Universal Worthy Bodhisattva proclaims the great offense. If a Bodhisattva is angry with another Bodhisattva, obstructions arise.
How does a Bodhisattva cultivates? What is the Buddhas’ state? What is the realm of great vows? Universal Worthy Bodhisattva elucidates them.

Annotation
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva expounded upon the atrocity of anger.
Jesus Christ was not a criminal and yet he was nailed to death, crucified on a cross. That is an extremely cruel way of killing a person. Socrates was probably the wisest man in Greece, and yet he was brought to trial and was eventually executed. If one takes a look at history, one can see that many sages and great men were slandered, beaten, mistreated, or killed by others.
The Sixth Patriarch was a Great Master and yet people wanted to kill him. There were people who tried to poison the Venerable Bodhidharma. The Patriarch Hui K’o was sentenced to death, his head was cut off.

Hence, ordinary people should not complain or become afflicted if they encounter unfavorable states. It is said,
‘If you are too big to stand criticisms,you are too small to be praised.’
Moreover, someone wrote, “Set yourself on the witness stand and conduct a ruthless self-examination: ‘What have you put in the pot that you should expect the best bits ladled out to you? What have you done for others that you should expect such tender consideration from them? Are you really as clever and as good as you think? Who and what are you that you , alone of all man, should be spared pain, neglect, injustice?’”

If one gets afflicted when others treat one badly, one is also assuming that one is more special than the Sages because one thinks one does not deserve to receive criticisms or abuse from others. When I was young, I had at one time, gotten angry three times within one week. After that, my body broke out in rashes. Looking back, I realize how harmful it is to become infuriated. I’ve also experienced pains when I was very irritated.

Someone commented,
“When Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies,’ he was also preaching twentieth century medicine. Jesus was telling you and me how to keep from having high blood pressure, heart trouble, stomach ulcers, and many other ailments.”

Mr. William James says, ‘The turbulent billows of the fretful surface leave the deep parts of the ocean undisturbed; and to him who has a hold on vaster and more permanent realities, the hourly vicissitudes of his personal destiny seem relatively insignificant things. The really religious person is accordingly unshakable and full of equanimity, and calmly ready for any duty that the day may bring forth.’

Whenever one is filled with negative thoughts, one is actually invisibly also zapping the people around oneself. Violence can be committed with one’s mouth. What one says may kill someone else’s wholesome thoughts. If one speaks beratingly, it is just like thrusting a dagger into the other person. One can wound a person deeply with one’s words. In chapter twenty-six of the Avatamsaka Sutra, the text list out all the many kinds of harmful speech which should be avoided. It is said, ‘Discretion in speech is more than eloquence.’ One can also injure others by wearing weapons on one’s face, by giving others a very forbidding look. One can actually harm others in so many ways.

In order to counteract one’s anger/hateful thoughts, one can contemplate in this way: ‘Life is as fleeting as a dream, a flash of lightning and bubbles. Knowing that, how can I quarrel?’

Someone says,
‘Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.’
A prayer says,
“When someone is wronged, he must put aside all resentment and say, ‘my mind shall not be disturbed; no angry word shall escape my lips. I will remain kind and friendly, with kind thoughts and no secret spite’

When the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua lectured on the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, he related a very sad and extremely tragic story:
At one time, Shakyamuni Buddha and His disciples were walking along a road and they noticed that the area they had passed through was really barren for many miles. Thereupon, they asked the Buddha why there were no inhabitants at all. The Buddha then proceeded to relate a very painful story..

Once, in the distant past, there was an old cultivator who lived there. He had been cultivating patience for one hundred years and had never lost his temper. The king of that land dismissed his prime minister. However, the prime minister wanted to regain his position and so he went to seek the help of that old cultivator. That old cultivator told him,
‘Just take a clod of earth and throw it at my head. In that way, you would have passed your inauspicious energy to me. Then, you will be able to continue as prime minister again.’
So, he did as he was instructed and on that very day, the king asked him to continue on as prime minister. Later, the queen was dismissed by the king. The queen then asked the prime minister how he managed to get his position back. So, the prime minister eventually introduced her to that old cultivator. The old cultivator told the queen to pour a cup of water over his head in order to transfer her unlucky energy to him. After the queen had done that, the king invited her back.
The old cultivator lost his patience and had a bad thought, ‘I cannot stand it.Why don’t all these people drop dead!’         
Soon, the country went to war and was losing its battles. The king consulted his prime minister. The prime minister again called on the old cultivator for help. The old cultivator told the king to get a big pot of stinking water to represent the unlucky affairs of the country and pour it on him. The king did as he was told and after that began winning all his battles. The king said, ‘That old cultivator has tremendous Way-virtue.’
Soon, the whole country knew about it and people started lining up for miles in order to seek the old cultivator’s aid. They waited to throw dirt and transfer their bad luck to him. Every day people came and eventually the entire population arrived. The old cultivator could not respond to them all and so he had a false thought,
‘I cannot stand it. Why don’t all these people drop dead!’
That old cultivator’s spiritual powers were so great that as soon as he had that thought of wanting all those people to die, they all dropped dead! Therefore, for a few hundred miles in this area, there are no people.
From this story, one can understand why the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua often said that our tempers are like the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb and the laser cannon, and why it is so important to perfect one’s cultivation of patience. Our minds are very powerful. One can use one’s mind to benefit or harm living beings. If one wishes to cultivate the Bodhisattva Path, one must first of all dismantle all of one’s inner bombs and missiles and completely lay down all of one’s other invisible weapons and daggers as well.
In the book on ‘Treasure of the Dharma’, it says,
‘Slay anger and you will be happy.
Slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms’
With its poisoned root and sweet sting-
That is the slaying the nobles praise.
With anger slain one weeps no more.’
‘With whom do you get angry?
My good friend, in getting angry with this man,
With what are you angry?

Are you angry with the hairs of his body?
Or nails, bones, flesh, skin, etc.?
Or are you angry with the four elements of his body,
namely, earth, water, fire and air?
Or with the five aggregates of forms, feeling, perception, mental elements and consciousness?
Or are you angry with his five sense faculties or their activities?’

Parable of the saw:
Monks, as cruel thieves might carve one limb from limb with a double-handled saw, yet even then whoever sets his mind at enmity, he, for that reason, is not a follower of my teaching.
Monks, consider frequently this parable of the saw.

 Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained in his commentary,

When in place of anger you have great compassion and join in substance with the myriad creatures… when you have no thoughts of killing or anger, then even birds who are not your pets will come to eat from your hand. Birds and beasts won’t fear you. Tigers who see you will not bite you…Universal Worthy Bodhisattva proclaims the great offense. If a Bodhisattva is angry with another Bodhisattva, obstructions arise.
How does a Bodhisattva cultivates? What is the Buddhas’ state? What is the realm of great vows? Universal Worthy Bodhisattva elucidates them.

Annotation
Universal Worthy Bodhisattva expounded upon the atrocity of anger.
Jesus Christ was not a criminal and yet he was nailed to death, crucified on a cross. That is an extremely cruel way of killing a person. Socrates was probably the wisest man in Greece, and yet he was brought to trial and was eventually executed. If one takes a look at history, one can see that many sages and great men were slandered, beaten, mistreated, or killed by others.
The Sixth Patriarch was a Great Master and yet people wanted to kill him. There were people who tried to poison the Venerable Bodhidharma. The Patriarch Hui K’o was sentenced to death, his head was cut off.

Hence, ordinary people should not complain or become afflicted if they encounter unfavorable states. It is said,
‘If you are too big to stand criticisms,you are too small to be praised.’
Moreover, someone wrote, “Set yourself on the witness stand and conduct a ruthless self-examination: ‘What have you put in the pot that you should expect the best bits ladled out to you? What have you done for others that you should expect such tender consideration from them? Are you really as clever and as good as you think? Who and what are you that you , alone of all man, should be spared pain, neglect, injustice?’”

If one gets afflicted when others treat one badly, one is also assuming that one is more special than the Sages because one thinks one does not deserve to receive criticisms or abuse from others. When I was young, I had at one time, gotten angry three times within one week. After that, my body broke out in rashes. Looking back, I realize how harmful it is to become infuriated. I’ve also experienced pains when I was very irritated.

Someone commented,
“When Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies,’ he was also preaching twentieth century medicine. Jesus was telling you and me how to keep from having high blood pressure, heart trouble, stomach ulcers, and many other ailments.”

Mr. William James says, ‘The turbulent billows of the fretful surface leave the deep parts of the ocean undisturbed; and to him who has a hold on vaster and more permanent realities, the hourly vicissitudes of his personal destiny seem relatively insignificant things. The really religious person is accordingly unshakable and full of equanimity, and calmly ready for any duty that the day may bring forth.’

Whenever one is filled with negative thoughts, one is actually invisibly also zapping the people around oneself. Violence can be committed with one’s mouth. What one says may kill someone else’s wholesome thoughts. If one speaks beratingly, it is just like thrusting a dagger into the other person. One can wound a person deeply with one’s words. In chapter twenty-six of the Avatamsaka Sutra, the text list out all the many kinds of harmful speech which should be avoided. It is said, ‘Discretion in speech is more than eloquence.’ One can also injure others by wearing weapons on one’s face, by giving others a very forbidding look. One can actually harm others in so many ways.

In order to counteract one’s anger/hateful thoughts, one can contemplate in this way: ‘Life is as fleeting as a dream, a flash of lightning and bubbles. Knowing that, how can I quarrel?’ Someone says,
‘Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?
Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.’
A prayer says,
“When someone is wronged, he must put aside all resentment and say, ‘my mind shall not be disturbed; no angry word shall escape my lips. I will remain kind and friendly, with kind thoughts and no secret spite’”
Mohandas Gandhi advocated non-violence. He said, ‘Hate the sin but, love the sinner.’ If one can refrain from hating the people who are bad, if one can hate the evil deed but not hate the evil doer, then, one will not fight or kill. That is an effective expedient method for influencing people not to contend and not to be violent. However, Buddhism takes us on an even higher and loftier spiritual level. In Buddhism, we avoid using the words, ‘hate’ and ‘love’. Instead, we speak of compassion.
When the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua lectured on the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, he related a very sad and extremely tragic story:
At one time, Shakyamuni Buddha and His disciples were walking along a road and they noticed that the area they had passed through was really barren for many miles. Thereupon, they asked the Buddha why there were no inhabitants at all. The Buddha then proceeded to relate a very painful story..
Once, in the distant past, there was an old cultivator who lived there. He had been cultivating patience for one hundred years and had never lost his temper. The king of that land dismissed his prime minister. However, the prime minister wanted to regain his position and so he went to seek the help of that old cultivator. That old cultivator told him,
‘Just take a clod of earth and throw it at my head. In that way, you would have passed your inauspicious energy to me. Then, you will be able to continue as prime minister again.’
So, he did as he was instructed and on that very day, the king asked him to continue on as prime minister. Later, the queen was dismissed by the king. The queen then asked the prime minister how he managed to get his position back. So, the prime minister eventually introduced her to that old cultivator. The old cultivator told the queen to pour a cup of water over his head in order to transfer her unlucky energy to him. After the queen had done that, the king invited her back.
The old cultivator lost his patience and had a bad thought, ‘I cannot stand it.Why don’t all these people drop dead!’         
Soon, the country went to war and was losing its battles. The king consulted his prime minister. The prime minister again called on the old cultivator for help. The old cultivator told the king to get a big pot of stinking water to represent the unlucky affairs of the country and pour it on him. The king did as he was told and after that began winning all his battles. The king said, ‘That old cultivator has tremendous Way-virtue.’
Soon, the whole country knew about it and people started lining up for miles in order to seek the old cultivator’s aid. They waited to throw dirt and transfer their bad luck to him. Every day people came and eventually the entire population arrived. The old cultivator could not respond to them all and so he had a false thought,
‘I cannot stand it. Why don’t all these people drop dead!’
That old cultivator’s spiritual powers were so great that as soon as he had that thought of wanting all those people to die, they all dropped dead! Therefore, for a few hundred miles in this area, there are no people.
From this story, one can understand why the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua often said that our tempers are like the atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb and the laser cannon, and why it is so important to perfect one’s cultivation of patience. Our minds are very powerful. One can use one’s mind to benefit or harm living beings. If one wishes to cultivate the Bodhisattva Path, one must first of all dismantle all of one’s inner bombs and missiles and completely lay down all of one’s other invisible weapons and daggers as well.
In the book on ‘Treasure of the Dharma’, it says,
‘Slay anger and you will be happy.
Slay anger and you will not sorrow.
For the slaying of anger in all its forms’
With its poisoned root and sweet sting-
That is the slaying the nobles praise.
With anger slain one weeps no more.’
‘With whom do you get angry?
My good friend, in getting angry with this man,
With what are you angry?

Are you angry with the hairs of his body?
Or nails, bones, flesh, skin, etc.?
Or are you angry with the four elements of his body,
namely, earth, water, fire and air?
Or with the five aggregates of forms, feeling, perception, mental elements and consciousness?
Or are you angry with his five sense faculties or their activities?’

Parable of the saw:
Monks, as cruel thieves might carve one limb from limb with a double-handled saw, yet even then whoever sets his mind at enmity, he, for that reason, is not a follower of my teaching.
Monks, consider frequently this parable of the saw.

 Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained in his commentary,
When in place of anger you have great compassion and join in substance with the myriad creatures… when you have no thoughts of killing or anger, then even birds who are not your pets will come to eat from your hand. Birds and beasts won’t fear you. Tigers who see you will not bite you…