The Buddha taught that the fire of
anger can burn up everything we
have done to bring happiness to
ourselves and others. There is not
one of us who has not sown seeds
of anger in one's heart, and if those
seeds are watered, they will grow
rapidly and choke us and those
around us. When we are angry, we
should come back to ourselves by
means of our conscious breathing.
We should not look at or listen to
the one we feel is making us angry
and causing us to suffer. The other
person may have said or done
something unskilful or unmindful.
But his unskilful words or actions
arise from his own suffering. He
may just be seeking some relief,
hoping to survive. The excessive
suffering of one person will often
overflow to others. A person who is
suffering needs our help, not our
anger. We come to see this when
we examine our anger through our
breathing.

The Buddha says that anger makes
us look ugly. If we are able to
breathe [mindfully] when we are
angry and recognise the ugliness
anger brings with it, that
recognition acts as a bell of
mindfulness. We breathe and smile
mindfully in order to bring some
evenness back into our hearts, at
the same time relaxing the nervous
system and the tense muscles of
the face. We must keep on with
our conscious breathing as we
practise walking meditation in the
open air, looking deeply at what
has happened. Mindfulness and
conscious breathing are sources of
energy and can calm the storm of
anger, which itself is also a source
of energy. If we keep practising
mindfulness in order to take care of
our anger with the affection of a
mother when she takes a small
child in her arms, then not only
shall we calm the storm but we
shall also be able to find out where
our anger really comes from. Our
practice, carefully executed, will
thus be able to transform the seeds
of anger in us.