Anger
27
Anger, attachment, pride and greed always harm the
owner. People do not understand this. If you were to starve
them for three years, they (kashayas) would run away. What
is the nourishment for these weaknesses? How can you starve
them if you do not know what they thrive on? It is your lack
of understanding that provides sustenance for them. How do
they survive and carry on life after life? Stop feeding them.
People do not think along these lines and instead forcefully try
to subdue them. These four weaknesses will not go away
easily.
An acharya (spiritual head) scolds his disciple with anger.
If a person asks the acharya why he is scolding his disciple, and
he replies that the disciple needed to be told off, then by making
such a statement, he has fed his anger. This support for his
anger is its food.
If anger, pride, attachment, and greed are not fed for
three years, they will leave. This is because each has its specific
diet, which people provide everyday and so they grow healthy
and strong.
When a man smacks his child in anger, his wife will rebuke
him for doing so. If he tells her that the child deserved it, then
he would be feeding his anger. In making such statements, people
support their weaknesses.
I have never given protection to anger, pride, attachment,
and greed. If I happen to get angry and someone asks me why,
I would tell him that it is wrong to get angry and that it occurred
because of my weakness. In this way, I do not protect it. But
other people do.
If a sadhu (an ascetic) happens to be using snuff and we
ask why a man of his status should have such an addiction, he
will strengthen his addiction when he says that there is no harm
in using snuff.