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Hi, this is Margaret Meloni, and welcome to the Death Dhamma Podcast. In a series I used to read, occasionally one character would say to the other, may you live in interesting times. It was understood that this was a curse where interesting times meant chaos and difficulty. Well, we do live in interesting times. I mean, don't we always? So this season together, we will explore equanimity and chaos, recognizing that many aspects of life are beyond our control. Let's find a sense of balance and peace amid external chaos. Hello, everyone. Today we're going to consider anger and what anger does to us or what kind of person we become when we are angry. Because in these times, some people are feeling anger as a response to events that are happening. Fear sometimes shows up as anger. Frustration can show up as anger. And we want to consider, what kind of person does that make us? And is that a useful thing? Is anger useful for us in our lives? And so to guide us today, I'm bringing us the Kodhana Sutta. Kodhana sutta. K O D H A N A sutta, which means an angry person. An angry person. And so let's consider pieces of this sutta. I don't know if we'll go through all of it. We. Let's consider. Let's start with pieces. First, these seven things pleasing to an enemy bring about an enemy's aim. Come to a man or woman who is angry, which seven? Okay, so see right away there. We're starting off by acknowledging that when we are anger, we are playing into the hands of the enemy, if you will. All right, There is the case where an enemy wishes of an enemy, may this person be ugly. Why is that? An enemy is not pleased with an enemy's good looks. Now, when a person is angry, overcome with anger, oppressed with anger, then even though he may be, you know, bathed, shaved, dressed, you know, neatly trimmed, he still. Or she is ugly. Because being overcome with anger makes us ugly. Think about it. If you've ever seen, like a picture of someone's face when they're calm, happy versus anger. Anger, you know, kind of like most of us, it screws up our balls, up our face, and we turn red and puffy. And it's. It's not awesome, right? And so I'm not saying don't be angry out of vanity. I'm just saying. So this part of the sutta, this rings true. So this is the first thing. Pleasing to an enemy, bringing about an enemy's aim that comes to a wise man or woman who is angry. Further, an Enemy wishes. May this person sleep badly. Why is that? An enemy is not pleased with an enemy's restful sleep. Now, when a person is angry, overcome with anger, oppressed with anger, he may sleep on a bedspread with a white blanket spread with a woolen coverlet with a flower embroidered bread bedspread, Excuse me, bed spread covered with a rug of deer skins. Sorry, this came from times when that was a thing. We're a little less about the animal skins now, but we also have a lot more different choices. With a canopy overhead or on a sofa with red cushions at either end. He sleeps badly nevertheless because he is overcome with anger. This is the second thing pleasing to an enemy. Okay. And that is true as well, right? Like how well do you sleep when you are really upset about something, when you're very agitated. I had a decision to make the other day. It was a difficult decision. It had to do with spending some place where I spend time and acknowledging that maybe it wasn't the best place or situation for me to spend time. And as part of that, I had some resentment about how I felt the treatment was, how people were treating one another in this scenario and how I was being treated. And I would, did definitely went through some angst and anger over it as I spent the evening getting ready to make a decision which was about, you know, taking myself out of a, I'll say, a potentially emotionally damaging situation. So, yep, I very up close and familiar with this no sleeping thing. Okay, what else? What else does an enemy wish not to profit? Okay, right. So an enemy does not want their enemy to profit. So when a person is angry, overcome with anger, oppressed with anger, then even when he suffers a loss, he thinks I've gained a profit. And even when he gains a profit, he thinks I've suffered a loss. When he has grabbed hold of those ideas that work in mutual opposition to the truth, they lead to his long term suffering and loss, all because he is overcome with anger. All right, so in this instance, I guess what I would say is, so your enemy doesn't really want you to have profit to do well, right? To be benefit, benefit from situations in life, whether we're talking about financial profits or other benefits, and when we are angry, we may not think clearly about whether or not something is a profit of benefit to us. What's another? An enemy is not pleased with an enemy's wealth. So now we're getting more specific about wealth. So when a person is angry, overcome with anger, oppressed with anger, then whatever his wealth or hers earned through efforts at an enterprise amassed throughout the strength piled up righteous with wealth righteously gained, it is because he is overcome with anger if it is lost. And basically, here's. I should read the full sentence. Piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained. The king orders it sent to the royal treasury. And then in left, in parentheses it says in payment of fines levied for his behavior, all because he is overcome with anger. So basically saying angry person that compiles wealth may also lose that wealth. And of course, your enemy would be very happy about that, would be very happy about that. So they're saying, you know, if you're angry, even though you've gained wealth in a righteous way, you are subject to losing that wealth. An enemy wishes of an enemy. May this person not have any reputation. An enemy is not pleased with an enemy's reputation. Now, when a person is angry, whatever reputation he has gained from being heedful, it falls away because he is overcome with anger. This is the fifth thing pleasing to an enemy. I have a experience with this where I will say, once upon a time when I had more corporate work and I was in a corporate office every day and I had had the opportunity to advance to a certain level, I had, I think, a good reputation in terms of being calm, level headed, certainly not losing my temper, you know, being easier to work with. Lots of people would approach me to discuss challenges and issues because they trusted me. And I worked for someone who was the opposite, like just was losing his temper left, right and center. Okay. One day I went to this meeting and something was being discussed that was really, I believed whether I was right or not. I believed this policy was going to be very harmful, very harmful to our ability to get our work done. And I was very displeased. And I, okay, so I didn't lose my temper or yell or scream like the person I worked for did, but I let my displeasure be known. And so by the time I got back to my desk, so to say, the meeting was on the first floor and my office was on the fourth floor, There was this rumor going around that I had lost my temper in a meeting and that was very damaging to my reputation. And again, I didn't, to my knowledge, I don't believe I lost my temper temper. But I certainly let it be known that I was displeased and that I disagreed and that I did not like this policy. And so it did damage my reputation. And the irony in this scenario is that my boss, the one who was losing his temper all the time, like, seriously, he would turn red and shake and spit and throw things. Sat me down and felt that he had to give me a talk on losing my cool, which I was able to keep my cool during that discussion because it was just so ironic. So I get that. Right? I get that. You know, that damaged my reputation. And people who were not, you know, fans of Margaret were probably pretty happy about that. All right, the next one. Your enemy doesn't want you to have friends. An enemy is not pleased with an enemy having friends. And when a person is angry, overcome with anger, oppressed with anger, his friends, companions and relatives will avoid him from afar, all because he's overcome with anger. This is the sixth thing pleasing to an enemy. Boy, isn't that true when somebody is consistently upset, consistently mad, or that every once in a while you might meet someone who seems to be angry about everything all the time? Dramatic of me. I know you do. Stay away from them. And that's great because you know, if, if that person has enemies, how happy they are that this person is isolated. Right? And further, an enemy wishes of an enemy. May this person, on the breakup of the body, after death, reappear in the plane, in a plane of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell. Okay, now, in our current world, I don't know how many of us might have enemies who are wishing us a bad rebirth. But it is part of the sutta and it is a, it is a point. I just won't spend as much time on it because unless you have other people as enemies who believe in rebirth. But some people do express this differently, right? In a Judeo Christian, and I'm thinking maybe more of a Christian context, that maybe they, they wish that after you death, after your death, you go and live in hell and burn in hell. And people say that burn in hell, right? So that's not a lovely wish for anyone that's ultimately wishing the worst possible thing for someone from a, A, a spiritual perspective. Okay, so going on and leading into more. Let's look at this text the way it, it's described. It's written as pros here. An angry person is ugly and sleeps poorly, gaining a profit. He turns it into a loss, having done damage with word and deed. A person overwhelmed with anger destroys his wealth, maddened with anger, he destroys his status. Relatives, friends and colleagues avoid him. Anger brings loss. Anger inflames the mind. He doesn't realize that his danger is born from within. An angry person doesn't know his own benefit. An angry person doesn't see The Dhamma. A man or woman conquered by anger is in a mass of darkness. He takes pleasure in bad deeds as if they were good. But later, when his anger is gone, he suffers as if burned with fire. He is spoiled, blotted out like fire, enveloped in smoke. When anger spreads, when a man becomes angry or a woman, he or she has no shame, no compunction, is not respectful in speech. For a person overcome with anger, nothing gives light. I'll list the deeds that bring remorse that are far from the teachings. Listen. An angry person kills his father, kills his mother, kills Brahmins and people run of the mill. But it's because of a mother's devotion that one sees the world. Yet an angry run of the mill person can kill this giver of life. Like oneself. All beings hold themselves most dear. Yet an angry person, deranged, can kill himself in many ways with a sword, taking poison, hanging himself by a rope in a mountain glen, doing these deeds that kill beings and do violence to himself or herself. The angry person doesn't realize he's ruined or she's ruined. This snare of Mara in the form of anger, dwelling in the cave of the heart. Cut it out. With self control, discernment, persistence, right view. The wise would cut out each and every form of unskillfulness. Train yourselves. May we not be blotted out. Free from anger and untroubled, free from greed. Without longing, tamed your anger abandoned, effluent free. You will be unbound. Okay, so why am I bringing this to you today? Boy, that last passage though, that part. That's the pros. As I'm reading that to you, I'm also thinking of the implications this has for today's world where people are driven to create violent crime. And that sometimes people are driven by anger, even if sometimes the underlying causes abuse and addiction. Right. An abandonment. Think of what is behind that. What causes someone to abuse their child or their partner? Some kind of untreated anger. What brings somebody to addiction? An unfulfilled need. And maybe even that that is from having been abused and could come partly from anger. And how do you feel when you're abandoned? Sometimes angry, sometimes. So that's a part. But what I was really thinking today was in these times where especially in the United States, we're going through a lot of change and a lot of things are being dismantled and you may not agree with a lot of decisions that are being made. The way people are being treated, the way rights are being changed. The what you see happening to some of the people around you who you love and care for. It's very easy to become very angry. And while some people will say, well, anger drives me and anger moves me towards action, I would also like to say, temper that, Temper your temper. Because anger also leads to these other challenges that we've talked about and a lack of clarity and a lack of focus and in some cases, inappropriate reactions. You know, for example, at a protest, if you decide to start throwing things at the law enforcement, that is a unproductive, wrong behavior, inappropriate use of your anger. It's doing nothing other than to eventually get yourself arrested and potentially hurt. And, and it's not gaining anything for the cause you believe in. And so let's understand that you're going to feel angry. Let's understand some of what happens to us when we are angry and how this anger can serve those who you are trying to protest against or who you're trying to change or potentially have them lose some of their power. When you are reacting from anger, you are playing into their hands, and I don't think that's what you're looking for. So please consider your anger as you are in the world experiencing what's happening in life. And thank you for being here. And please remember to take care of yourselves, take care of your loved ones, and protect the unprotected. You've been listening to the Death Dhamma podcast with your host, Margaret Maloney. Thank you so much for being here. Come find me on margaretmeloni.com M A R G A R E T M E L o n I.com and until we meet again, May you be well, may you be happy, may you be at ease, and may you be free from suffering. Bye for now.