The Health Effects of Losing One's Temper

When I speak to people about Buddhism and mention the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance, it is that mention of anger that gets people's heads nodding in agreement. Ideally, we want to control our own tempers for the sake of all beings. An angry person cannot help others.

But what if we're not at that point? What if we have enough trouble just trying to do what is right for ourselves? If the only person we can think of helping at this moment is ourselves, we still need to realize the harm becoming angry does.

Losing one’s temper hurts both oneself and others. It is particularly harmful to one’s physical health. When one loses one’s temper, even for only a minute, it takes three days for all the cells in the body to return to normal. Imagine how much worse it is to lose one’s temper every day. Clearly, losing one’s temper is the same as gradually committing suicide.

Now that we know this, we should not lose our temper no matter what provocation we encounter. Why? Because we must protect our bodies and minds from being affected by the external environment. We should gradually reduce emotional afflictions for they are harmful to our bodies and minds. This way, we will be able to maintain mental and physical well-being. With the reduction of afflictions our wisdom will naturally increase. We should know that the true way of maintaining good health is nurturing a loving heart. We should never dislike anyone or anything. Doing this is the fulfillment of the paramita of patience. We will be living in gratitude and enjoying a life of the utmost happiness.

~ Ven. Master Chin Kung

Infinite Life Sutra Excerpt

Wherever the Buddha’s teachings flourish,

either in cities or countrysides,

people will gain inconceivable benefits.

The land and people will be enveloped in peace.

The sun and moon will shine clear and bright.

Wind and rain will appear accordingly

and there will be no disasters.

Nations will be prosperous

and there will be no need for soldiers or weapons.

People will abide by morality and accord with laws.

They will be courteous and humble,

and everyone will be content without injustices.

There will be no thefts or violence.

The strong will not dominate the weak

and everyone will get their fair share.

Don't Judge, be Quiet, Observe

I'm looking out yet another window. This one is in my room in one of the two nun's dormitories at the Pure Land Learning College, in Toowoomba, Australia. Across the road is a church with an attached school. It's Sunday morning and young children are in the playground. Over a dozen of them are holding what might be a marquee cover. It is multicolored and about twenty yards long. I can't see how wide. There is a slight breeze with periodic gusts of wind.

The children are raising their arms and lowering them so the marquee cover is rising and falling, and billowing as it catches the wind. I can hear the children laughing as they play. A children's game I think and return to working on my computer.

I look up a few more times and then notice there's a pattern to the movement. It's more than just letting the cover catch the wind and playing with it. On more careful observation and trying not to jump to another hasty conclusion, I realize the children are all moving their arms in unison. There must be someone telling them when to raise or lower their arms and when to let the cover settle down on the ground and then make it rise again.

And I realize this is no mere game. This is a lesson in teamwork because the children all have to work together to get the cover to catch the wind and billow. It is a lesson in patience because they have to wait for the wind to calm down. It is a lesson in diligence because they have to keep practicing to learn how to work with the constantly changing wind.

So my initial hasty, dismissive conclusion about what was happening outside my window was all wrong.

I only realized what was really happening when my mind was quiet, when I wasn't making judgments, when I was carefully observing what was happening, and when I allowed the truth to come bubbling up from inside me.

Love

With their true sincerity, purity, equality,

Ultimate wisdom and compassion,

Saints and gods of all religions

Benefit all people in acting as

Leaders by guiding,

Parents by nurturing and

Teachers by educating.

Saints and gods teach all people

The relationships between

Humans,

Humans and nature, and

Humans and spirits of Heaven and Earth;

To change from bad to good,

Deluded to awakened,

Ordinary to sage;

To have kind hearts and thoughts, and do kind deeds;

To differentiate neither by nationality, belief or race,

Nor between self and others.

Coexist harmoniously,

Regard each other with equality and respect, and

Love one another.

Work together,

Care for each other and accord with all,

Unceasingly and forever.

Through true honesty, deeply believe that

All sentient-beings are one with the

Same true nature, wisdom and virtue.

One who achieves these teachings is a saint.

A manifestation of a

PerfectlyEnlightened Being of Infinite Life and Light.

~ Venerable Master Chin Kung ~

It's all About Choice

I'm in the midst of several translations projects, all of which have the same deadline—yesterday. (See, a monastics life is not that different from those of laypeople!) So this entry will be short and simple.

For those who have been reading the blog, you know I am having vocal cord problems. The pain is pretty much gone but I have to be very careful of what I eat: no fried, salty, acidic, or spicy foods. My voice is getting better, but I still cannot lecture or talk for long. I also have a thyroid problem, which is easily controlled by thyroid medicine. But I should not eat rice other than basmati and shouldn't eat soy products because they inhibit the thyroid medicine and that causes other problems. So I shouldn't eat regular rice, soy products, or fried, spicy, acidic, or salty foods. This is a bit of a problem because I live in a community and there's a fair amount of those foods at mealtimes. I also have a few other medical-type problems.

Then this morning I managed to pinch that pesky nerve in my back that occasionally gives me trouble, and I don't have any of my heat packs here. Plus it's a rainy, chilly day. So my back and leg hurt. And I'm walking quite slowly. I prefer to think of it as "dignified," although the occasional wince does seem to diminish my dignified conceit.

So I'm tired from having my thyroid medicine partially negated, I have a circulation problem that requires one treatment that is the direct opposite of the treatment for what causes the vocal cord scaring, my arm hurts from spending much more time on the computer since I can't talk much, I can't figure out what to eat, and I'm in pain. And I have to chuckle about it. (Must be those Jewish genes.;-))

And Buddhism.

I could complain, but frankly after I pinched that nerve, I figured I had nothing to complain about. It's karma. Or karmic creditors. Or just plain aging as the Buddha said when he spoke of the eight sufferings we undergo. Or a combination of everything. But whatever the causes, they could have hit me all at once with one ailment. But I'm lucky. I've got a bunch of minor ailments on a list that does seem determined to grow longer.

But so far, I'm choosing not to be frustrated or angry or depressed. I choose to try to understand and look for something to be grateful for. And I am very grateful that my difficulties seem to be spread around so that there isn't that one debilitating illness or injury that would be serious. And I know that if I do not become frustrated or angry or depressed, I'll be able to pay off the karmic debts that have contributed to my problems.

So, I consider myself to be very fortunate.

And that means that I'm still smiling.

And practicing my dignified walk.