Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.We tend to view the word, violence, too narrowly. We cast anger as being a different sort of animal, but anger is a form of emotional violence. Not only does it injure others, but it pollutes us from the inside out.
~ King James version ~
If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be a bad-tempered man he will not become very angry. But if he sees a man in the boat, he will shout at him to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, he will shout again, and yet again, and begin cursing. And all because there is somebody in the boat. Yet if the boat were empty, he would not be shouting, and not angry.
If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world, no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you....
Who can free himself from achievement, and from fame, descend and be lost amid the masses of men? He will flow like Tao, unseen, he will go about like Life itself with no name and no home. Simple is he, without distinction. To all appearances he is a fool. His steps leave no trace. He has no power. He achieves nothing, has no reputation.
Since he judges no one, no one judges him. Such is the perfect man: His boat is empty.
~ from Chapter 20 of the Zhuangzi ~
While some may argue that anger is an organic manifestation of personality, it loses its organic attributes when we hold onto it and refuse to let it go. In such a case, it turns into a corrosive force that impacts everything within and around us.
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
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