There was once a great scholar who taught people how to deal with rudeness.
One day as the scholar was walking through a village, a very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right to teach others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”
The expletives hurled at the scholar did not upset him. Instead he asked the young man, “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belongs?”
The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”
The scholar smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.”
“If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy.”
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