Temper

A Zen student came to Bankei and complained, "Master, I have an ungovernable temper. How can I cure it?" "You have something very strange," said Bankei. 'Let me see what you have." "I cannot show it to you just now," said the student. "When can you show it to me?" asked Bankei. "It arises unexpectedly," replied the other. "Then it must not be your true nature. If it were, you could show it to me at any time. It is something that you are not born with. It is not you."

As is often said in Zen, anything that comes from outside is not the real you. It is foreign. One must not be disturbed by outside things. One must realise and return to the centre of life. Our greatest mistake is that we think external, accumulated things are ourselves. If one gets rid of all things that are external, then he will be purely himself. For this reason, meditation is an essential part of the awareness of Zen.