The danger to the mind is evident when you are angry in the presence of others. When you are angry, does it feel like you are burning up? You have no control over what is going to come out of your mouth. Your mind gets extremely focused on whatever object that had set you off. Sometimes, people will say that you have steam coming out from your ears when they see that you are really angry. Your face gets red. These are all good indications that you are really, really mad.

Anger burns up good karma. At the same time, it produces negative karma. It quickly destroys merit, harmony and trust between people. When you have inappropriate attention, your mind stays on one non-virtuous object and it fans the flames of your anger higher and higher, only to attain the power to burn away a great amount of positive merit.

Anger causes us to harm not only ourselves but anyone who gets in our way. We must work on patience in order to combat anger. Patience is the ability to remain calm in the face of harm or suffering and is the antidote to anger. It gives us a chance to let compassion and open-mindedness prevail in our minds, which helps us to cool down and overcome anger. With patience, we are able to act firmly — sometimes with peaceful strength and other times with assertive compassion.

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