Thich Nhat Hanh: Anger is Necessary

Thích Nhất Hạnh – Transform Your Anger

Thich Nhat Hanh gives an analogy of anger being like mud, since mud is necessary for the growth of a lotus flower, similarly to mud; anger is necessary to inspire change in life.

Transcript:

You want to give that boy like a punch. Punish him, and that is anger in us. And that anger is a kind of mud. It will smear everything. So we need to be aware that that mud of anger, we have to handle. But without the mud, you cannot grow lotus flowers. So the mud is useful somehow. So your anger is useful somehow. So maybe you should not let it out. You should not throw it away. If you know how to make good use of your anger, you can grow the lotus of peace, of joy, of forgiveness. And if we look deeply, we listen deeply, we’ll be able to understand. And when we understand, there is love. And when there is love, anger must transform itself.