Sutta Study: The Buddha’s Approaches to Anger in the Pāli Canon
Session One - Not Debating the Insult
David Oromith · 76 minutes · recorded January 21, 2026
The evening opens with a guided meditation on feeling tones in which we notice sensations as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral, before David turns to the Insult Sutta, where the Buddha refuses an insult hurled at him, letting it hang in the air rather than debating it. David draws out why retaliation only escalates and what it means to stay calm without suppressing feeling. The group discusses whether restraint reads as weakness, and why anger flares more easily at family than at work.
Anger and aversion Work and daily life The Pali suttas