We often hear comments like: "He makes me so angry!" "Why did you embarrass me like that in
front of all those people? “His behavior makes me so irritated!" If we look more deeply and clearly
into our own emotions in particular situations when we get upset, we might find that the cause of our
negative reactions has more to do with ourselves than with the other, "offending" person.
I had recently read the above excerpt from the suttas, when sitting in my office at the Buddhist
Studies International (BSI) in Iriyawetiya, Sri Lanka, a young monk, Sudanta Hamudru, burst into
my office in a high state of agitation. He slammed one fist into the other and, almost in a growl
said: "You have got to do something about that noise! How can you expect us to meditate or study
with that awful noise going on right next door! You MUST do something!" The noise to which
the monk was referring was a householder on the other side of the monastery wall using his metal
lathe turning out candlesticks for sale. It was loud, but as he was a householder completely beyond
any authority of mine and because his property was so small that relocating the lathe anywhere
else thereon would make no difference in the noise level, I had quickly decided there was nothing
I should/could do and it was not appropriate for us to ask him to restrict the work by which he
supported his family to only daylight hours convenient to us in the BSI office/dormitory building.
Just I was about to respond to Sudanta's emotional outburst, another monk walked in. I turned
to him and asked: Hyo Chul Hamdru, "What do you think about this noise?" His face broke into
a delighted smile and he said: "I love that sound! I gave that man the money to buy that lathe
because he had lost his job at a local metal shop and had no way to support his family. Every time
I hear that lathe, I feel happy because I know that my contribution to him is helping him be selfsufficient
and support his wife and children. I am very happy today!" No sooner than Hyo Chul
Hamdru had finished speaking, Mahabodi Hamdru walked in: "Mahabodi Hamdru," I asked,
"What do you think about this noise?" His response was a puzzled: "What noise?" Whereupon,
Sudanta Hamdru, without another word, quietly walked out and never again spoke to me about the
issue. He too knew that sutta excerpt and took its lesson to heart. It would be helpful for your
understanding to know that Mahabodi was not deaf, it was just that he spent most of his waking
hours in meditation. He had learned through years of practice to block out any extraneous noises
not conducive to his meditation – a lucky fellow, because he was able to take that into his daily
interactive life, and was, in fact, one of the calmest, almost serene, monks I have ever known.
"Mind determines all mental states, mind is their chief, they are all mind wrought." It is we
who allow ourselves to become angry or agitated. We can control our minds to go beyond the
immediate emotion of someone’s words and actions and see how our responses and emotions are
generated by lack of understanding or some related problems or issues in our lives that give rise
to our interpreting another’s words or actions in a way that calls up negative response in us. We
should be in control of our own minds, this is the benefit, the result of meditation – we learn to
understand and control our minds and therefore our emotional responses.
Dhammashakti
Householder
front of all those people? “His behavior makes me so irritated!" If we look more deeply and clearly
into our own emotions in particular situations when we get upset, we might find that the cause of our
negative reactions has more to do with ourselves than with the other, "offending" person.
I had recently read the above excerpt from the suttas, when sitting in my office at the Buddhist
Studies International (BSI) in Iriyawetiya, Sri Lanka, a young monk, Sudanta Hamudru, burst into
my office in a high state of agitation. He slammed one fist into the other and, almost in a growl
said: "You have got to do something about that noise! How can you expect us to meditate or study
with that awful noise going on right next door! You MUST do something!" The noise to which
the monk was referring was a householder on the other side of the monastery wall using his metal
lathe turning out candlesticks for sale. It was loud, but as he was a householder completely beyond
any authority of mine and because his property was so small that relocating the lathe anywhere
else thereon would make no difference in the noise level, I had quickly decided there was nothing
I should/could do and it was not appropriate for us to ask him to restrict the work by which he
supported his family to only daylight hours convenient to us in the BSI office/dormitory building.
Just I was about to respond to Sudanta's emotional outburst, another monk walked in. I turned
to him and asked: Hyo Chul Hamdru, "What do you think about this noise?" His face broke into
a delighted smile and he said: "I love that sound! I gave that man the money to buy that lathe
because he had lost his job at a local metal shop and had no way to support his family. Every time
I hear that lathe, I feel happy because I know that my contribution to him is helping him be selfsufficient
and support his wife and children. I am very happy today!" No sooner than Hyo Chul
Hamdru had finished speaking, Mahabodi Hamdru walked in: "Mahabodi Hamdru," I asked,
"What do you think about this noise?" His response was a puzzled: "What noise?" Whereupon,
Sudanta Hamdru, without another word, quietly walked out and never again spoke to me about the
issue. He too knew that sutta excerpt and took its lesson to heart. It would be helpful for your
understanding to know that Mahabodi was not deaf, it was just that he spent most of his waking
hours in meditation. He had learned through years of practice to block out any extraneous noises
not conducive to his meditation – a lucky fellow, because he was able to take that into his daily
interactive life, and was, in fact, one of the calmest, almost serene, monks I have ever known.
"Mind determines all mental states, mind is their chief, they are all mind wrought." It is we
who allow ourselves to become angry or agitated. We can control our minds to go beyond the
immediate emotion of someone’s words and actions and see how our responses and emotions are
generated by lack of understanding or some related problems or issues in our lives that give rise
to our interpreting another’s words or actions in a way that calls up negative response in us. We
should be in control of our own minds, this is the benefit, the result of meditation – we learn to
understand and control our minds and therefore our emotional responses.
Dhammashakti
Householder
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