“Buddha was once threatened with death by a bandit called Angulimal. ‘In that case, be good and fulfill my dying wish,’ said the Buddha, ‘cut down the branch of this tree.'”
One slash of the sword and – voila! “Now what?” the bandit asked.
“Take it back,” said the Buddha. The bandit laughed. “You must be crazy to think anyone can do that.”
“On the contrary, you’re crazy to think you’re so mighty just because you can hurt and destroy. That is a task of children. The mighty know how to create and heal.”
Source, 101 Zen stories
This story reminds me of Aristotle’s thought, “Anyone can get angry, it’s easy. But to get angry with the right person, for the right reason, at the right time, in the right way, is difficult.”
This thought describes the essence of emotional intelligence. Those who possess it can heal – both themselves and others.
