The Anger-Eating Demon

For my first blog, I thought I’d retell a story once told by the Buddha himself:

Once upon a time there was a great and wise emperor who had to leave his palace for a business trip. During the emperor’s absence, a large, ugly, foul, smelly and vulgar demon approached the palace gates. He was so fearsome, that his very presence froze the palace guards and advisors in sheer terror. Unable to move out of fright, they watched as the demon walked right into the palace and sat down on the emperor’s throne. Upon seeing this, the guards fear was replaced by anger, and they stormed to the throne shouting, “Get out of that throne, who do you think you are!” And as they shouted this, the demon grew one inch taller, a little uglier, a bit smellier and his language became more vulgar. Upon seeing this, the guards were enraged even more and continued shouting at the demon, “If you don’t get out of that throne right now, we’ll cut off your head!” And with each insult and threat, the demon grew a little larger, more smelly, even more vulgar and fearsome. This continued for some time until the demon was so large that he took up most of the room. He was so vile and smelly the guards could barely stand and his language was so vulgar and loud that even the biggest brute blushed.

When the emperor returned to see this enormous, vile demon in his throne, and being the wisest of all in his empire, he knew immediately what to do. He entered the throne room and exclaimed, “Hello, demon! How nice of you to visit me! Has anyone offered you something to eat yet? Would you like something to drink?” And with the emperor’s kind words the demon shrunk just bit, became a bit less smelly and less offensive. When the guards saw this, they immediately realized their mistake and joined the emperor. “Please, sit there and let us bring you some fruit, and perhaps some wine. Would you like us to draw you a bath? How long will be you staying with us?” And with each of these kind words, the demon slowly shrank back to the size he was when he first arrived.

But the emperor didn’t stop there. He continued his kindness and compliments until the demon was so small that just one more act of kindness and he would disappear entirely. And he did. The emperor retook his throne and all his guards and advisors learned a valuable lesson.

The Buddha called this demon an “Anger-Eating Demon.” Many times in our lives we encounter anger-eating demons. They could be at work, at home, anywhere we choose to let our anger overcome us. It’s interesting to see that even when it’s someone we love, the blindness of anger makes them appear ugly, vile and fierce, when we give anger back to those who give it to us. And just as the emperor shows in this story, anger is only defeated by kindness and compassion. So please remember, that when we say we are angry with someone, it is not really the person you are angry with, but the actions they have taken against you. Perhaps it is not even you that they are intentionally directing that anger towards. Perceptions are phenomena which rise and fall within our own minds. Remember this and match your anger-eating demons always with kindness and compassion.