No Time for Anger

Venerable Tashi came to see me today to confess that he had become angry at me for what he thought was me wasting his time.

But, Venerable Tashi, you should know that if you had even a shred of a practitioner’s way of thinking, and are someone who is truly careful with their time, then you would not let yourself become angry. There is no greater waste of time than getting angry.

You talk about practising the great seal, mahamudra, and so on, but what sort of person can practice the great seal? Those who have no thought or inclination to worldly things in the least. That doesn’t mean that they are angry at the world. Those who feel anger towards the world cannot be called dharma practitioners. Those who take issue with everything are also not dharma practitioners.

It has nothing to do with what other people have done or said, the fact that we can’t handle it tells us that we have a problem. It is not okay for us to become angry.

If we understood what we have been studying, we would also know that it is very dangerous for us to get angry with our lama and our dharma friends, in the Vajrayana context, and also very dangerous and inappropriate to become angry with our parents, which includes all living beings in the Greater Vehicle. Or, in the Lower Vehicle, where the emphasis is more on oneself and one’s own liberation, there is no space for anger or for any of the afflictions, for it will be understood that they keep us bound in the cycle of suffering and are the main hindrance to our liberation, our freedom.

Note: Drupon Khen Rinpoche then made Venerable Tashi repeat the action that he felt was a waste of his time.

(The name of the venerable practitioner has been changed for obvious reasons.)