Zen Stories # 14 - Anger

There was a little boy with a bad temper. 

The master told him to hammer a nail in the back fence every time he lost his temper.The first day, the boy drove 37 nails to the fence. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. 

Now the master suggested that the boy pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. A few days passed and the young boy finally told the master that all the nails were gone.

The master said, “You have done well my boy, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same again.”       

Moral - Anger is the most uncultured and uncivilized way of responding to a situation. Burn anger before anger burns you.

Cheers!