148 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
148 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
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CONTROL ANGER
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Anger is one expression of extreme, unrestrained emotion that must
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be brought under control if one is to make spiritual progress. Anger is
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a natural feeling that arises upon seeing unrighteousness, yet
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uncontrolled it can cause much damage. Of the great founders of religion,
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we see that Moses had anger as a weakness. He displayed it, to his own
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loss, at the incident of striking the rock at Meribah. For a related
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theme, see Turn the Other Cheek, pp. 1003-07.
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Conquer anger by love.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 223
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Anger dissolves affection.... Therefore man should subvert anger by
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forgiveness.
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Jainism. Samanasuttam 135-36
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The fly cannot be driven away by getting angry at it.
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African Traditional Religions. Idoma Proverb (Nigeria)
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The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.
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Christianity. James 1.20
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Anger deprives a sage of his wisdom, a prophet of his vision.
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Judaism. Talmud, Pesahim 66b
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He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
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And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
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Judaism and Christianity. Proverbs 16.32
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Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as saying, "The strong man is not the
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good wrestler; the strong man is only he who controls himself when he is
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angry."
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Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
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Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and
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give no opportunity for the devil.
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Christianity. Ephesians 4.26-27
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When a man goes to sacrifice he must remain peaceful, without a hot heart.
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He must stay thus for at least a day. If he quarrels on that day or is
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hot in his heart he becomes sick and destroys the words of the lineage and
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of the sacrifice.
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African Traditional Religions. Luhya Saying (Kenya)
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If an evil man, on hearing of what is good, comes and creates a disturb-
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ance, you should hold your peace. You must not angrily upbraid him; then
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he who has come to curse you will merely harm himself.
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Buddhism. Sutra of Forty-two Sections 7
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Brethren, if outsiders should speak against me, or against the Doctrine,
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or against the Order, you should not on that account either bear malice,
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or suffer resentment, or feel ill will. If you, on that account, should
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feel angry and hurt, that would stand in the way of your own self-
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conquest.
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Buddhism. Digha Nikaya i.3, Brahmajala Sutta
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You have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You shall not kill;
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and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that
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everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; who-
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ever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says
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"You fool!" shall be liable to the hell of fire.
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Christianity. Matthew 5.21-22
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Why, sir, do you get angry at someone
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Who is angry with you?
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What are you going to gain by it?
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How is he going to lose by it?
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Your physical anger brings dishonor on yourself;
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Your mental anger disturbs your thinking.
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How can the fire in your house burn the neighbor's house
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Without engulfing your own?
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Hinduism. Basavanna, Vachana 248
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Now there was no water for the congregation; and the people con-
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tended with Moses, and said... "Why have you made us come out of Egypt, to
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bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines,
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or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink." Then the Lord said to
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Moses, "Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your
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brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you
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shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the
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congregation and their cattle."
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Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the
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rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth
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water for you out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand and struck
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the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the con-
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gregation drank, and their cattle. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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"Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me before the eyes of the
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people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the
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land which I have given them."
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Judaism and Christianity. Numbers 20.2-13
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Dhammapada 223: Cf. Dhammapada 3-5, p. 999. James 1.19-20: Cf. Analects
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16.7, p. 928. Idoma Proverb: Anger solves nothing. Ephesians 4.26-27:
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To practice this teaching, by resolving each day's quarrels and meditating
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to digest each day's resentments before going to bed each night, is a
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valuable spiritual exercise. For when anger is stored up day after day,
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it becomes much harder to eradicate. Sutra of Forty-two Sections 7: Cf.
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Romans 12.19-20, p. 1007. Digha Nikaya i.3: Cf. Chuang Tzu 2, p. 67;
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Lotus Sutra 20, p. 1006; Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life 5.48, p.
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920; Itivuttaka 110, p. 740; Anguttara Nikaya v.66, pp. 724f. Matthew
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5.21-22: Cf. Matthew 5.27-28, p. 931. Basavanna, Vachana 248: Cf.
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Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarin 9.4, p. 993. Numbers 20.2-13: As punishment for
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this mistake at the waters of Meribah, Moses would die in the wilderness
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and never set foot in the promised land (Deuteronomy 32.48-52). Instead
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of sanctifying God and showing forth God's blessings, Moses angrily rebuk-
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ed the congregation; in his anger he struck the rock twice, when one
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strike, done with dignity, would have been appropriate (Exodus 17.6-7).
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Another example of Moses' anger was his act of killing the Egyptian
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(Exodus 2.11-14), for which he was forced to flee Egypt and live as an
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exile in Midian.
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