Anger is a State of Mind

Anger is a State of Mind

The monastery was bustling with visitors. Summertime brought with it a temporary interest in Buddhism and meditation.

“They are disturbing our peace; I cannot meditate,” the young monk complained to the master.

“Peace is a state of mind,” the master said calmly.

“They really don’t care about the meditation; they are coming here for the pictures,” the young monk was visibly angry. He stormed out of the monastery, dodging the tourists, walking away to find his peace.

It was meditation time. The visitors lined up to take their seats in the garden.

The young monk refused to sit in the monastery. He walked up to the lake, sat in the boat and rowed away. He reached the middle of the lake. It was silent. It was peaceful. He breathed a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes and began his meditation.

A few minutes passed, and then he felt a bump; another boat had collided against his. The young monk was disturbed but kept his eyes closed. Another bump from the boat brought his attention to the mischief someone was playing to ruin his meditation. He kept his eyes closed, tried to swallow his welling-up anger and continued his meditation. Another bump shook his boat. He tried his best to control his anger and focussed on his meditation. One more bump and the young monk flared up. He opened his eyes, and one would have expected him to shout with rage—only to see an empty boat. There was no one inside.

The boat had probably gotten untethered and drifted into the lake. There was no one inside.

A wave of realization consumed him.?Anger was a state of mind; it was within him.?Even an empty boat could provoke and unleash it.

The young monk rowed back to the monastery. Found a space in the crowded gathering of visitors, sat down, and started his meditation in peace.

Summary:

  • Anger is always an inner state. It just needs a provocation, sometimes even a senseless and meaningless act or situation, to erupt.
  • If you cannot find peace in chaos, you won’t find peace anywhere.

Source: The Buddhist stories.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Inspire me.

Rooting for your success,

Priya Kumar

Email: [email protected]

Durgesh Deshpande

Ex-CHRO || HR, ER & IR Expertise || Strategist, Capability Building, Change Management, Integration, Compliances.

1 年

I think anger is an outcome of others not meeting your expectations, the way you wanted them to do. What about your own expectations from yourself? We conveniently forget that it's more to do with you (internally), rather than others (externally).

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Taranpreet Kaur Deol

Author , CopyWriter for coaches, Tarot Life Coach, Motivational Speaker and Healing Counsellor.

1 年

Your creativity is mashahallah ??

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Parin Parmar

Pediatric Allergy-Immunology Consultant, Integrative Medicine Consultant-Researcher (Yoga, Acupuncture, Music Therapy, & Lifestyle Medicine)

1 年

Wonderful story.. Thank you..

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