# The anger-eating demon

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Story
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-anger-eating-demon
- Themes: anger, difficult people, kindness, conflict
- Life situations: conflict at work, difficult boss, hostile neighbour, family arguments, anger at partner

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

A monster sits on the emperor's throne and grows bigger with every angry word from the guards; the returning emperor welcomes it, the court follows with kindness, and the demon shrinks until it disappears.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

It's a great story of the demon who came into the emperor's palace. Demon coming into an emperor's palace, and emperor was away. Because he was away there was a monster, a big, ugly terrifying demon came and strolled right into the palace! He was so frightening, so terrifying! Everybody froze in horror at this ugly, disgusting, slimy demon, allowing the demon to go right through, into the heart of the palace and sit on the emperor's throne. As soon as he sat on the emperor's throne, that was just too much for the guards and the ministers. They came to their senses. They said, "Get out of here! Who do you think you are? This is our emperor's seat, not yours!! Get out, or else!" At those harsh words, the demon grew an inch bigger, more ugly, more smelly and the language got far worse.. That made the soldiers and ministers even more upset. They got out their swords. They got out clubs. They clenched their fists. But at every unkind word, every angry deed, even every unkind thought, the monster just grew an inch bigger, more ugly, more terrifying, more smelly, and the language from the monster got worse and worse and worse. This had been going on for quite some time before the emperor came back. At this time that demon was so huge he took up half the throne room. He was massive, and talk about ugly and frightening. I've never seen "Alien," the movie, but people said the alien is pretty terrifying. Imagine the alien, multiplied by a thousand! This was so terrifying, not even DreamWorks could manufacture such a terrifying, horrible spectacle as this ugly demon. According to the story, the smell, the stench coming off this demon's body would make maggots throw up. [laughter] It takes a lot to make a maggot sick. [laughter] And the language coming from this demon was worse! Was worse than you'd hear in Northbridge after both the Eagles and the Dockers lose. [laughter] So this was a problem, a real difficult being coming into the palace. But when the emperor came back...the reason he was emperor was he'd been to Nollamara, heard the talks and was wise. [laughter] I always change these stories every time. Embellish them this way and that way, so you can always hear a new angle. The emperor had also read "Opening the Door of Your Heart," which is available at the book shop for $25 [laughter] Ajahn: I've also learned marketing. I was at an entrepreneurship business conference this afternoon. But anyway, the emperor said, "Welcome. Oh monster, thank you so much for coming to visit me. Why have you waited such a long time to come and pay me a call?' At those few kind words, the monster grew an inch smaller, less ugly, less smelly, less offensive. All the people in the palace realized their mistake. Instead of saying, "Get out of here, you don't belong! What are you doing here? You don't belong in here!" they started to say, "Welcome." One of them said, "Actually, do you want something to drink? We've got some orange juice, freshly squozen." Squeezed...squozen? I don't know, who cares? [laughter] Ajahn: "Would you like something to eat? We've got some nice curry puffs." Are they available this evening? I don't know, I didn't see what's out there. "They got some curry puffs. We've got some sandwiches." Someone said, "Would you like a pizza? I can ring up. Monster size of course for someone like you." [laughter] Ajahn: Someone gave the monster a foot massage. Have you ever had a foot massage? Imagine a monster, with such big feet. It took about 10 of them to give each foot a massage. Someone else, "Do you want a cup of tea? We have English tea. We have peppermint. It's good for your health. Or a cup of coffee? Latte, cappuccino, or Brazilian?" I don't really know what I'm talking about with coffee. [laughter] I just drink whatever I'm given. Ajahn: So anyway, at every kind word or kind deed or kind thought the demon grew an inch smaller, less ugly, less offensive, less smelly. It wasn't such a long time even before the monster's pizza arrived he was back down to the size when he first began, when he first came in. They kept laying on the kindness until that demon got so tiny one more act of kindness and that demon vanished completely away.

## Teaching point

“the only way to get rid of anger-eating demons from your life is kindness” (my translation)

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Every angry word made the demon bigger and smellier; foot massages, tea and a monster-sized pizza shrank it to nothing. Some difficult people, and some of our own moods, feed on resistance, and shouting 'get out' makes them grow. Try welcoming them with a little kindness instead, and watch them get smaller.

## Source

- [Dealing With Difficult People | Ajahn Brahm | 28 Nov 2008](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniaUr_7438) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 12:56 to 18:46: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jniaUr_7438&t=776s

Other tellings of this story:

- [Anger Eating Demons | Ajahn Brahm | 07-10-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7Wm5LOpx0) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 31:41 to 38:11: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me7Wm5LOpx0&t=1901s
- [Building a House of Peace | Ajahn Brahm | 13-04-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxK7iqG2XQA) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 35:34 to 39:58: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxK7iqG2XQA&t=2134s
- [Positive Perspective and Acceptance | Ajahn Brahm | 3 June 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5YVDTB1bE) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 12:37 to 19:08: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J5YVDTB1bE&t=757s
- [The Importance of Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 07 Nov 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDoKJJdevvg) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 35:53 to 39:20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDoKJJdevvg&t=2153s
- [How Do We Deal with Deeper Suffering | Ajahn Brahm | 5 June 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFqMQgo36tw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 6:59 to 14:32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFqMQgo36tw&t=419s
- [In Between | Ajahn Brahm | 27-05-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uln6baN98g) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 18:59 to 25:07: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uln6baN98g&t=1139s
- [Understanding suicide | Ajahn Brahm | 06-02-2015](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPCMJH5Emk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 15:20 to 20:20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqPCMJH5Emk&t=920s
- [Solving life's problems without relying on religious hierarchies | Ajahn Brahm | 20-06-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIZNqQH1Ghw) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 17:56 to 19:07: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIZNqQH1Ghw&t=1076s
- [Is religion no better than Prozac? | Ajahn Brahm | 06-06-2014](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhlS0bllPU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 54:27 to 57:18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhlS0bllPU&t=3267s
- [Why Do People Come Here? | Ajahn Brahm | 18 December 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPyLq9Pxug) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:03:59 to 1:06:46: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPyLq9Pxug&t=3839s
- [The Mindfulness Retreat Trend | Ajahn Brahm | 18 Mar 2016](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPhcGp749Q) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 26:33 to 31:42: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPhcGp749Q&t=1593s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 15 May 2021](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I96q7QSYHGY) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 15:24 to 16:04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I96q7QSYHGY&t=924s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 17 March 2018](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnAc8I5jqdo) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:05:38 to 1:06:52: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnAc8I5jqdo&t=3938s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 19th March 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8dao55yLzk) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 4:46 to 5:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8dao55yLzk&t=286s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 29 January 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPYu6Re9UD4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:11:49 to 1:13:36: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPYu6Re9UD4&t=4309s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 22 April 2023](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBuiPWfEMCE) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:27 to 3:26: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBuiPWfEMCE&t=87s
- [Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm | 7 December 2024](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Grc4jm3Cek) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:02:41 to 1:03:21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Grc4jm3Cek&t=3761s
- [Meditation in Trying Times - Armadale Meditation Group | Ajahn Brahm | 17 May 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-REkEnSRIc) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 1:09:23 to 1:12:29: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-REkEnSRIc&t=4163s
- [O radzeniu sobie z trudnymi ludźmi - Ajahn Brahm [LEKTOR PL]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPz6-oAxM7Q) (Sasana.pl) — watch from 12:59 to 19:22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPz6-oAxM7Q&t=779s