Don't Get Angry at the Stick

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal (Archive # 1746, Last Updated May 28, 2014)

Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave this teaching at Kopan Course No. 41, held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in
December, 2008. This is an excerpt from Lecture Six of the course. Lightly edited by Gordon McDougall and
Sandra Smith. Click here to read more.
During President Bushs time, when the United States was fighting, making a war with Iraq, there was a
missile that came from very far away, from many thousands of miles away, and aimed exactly for its target.
The missile came and blew up exactly what the soldiers wanted. Thats outside, but here we are shooting the
real enemy, delusion. With wisdom, we eliminate delusion and we achieve liberation as well as
enlightenment.

We can think about general causative phenomena but particularly in our life, with our body and mind, we can
look at the people surrounding us, our families, friends, enemies, strangers, and our material possessions.
Whatever objects we get angry with or have strong desire for, with strong attachment, ignorance or
indifferenceits very good to use those particular objects. Then its like a bomb hitting just the right target,
our inner enemy.

Actually, theres no outside enemy. Theres a reason why people give harm to us, get angry with us or
criticize us. Theres a reason, theres a cause for that, and that cause is our mind. For anybody, in any
situation, even if a mosquito is biting us, the cause is our mindattachment, anger, and of course no
question about the root, ignorance. Theres no question, thats the root. Ignorancethe concept holding
things, the I and the aggregates as truly existent, which means the self-cherishing thoughtthats the real
root.

In the past we harmed others with these negative thoughts. We made mistakes, we did unrighteous actions
and harmed others. What is happening now is the result of that. This mosquito biting us, that person who
doesnt like us even from the first time he saw us, that person who scolds us, even that unknown person who
gets angry at us though weve never met beforeall these things are just results, just creations of this mind.
They are caused by this mind, by these negative thoughts, especially the self-cherishing thought.

Actually, all these things are just like tools used by the people who are angry at us or who criticize us. All
these things are like tools. The real enemy is our own self-cherishing thought, this ego, this ignorance, which
causes anger, attachment and these delusions. The other things are like tools, like the stick that an angry
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person beats us with. The real reason is our own negative thought.

It is very helpful to remember this when somebody is angry with us, scolding us or talking about our
mistakes. If we can remember this at that time; that the situation is a tool, used by these negative thoughts.
This is happening now because in the past we harmed that person, we did some wrong action to that person.
The harm they are doing now is just a tool. The main enemy is our own negative mind.

Its very good to remember this. We can meditate on this while the other person is shouting at us and getting
really angry, while even the nose is very angry. (Im joking.) The person totally changes, even their face; they
become angrier at us and insult us. At that time, we can meditate, sitting cross-legged, like this. Then, we can
open our eyes and look at the person, like this, you know. [Rinpoche demonstrates] At that time if we do that,
its very good.

At other times, no how much we try, we cant do this. We forget completely. For so many years we do this
[Rinpoche strikes a pose], but at that time we cant do it, we forget.

Anyway, the main thing to remember is that our mind caused that person to do this. It comes back to us; its
caused by this self-cherishing thought, this negative thought. Remembering that is so good, so good; its
unbelievable.

So, theres no need to get angry, theres no need to get upset with the other person. The only solution is to
take care of our own mind, to take care of our own life. As I mentioned, the United States sends missiles
exactly to its targetthe soldiers aim and the missile goes exactly. Thats like applying the lam-rim
meditation, emptiness, renunciation, karma. Within the renunciation meditation, theres karma and
impermanence, how life is in the nature of impermanence. Even going through this, looking at how causative
phenomena are like a star, even that makes it so powerful.

Theres no reason at all to get angry with the outside condition, though we feel obliged to. Really, the cause
is this ignorance or this self-cherishing thought. What I am talking about here is the solution to thatthe
bomb to explode all that, to eliminate our negative thoughts.

We should feel pity for our harmers because theyre creating negative karma. By harming us they create
negative karma and they get reborn in the lower realms. Even in this life there is no peace, no happiness, no
peace; they suffer. So, theyre only an object of compassion, only an object of compassion. Even if they have
cheated us, they have also created negative karma, so they are suffering now and they will suffer in the
future, for so many lifetimes.

It is mentioned in the teachings that if we cheat one person, we are cheated for one thousand lifetimes. If we
cheat one sentient being, as a result of that, we are cheated in our future lives; for one thousand lifetimes we
are cheated by others. I think this is mentioned in a commentary on Aryadevas teachings. If we cheat one
sentient being, we are cheated by others for one thousand lifetimes. Why is it like this? Because karma is
expandable. When we create the karma, whether it is virtue or nonvirtue, we will definitely experience the
result, happiness or suffering.

We will definitely experience the suffering result of a nonvirtue if we dont do anything, if we dont purify that
negative karma, but if we actualize the exalted path, the Hinayana or Mahayana exalted path, the arya path,
then we dont experience suffering. If we achieve the bodhisattvas exalted path, we have abandoned the
suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death, so we dont experience all this.

Until our mind becomes pure like the arya beings, the arya bodhisattvas, we have to experience the suffering
result of our negative karma. It comes back to us, it gives us harm, but when our mind becomes pure, we
dont experience harm, we dont experience suffering. Whether we receive harm or not is totally dependent
on our mind.
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A buddha, who has removed all the gross and subtle defilements, never receives harm. The Buddha
achieved enlightenment at dawn, but at dusk on the day before that, millions of maras attacked him, throwing
all kinds of things. When they came close to the Buddha, they became flowers, they were all transformed into
flowers, like a flower offering, so nothing was able to harm him.

Whether we can receive harm or not totally depends to our mind. As our mind becomes purer it doesnt
happen, like those arya beings, those bodhisattvas, so there is no question that the Buddha, even before
enlightenment, could not receive harm.


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