boy began to control his temper, so the number of nails that were hammered into the fence dramatically decreased.

It wasn't long before the little boy discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Then, the day finally came when the little boy didn't lose his temper even once, and he became so proud of himself, he couldn't wait to tell his father.

Pleased, his father suggested that he now pull out one nail for each day that he could hold his temper.

Several weeks went by and the day finally came when the young boy was able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

Very gently, the father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

"You have done very well, my son," he smiled, "but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same."

The little boy listened carefully as his father continued to speak.

"When you say things in anger, they leave permanent scars just like these. And no matter how many times you say you're sorry, the wounds will still be there."
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Manjushri on March 18, 2012, 08:10:11 AM
I agree, when we operate from anger, the result is that whatever we do, or say, will be affected by the anger that we hold. Why do we get angry? We get angry when someome offends us, when what we say is going through to others, when we don't get our way, when our ego is being put on the line, when we are jealous...therefore the basis of anger comes from selfishness, because it utimately stems from you not having things your way and how you expect it to be. Therefore, when we get angry, we are blinded from this emotion, that our judgements and reality is affected by it. Therefore it is true, anger blinds our vision, because ultimately we are operating from the angle of how we get things our way.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: hope rainbow on March 18, 2012, 10:50:54 AM
I also thought that anger can sometimes resolve solutions. But it is not true, what may have resolved a solution then is perhaps a side effect of the anger by which we were more ascertive, stern and direct.
This can be achieved without being angry, but as means to get a result.

The truth is that without anger we can still use skillful ways and raise our voice if we recognize it would benefit a situation or somebody. Then we have so many options at hand, we can also not raise our voice, or speak gently, or whatever else... Because when we are free from anger, we can be in control; we can scream without having lost our peace of mind, and so we can stop screaming easily too.

When we scream and scold out of anger, we are out of conrol already, and our options are very limited.
Our peace of mind has gone, and we inevitably will feel even more unhappy, triggering more yelling and bashing and all, more anger...

Anger is not yelling and get intense at solving a problem, no, that is not anger.
Anger is WANTING TO HURT, or WANTING FOR SOMEONE (or something) TO BE HURT and suffer. that is anger
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: ratanasutra on March 22, 2012, 05:40:00 AM
I agree, Anger is one our delusion so definitely it blinds our vision. 

When i have anger, i out of control and will do anything without think about it results. Anger destroy everything ie relationship, yourself, job, opportunity and hurt people around us. When i was young i was taught to count 1..2..3..4.. till 10 when i feel anger before act or talk with anyone and it work when i catch myself anger but most of the times i had responded it before count the number... That's a skill full way to let us increase our awareness in what is happening with our mind and realise it in order to deal with it and not fall to the emotion, delusion that arising.. I really amaze with the skill full way they put in without using religions aspect even tho it is.

Thank you for sharing the VDO.


 
   
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: negra orquida on March 24, 2012, 05:20:55 PM
This is a powerful 2 minute video.  Thanks for sharing.  When I listen to it, I think.. yes, yes, this is the truth.

But when I do get angry... all hell breaks lose!  Though not as chaotic as before I learned more about from Buddhism...

Quote
When i have anger, i out of control and will do anything without think about it results... When i was young i was taught to count 1..2..3..4.. till 10 when i feel anger before act or talk with anyone and it work when i catch myself anger... That's a skill full way to let us increase our awareness in what is happening with our mind and realise it in order to deal with it and not fall to the emotion, delusion that arising...

Yup... counting to 10 when we're angry is basically to practice patience, which is a opponent to anger.  I find that one of the best ways for me to shorten the duration of anger is to hold my tongue when I am angry.  Basically wait till the dark cloud passes, and deal with the problem if it is still there.  Usually there was no real problem, just an attack at the ego at that moment of anger.  During those times when I was angry and I just HAD to say something, it always made things worse and I'd say more and more things which made things more and more worse!
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Carpenter on March 24, 2012, 06:20:58 PM
Anger is a push for complete things faster, no doubt, but when we do things with anger, we might complete the task with the wrong way.

It affected our

1.   Decision making – when we are angry, we can’t analyze the situation properly, because during that time, our mind can only focus in 1 thing, which is what makes us angry.

2.   Speech – When we are angry, we tend to talk loud, we even say things that hurt other people, because when we are angry, we only tend to solve the problem and get rid of our anger, so we might use word that hurts people to solve the problem faster.

3.   Action – When we are angry, we will use whatever way to solve the problem, sometimes we might even try methods that are not suppose or dangerous, but during that time, we can’t think so much already.

4.   Vision – When we are angry, our vision will become narrow, it narrowing our view on seeing things and it also narrowing our heart that affect our measurement of acceptance.

Anger will not only destroy our inner peace, it also destroy peace between the people around us and it could be a decision that there has no return…
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Midakpa on March 25, 2012, 05:56:59 AM
Anger, being one of the root poisons, must certainly be overcome because it destroys all our merits. How can we get rid of anger? Here are some suggestions taken from a book entitled "Dhamma Practice 3" by Phra Tajsuddhinanamongkol:

1. Reflect on the harm of anger
2. Think of the person's good points
3. Reflect on the truth that being angry will just create suffering for yourself
4. Reflect that all beings fare according to their karma
5. Reflect on the conduct of Buddha (before he became enlightened, he built up the parami over many lifetimes, even giving up his life)
6. Reflect on the fact that we have probably had relationships with all beings throughout the infinite history of samsara (Buddha: "monks, it is not easy to find a being who has not previously been our mother, or father, our older or younger brother, our older or younger sister, our son or daughter.")
7. Reflect on the benefits of loving kindness
8. Analyse the elements - reflect on the level of ultimate reality.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Manjushri on March 25, 2012, 10:26:08 AM
This is a powerful 2 minute video.  Thanks for sharing.  When I listen to it, I think.. yes, yes, this is the truth.

But when I do get angry... all hell breaks lose!  Though not as chaotic as before I learned more about from Buddhism...

Quote
When i have anger, i out of control and will do anything without think about it results... When i was young i was taught to count 1..2..3..4.. till 10 when i feel anger before act or talk with anyone and it work when i catch myself anger... That's a skill full way to let us increase our awareness in what is happening with our mind and realise it in order to deal with it and not fall to the emotion, delusion that arising...

Yup... counting to 10 when we're angry is basically to practice patience, which is a opponent to anger.  I find that one of the best ways for me to shorten the duration of anger is to hold my tongue when I am angry.  Basically wait till the dark cloud passes, and deal with the problem if it is still there.  Usually there was no real problem, just an attack at the ego at that moment of anger.  During those times when I was angry and I just HAD to say something, it always made things worse and I'd say more and more things which made things more and more worse!

True. The case is the same for everyone of us, I feel. During times when I am angry, or boiling up, and just Had to say something, to defend what I feel was threatening me, then it always made things worst. Then I'd try find a solution to "make things better", but then it'll end up back in square one. haha. And.. counting 1-10, doesn't really work for me. By numerico 5, my silly mouth would lash back already, doing no good.

Patience really is a direct counter to anger. We get angry because we have no patience to clarify, to teach, to rectify, so we raise our voice, and find an immediate solution, which is to "win the case" and "shut the other party up". If we had patience, we would have patience to see our anger broiling... we would have patience to realise the basis/root of the problem, and instead of making things worst, we would, compassionately try to make things better, because anger isn't good for both parties. Ultimately, what would you gain from acting out of anger? Nothing...but a habituation of more inert anger.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Aurore on March 25, 2012, 02:41:11 PM
There is no doubt that anger can blind us from seeing the truth. Anger that turns to hatred do cause not only delusions but phobias, addictions, manic behavior, and obsessive behavior. All this can lead to mental illness.

We should always look at why we are angry about something in the first place? Anger is very natural and should not be suppressed but to be dealt with healthily. Finding the causes of anger is a good way to deal with anger. Here's one of the cause of anger whether we realise it or not and it is FEAR. Fear of losing someone, fear of being hurt, fear of not being accepted.

An advice from the old wisdom one, Yoda. Hehe.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate.. to suffering" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFnFr-DOPf8#)

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads? to suffering.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: jeremyg on March 25, 2012, 03:00:12 PM
For me anger is like a disease. The more of it inside of you, the more it spreads. So it is important to rectify the disease as early as possible. How many of you know people who were angry, and as time went by they only got more angry. It obviously doesn't lead to happiness, just a dull, dark pit of unhappiness. During our times of anger, we often hurt people, and this isn't good in the long run. Channeling anger into energy is also energy that is not good. If we get this energy from anger, then we will rely on anger more and more, bringing us further into the pit of unhappiness.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: hope rainbow on March 29, 2012, 03:22:16 AM
Anger is a push for complete things faster, no doubt, but when we do things with anger, we might complete the task with the wrong way.

It affected our

1.   Decision making – when we are angry, we can’t analyze the situation properly, because during that time, our mind can only focus in 1 thing, which is what makes us angry.

2.   Speech – When we are angry, we tend to talk loud, we even say things that hurt other people, because when we are angry, we only tend to solve the problem and get rid of our anger, so we might use word that hurts people to solve the problem faster.

3.   Action – When we are angry, we will use whatever way to solve the problem, sometimes we might even try methods that are not suppose or dangerous, but during that time, we can’t think so much already.

4.   Vision – When we are angry, our vision will become narrow, it narrowing our view on seeing things and it also narrowing our heart that affect our measurement of acceptance.

Anger will not only destroy our inner peace, it also destroy peace between the people around us and it could be a decision that there has no return…

Thanks for this post Carpenter,

But what is anger?
Anger is the wish to HURT others, to DESTROY others!
It's that voice in our head that says: "I wish he'd drop dead!"
It's the feeling of "pleasure" we feel when someone we really don't like suffers; when the person who "stole" something from us looses his job; when the person who was screaming at us just now gets a scolding in turn; when the guy who was starting to squeeze into the queue just in front of us scratches his car on a concrete curb... You know what I mean... It's every day, it's most moments, it's vicious, it has many covers, but it's always anger, and it is always destructive, it never is helpful.

So I don't think that anger is ever "a push to complete things faster", I don't think so, unless of course what we want to complete faster is:
-the burning up of all our merit,
-the descent in the lower realms,
-the increase of other's suffering.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: vajraD on March 29, 2012, 11:57:13 AM
I agree that anger do somewhat blind our vision. Anger arises because of ones jealousy, ego, selfishness and etc…

For instance when the anger arises shoot up to the head we scold or shout, scream and etc… thinking that throwing anger get things done. Sometimes it works but it may not be the result we want. I don’t know about others but for me I always regret and get angry at my self after throwing one hence I try my very best not to throw one or walk of when thing are shooting up, so that I don’t hurt others with my speech and when cool of talk again.

Throwing anger does not help situation to become better instead it become worse if is not handle properly.

Dharma practices have helped me a lot in reducing my anger.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Gypsy on March 29, 2012, 02:02:05 PM
There is no doubt that anger can blind us from seeing the truth. Anger that turns to hatred do cause not only delusions but phobias, addictions, manic behavior, and obsessive behavior. All this can lead to mental illness.

We should always look at why we are angry about something in the first place? Anger is very natural and should not be suppressed but to be dealt with healthily. Finding the causes of anger is a good way to deal with anger. Here's one of the cause of anger whether we realise it or not and it is FEAR. Fear of losing someone, fear of being hurt, fear of not being accepted.

An advice from the old wisdom one, Yoda. Hehe.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate.. to suffering" ([url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFnFr-DOPf8#[/url])

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads? to suffering.


I couldn't agree more! Anger is the root of many negative actions such as abusive speech/actions, phobias, addictions, hatred, manic/obsessive behavior. Anger comes so easily but the damage it brought will stay for a very long time. All the delusions cause by ones ignorance will produce something negative that sometimes we even couldn't handle.

I agree that practicing the 8 verses of mind transformation can really help us in dealing negative emotions such as anger. The more we understand that everyone we meet in this life there must have some karmic connections. Our parents this life might be our previous life's enemies, who knows? Practice the 8 verses of mind transformation can help to train us not to be too indulged in negative emotions like anger that will bring lots of damage to both parties.  I particularly find the #4 verse is useful.

#4 When I see beings of unpleasant character
Oppressed by strong negativity and suffering,
May I hold them dear-for they are rare to find-
As if I have discovered a jewel treasure!



Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Reena Searl on March 29, 2012, 05:15:12 PM
TOTALLY AGREE...Anger not only blinded our vision, it also destroy many things is we are not willing to deal with it.

We all know what anger is, and we've all felt it: whether as a fleeting annoyance or as full-fledged rage.

When anger gets out of control and turns destructive, it can lead to problems—problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. And it can make you feel as though you're at the mercy of an unpredictable and powerful emotion.

If matters can be settled or solved in a peaceful manner, why choose to be angry and let anger control us?
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: rossoneri on March 30, 2012, 06:09:08 AM
Very true!!! Anger arises normally due to our negative behavior such as ego, desire and when we are out of control. It is very dangerous because with anger we might harm ourselves or others, physically and emotionally. In many cases we read in the news someone lost his or her life due to anger. We must not think by using such a manner that we could solves a problem. Unless we have a right motivation, pure mind and be very focus on what are we trying to achieve. Not using anger to put, harm or hurt someone. I believed not many can do that.

As a Dharma practitioner we should always check if we are constantly transforming ourselves to be better. I think 8 verses of mind transformation is a very good guide. On top of that if we do our daily sadhana and meditation properly, we should find ourselves calmer and find bliss. With these qualities we should be able to create harmony within us.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: RedLantern on March 30, 2012, 07:09:34 AM
Avoiding situations that cause anger is easier said than done.Anger is one of the three poisons and created by the mind.It arises from unresolved fears or when our ego buttons are pushed.For this reason,when we become angry we must take great care not to act on our anger to hurt others.Only understanding and compassion can neutraliise anger.If we deeply realises the emptiness of inherent existence or interdependence of the other person,the situation and oneself,there is nothing to be angry about.The realisation of emptiness is therefore the ultimate means of ridding oneself of unrealistic negative emotions like anger.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: hope rainbow on March 31, 2012, 04:45:41 AM
I agree that anger do somewhat blind our vision. Anger arises because of ones jealousy, ego, selfishness and etc…

For instance when the anger arises shoot up to the head we scold or shout, scream and etc… thinking that throwing anger get things done. Sometimes it works but it may not be the result we want. I don’t know about others but for me I always regret and get angry at my self after throwing one hence I try my very best not to throw one or walk of when thing are shooting up, so that I don’t hurt others with my speech and when cool of talk again.

Throwing anger does not help situation to become better instead it become worse if is not handle properly.

Dharma practices have helped me a lot in reducing my anger.

I do not think that anger is "raising one's voice to get a result", I really don't think so.
In fact raising one's voice and being stern may have great benefits, and it does not equate with anger.
No, I am quite sure, that this is not anger.

Anger may be raising one's voice, but with the intention of:
- putting someone down and be on top,
- hurting someone,
- retaliate to a hurt we have felt, thinking that hurting the other person will be a balm to our damaged feelings,
- thinking that great pleasure will arise from hurting another being, and taking pleasure in hurting another being,
- etc...
(we can all figure out so many more examples).

Anger can manifest by a hurtful silence, by a hurtful calm, by a hurtful smile, by a hurtful gift...
Anger is WANTING TO HURT, or WANTING FOR SOMEONE (or something) TO BE HURT and suffer. that is anger

And anger blinds us in this:

1. with a sane state of mind we would NEVER even wish to hurt another being, this action simply does not align with our true nature.

2. We only hurt others after we have JUSTIFIED that the hurt is:

a) deserved, because our deluded mind is convinced that another being has deserved to be hurt, and then we take satisfaction in hurting that being (try to imagine how most of us could hurt the man who has raped our daughter to get a good idea!)

b) irrelevant, because this is just how it is; and we develop this easily to other beings that are neutral to us (it is fine to kill chicken, beef, etc... for the pleasure of our taste buds)

So we are blinded, not so much by our anger, but by our deluded way of thinking that leads our mind to a justification of anger.

Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: pgdharma on March 31, 2012, 10:43:23 AM
Anger is caused by our inability to control our emotions.  It is a feeling that makes our mouth and actions faster than our mind.  It not only blinded our vision but creates a lot of disharmony which can be destructive. So we should watch our mind, keep it under control and be patient. Eight verses of thought transformation is a good guide which we can follow and when anger arises we can contemplate on one of the verses before acting irrationally.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: dondrup on March 31, 2012, 05:34:21 PM
Anger is one of the three poisons of our mind and it is a very destructive emotion.  If we don’t purify the karma that causes our anger, it will get stronger and stronger in the future. Eventually anger becomes very difficult to overcome.

Anger is such an ugly and terrible experience which we would prefer not get caught up in it.  After anger has manifested, it is already too late to do anything about it.  Much damage is done, someone will be hurt and that includes us.  We will have very unpleasant feeling that lingers on. Anger had destroyed our inner peace!  If the anger is minor, we recover fast.  But when the anger is major, it could take days or even years to recover!

When we are angry, we are totally lost in its grip.  We lose the control of our thoughts.  We lose the clarity of our mind to analyse the situations on hand objectively.  We are focused single-pointedly on wanting to protect our ego, to harm, to fight back, to win, to not lose face, to outdo the other(s), to raise our voice, to defend, to say we are right … the list goes on. 

We will always regret our anger once we regained our composure.  No matter how many times we apologise to others for our anger, the anger will always come back.  We should refrain from anger or at least try to be more patient.

The practice of continuous mindfulness and awareness of our every thought is hence very important to help control anger from arising.  We will notice it is at the moment when we are least attentive, when our awareness and mindfulness slack, that anger has the opportunity to arise.

One of the reasons why anger arises is because we hold grudges against others.  It doesn’t matter how small the grudge is.  As long as we don’t let go of the grudge, it could trigger our anger when we are dealing with someone or situations we dislike.  The truth is we like to find faults with others!  When we see the faults in others or situations, we get angry easily.  Hence it is advisable not to find faults but to perceive everything as pure beings and pure environment as practised in the Buddhist Tantras.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Positive Change on April 01, 2012, 01:53:23 PM
Anger blinds us in this:

1. with a sane state of mind we would NEVER even wish to hurt another being, this action simply does not align with our true nature.

2. We only hurt others after we have JUSTIFIED that the hurt is:

a) deserved, because our deluded mind is convinced that another being has deserved to be hurt, and then we take satisfaction in hurting that being (try to imagine how most of us could hurt the man who has raped our daughter to get a good idea!)

b) irrelevant, because this is just how it is; and we develop this easily to other beings that are neutral to us (it is fine to kill chicken, beef, etc... for the pleasure of our taste buds)

So we are blinded, not so much by our anger, but by our deluded way of thinking that leads our mind to a justification of anger.

We can conceptualize the beings in 3 categories:
1. the beings we feel love for (love with attachment),
2. the beings we feel neutral with,
3. the beings we feel aversion or hatred for.

The first category is relevant to the poison of DESIRE.
The third category is relevant to the poison of ANGER.

HR gave the example of the person who "raped my daughter", in this instant, emotions very easily take over my mind the feeling of hatred and anger arises towards that person. It is again very easy to fuel this anger too, to a point of where I could imagine hurting that person, or even kill...

Then I imagine my mother, the most loving being to me in this world (after my Guru), and I cannot even start to put a state of mind like that against my mother. It is impossible. Love disables all feelings of anger towards my mother to arise.

And then the neutral beings, like the ducks, the beef, the mosquitos, the flies...

I could not care less if they are killed or not, it is just convenience... At least that is how I used to feel.

Now, as I type this, I can see more clearly how powerful is the meditation of recognizing that every sentient being has been my mother in a past life countless times!

That meditation disables ANGER.

And it does not mean that I treat my daughter's rapist like I treat my mother, it means that I deal with that person with a mind free from anger, thus with MORE OPTIONS as how to deal with him and with a wish to help him out of his dangerous and hurtful state of mind.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: rossoneri on July 08, 2012, 08:54:02 AM
The real hero is the person who defeats the delusions and accumulates virtue in daily life. The real bravery is living in the precepts, because this means we have faced the delusions, the inner enemy. Living in the precepts is making war with the delusions, and a person who lives in the precepts is the real army, the inner army. That is a worthwhile army—an army that will accomplish nirvana and the omniscient mind.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: bambi on July 08, 2012, 01:19:19 PM
Anger.. Something I dislike a lot. I do have it still after a few years of practice and yes, it is bad for someone like me who knows karma and still doing it. When I dislike something, I just get irritated and I tend to sulk, keeping it inside and blow up when I am disturbed. If inside, we do not control our mind, then it will lead something we will regret. Eg scolding someone only to hurt them and it cannot be undone.

The real bravery, the real hero is the person who can fight anger, and can overwhelm and climb over anger. The real hero is the person who can face the most difficult and dangerous enemy—the inner enemy.

One person’s anger can kill sixty million people. That is how dangerous anger is—it is much more dangerous than an atomic bomb. There is no comparison between one person’s anger and an atomic bomb. Anger is much more harmful than an atomic bomb.

The danger of an atomic bomb is that it harms others and it can destroy the whole earth—more than half of the world—millions and millions of human beings and creatures. There are so many creatures—uncountable numbers in the water, under the ground, in the bushes and in the sky. There are so many, it is unbelievable. All this gets destroyed—not only human beings, but also creatures and so many buildings, bridges and cities. All these things that thousands and thousands of people for many years planned and spent so much money on, and worked so hard in order to collect the money to give to the workers—all these enjoyments, all the rich and comfortable apartments and the huge buildings, took so much time and effort. People put so much effort into building all this and in just one minute or one hour, it all gets destroyed. In so many of these cities, it is unbelievable how much effort people put into these things. They suffered so much to construct all this, then in one day or in one hour, it is all completely destroyed.

The danger of the atomic bomb comes from anger. If there is patience and no anger, this destruction would not happen. Even without talking about the narak realms, anger produces negative karma. Even without talking about karma, we can easily see how anger is so harmful and so dangerous. So then, if we talk about karma, it is unbelievable—when we think about the suffering result of that, there is no need to talk much. Today’s anger arises towards another sentient being, and this anger causes harm and suffering from life to life. The suffering result is experienced from life to life for a long time. Particularly if we think about karma creating a result that is similar to the cause, we understand. Because of the habit of getting angry in this life, we see that if we do not cease it in this life, again the habit comes out in the next life and anger arises, and so it goes on and on like this.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Jessie Fong on July 08, 2012, 01:43:30 PM

Anger arises because you feel offended, wronged or denied and most people react by retaliation.
It is said that Buddhist monks, such as Dalai Lama, sometimes get angry.

Thus, in response to the question: "Is any anger acceptable in Buddhism?' the Dalai Lama answered:
"Buddhism in general teaches that anger is a destructive emotion and although anger might have some positive effects in terms of survival or moral outrage, I do not accept that anger of any kind as a virtuous emotion nor aggression as constructive behavior. The Gautama Buddha has taught that there are three basic kleshas at the root of samsara (bondage, illusion) and the vicious cycle of rebirth. These are greed, hatred, and delusion — also translatable as attachment, anger, and ignorance. They bring us confusion and misery rather than peace, happiness, and fulfillment. It is in our own self-interest to purify and transform them."


Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: biggyboy on July 08, 2012, 01:47:03 PM
When anger arises and without much control it will destroy our peace and happiness in life. It affects our reasoning at most times too.  Usually it impels us to do negative actions that will cause further sufferings and destruction to families and friends.  Likewise, spiritual progress will be hindered to improving our mind.  To counter anger is to practise patience and tolerance.  Hence, practising the 8 Mind Transformation will be one of the ways to counter one’s anger.

http://www.anger-management-techniques.org/index.htm/ (http://www.anger-management-techniques.org/index.htm/)
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: icy on July 27, 2012, 08:49:31 AM
When we are angry we are blind to reality. Anger may bring us a temporary burst of energy, but that energy is blind and it blocks the part of our brain that distinguishes right from wrong. To deal with our problems, we need to be practical and realistic. If we are to be realistic, we need to use our human intelligence properly, which means we need a calm mind.

Out-bursts or actions from anger most often bring damage or harm to oneself and others.  A calm mind avert harm and damage and have the wisdom to solutions to end our problems.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: buddhalovely on August 23, 2012, 05:20:44 PM
When we are angry we are blind to reality.

Anger may bring us a temporary burst of energy, but that energy is blind and it blocks the part of our brain that distinguishes right from wrong.

To deal with our problems, we need to be practical and realistic.

If we are to be realistic, we need to use our human intelligence properly, which means we need a calm mind.
  ~ HH The 14th Dalai Lama
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: icy on September 28, 2012, 02:42:13 AM
Reflect upon the negative consequences of our strong attachment to friends and hostility toward enemies. Our feelings for a friend or a loved one sometimes blind us to certain of his or her aspects. We project a quality of absolute desirability, absolute infallibility, upon that person. Then, when we see something contrary to our projections, we are stunned. We swing from the extreme of love and desire to disappointment, repulsion, and sometimes even anger. Even that sense of inner contentment and satisfaction in a relationship with someone we love can lead to disappointment, frustration, and hatred. Though strong emotions, like those of romantic love or righteous hatred, may feel profoundly compelling, their pleasure is fleeting. From a Buddhist point of view, it is far better not to be in the grip of such emotions in the first place.

What are the repercussions of becoming overpowered by intense dislike? The Tibetan word for hatred, shedang, suggests hostility from the depth of one's heart. There is a certain irrationality in responding to injustice or harm with hostility. Our hatred has no physical effect on our enemies; it does not harm them. Rather, it is we who suffer the ill consequences of such overwhelming bitterness. It eats us from within. With anger we slowly begin to lose our appetite. We cannot sleep at night and often end up just rolling back and forth, back and forth, all night long. It affects us profoundly, while our enemies continue along, blissfully unaware of the state we have been reduced to.

Free of hatred or anger, we can respond to actions committed against us far more effectively. If we approach things with a cool head, we see the problem more clearly and judge the best way to address it. For example, if a child is doing something that could be dangerous to himself or others, such as playing with matches, we can discipline him. When we behave in such a forthright manner, there is a far greater chance that our actions will hit the mark. The child will respond not to our anger but to our sense of urgency and concern.

This is how we come to see that our true enemy is actually within us. It is our selfishness, our attachment, and our anger that harm us. Our perceived enemy's ability to inflict harm on us is really quite limited. If someone challenges us and we can muster the inner discipline to resist retaliating, it is possible that no matter what the person has done, those actions do not disturb us.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: icy on October 21, 2012, 09:55:37 AM
Some people feel that although it may be right to curb feelings of intense hatred which can cause us to be violent and even to kill, we are in danger of losing our independence when we restrain our emotions and discipline the mind. Actually, the opposite is true. Like their counterparts of love and compassion, anger and the afflictive emotions can never be used up. They have, rather, a propensity to increase, like a river flooding in summer when the snow melts, so that far from being free, our minds are enslaved and rendered helpless by them. When we indulge our negative thoughts and feelings, inevitably we become accustomed to them. As a result, gradually we become more prone to them and more controlled by them. And we become habituated to exploding in the face of displeasing circumstances.

Inner peace, which is the principal characteristic of happiness, and anger cannot coexist without undermining one another. Indeed, negative thoughts and emotions undermine the very causes of peace and happiness. In fact, when we think properly, it is totally illogical to seek happiness if we do nothing to restrain angry, spiteful, and malicious thoughts and emotions. Consider that when we become angry, we often use harsh words. Harsh words can destroy friendship. Since happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others, if we destroy friendships, we undermine one of the very conditions of happiness itself.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: DS Star on October 21, 2012, 03:29:09 PM

Beware of the anger of the body.
Master the body.
Let it serve truth.

Beware of the anger of the mouth.
Master your words.
Let them serve truth.

Beware of the anger of the mind.
Master your thoughts.
Let them serve truth.

The wise have mastered
Body, word and mind.
They are the true masters.


-Buddha
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: icy on November 04, 2012, 09:02:55 AM
Everybody loves to talk about calm and peace, whether in a family, national, or international context. But without inner peace how can we make real peace? World peace through hatred and force is impossible. Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's attitude is of love, warmth, and kind-heartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Dondrup Shugden on February 07, 2015, 01:13:27 PM
Anger is one of the 3 poisons that we possess and keep us in Samsara.  The reason is quite simple as anger blind our vision and logical thinking and we become irrational and very capable of taking actions that harm others.

One of the good way to contain anger is to always think what the other side is all about and instead of letting your ego take charge, let your compassion do so. Not easy to do but worth the try to have a calm and peaceful state of mind.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: angelica on February 12, 2015, 03:34:22 PM
We get angry when our expectations are not met. We have to be very careful with our emotions, especially anger. Anger is a very powerful negative energy. When we are angry, we tend to do things or say something that can hurt other beings. When we are angry, our body will release toxic that can harm our our internal organ such as heart, kidneys and liver. Anger also destroy our inner peace. When we are angry, we can't think properly, logically and rationally. We only see what we want to see and not the truth.

When our expectations are not met, anger is not the solutions to the unexpected result. We either lower our expectation, or find a way to make it up to our expectations.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: maricisun on February 13, 2015, 05:46:52 AM
I agree that anger will somehow blinds our vision. The mind is of control be it out of jealousy, ego, hatred or anything.
How to control our anger? It will be great if everyone has dharma in them. It will lead them to think before acting on it. At least it can help to control our anger.
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: kelly on February 14, 2015, 07:43:12 AM
I fully agree in order to analysts the reality we need to stay calm if our mind are cover with angry energy how to we think we only will react negatively, thus anger us our enemy when anger arise do let it come but let it pass do not react to it be calm like what Dalailama said .
Title: Re: Anger blinded our vision...
Post by: Kim Hyun Jae on February 15, 2015, 08:17:10 AM
Getting angry towards another person, car, situation or condition means we want what was not to be, to our expectation. We had expectations and when the expectations did not turn out to what we Want, then we get angry. That leads towards the "want" and the "I" for we truly think that "I want" will bring us happiness, which is temporary for now. After that moment of "anger" or "happiness" floats away, we are left with "nothing" or even forgotten how that situation happened.

So Anger does "blind" us to think and action irrationally towards another, and further add in "more negative" new karma to be "created" if we respond in a "negative" way, and the wheel of samsara continues to turn and turn.