GLEANINGS FROM MAHATMAS

THE DALAI LAMA ON ANGER AND FORGIVENESS

• If the basic human nature was aggressive, we would have been born with animal claws and huge teeth but ours are very short, very pretty, and very weak! That means we are not well equipped to be aggressive beings. Even the size of our mouth is very small. So I think the basic nature of human beings should be gentle.
• Anger and hatred are our real enemies. They are the forces we most need to confront and defeat, not the temporary 'enemies' who appear intermittently throughout our life. And unless we train our minds to reduce their negative force, they will continue to disturb us and disrupt our attempts to develop a calm mind.
• When negative thoughts and motivations such as hatred or anger are present, even a friend is seen as an enemy, but when negative thoughts towards an enemy disappear, the enemy becomes a friend.
• Giving your anger the instrument of words and actions is like giving a child a pile of straw and a box of matches. Once lit, anger feeds off the air of exposure and can rage out of control. The only alternative is to control anger, and the way to do this is to think, What is the value of anger? What is the value of tolerance and compassion?
• When we are able to recognize and forgive ignorant actions done in one's past, we strengthen ourselves and can solve the problems of the present constructively.