Hatred            (mental element 15, Ha)

If the mind does not hold on to its object, but pushes the object away, the element that is present is hatred. It is synonymous with aversion.

Hatred is like a snake because it stings and is poisonous. When it manifests as anger, it spreads like wild fire and burns up its own support due to its intensity and fierceness. It causes devastation. Hatred is like an enemy that finds an opportunity to persecute.

Like greed, hatred is a strong element. It holds up against resistance or removal. Because it is also an unwholesome root element, it provides maximum support to unwholesome consciousness and contributes significantly to unwholesomeness. It is present in all kinds of ego-driven domineering and in animosity, enmity, ill will, annoyance, irritation, disgust, contempt, displeasure, grief, and resentment.

Hatred is the ego’s second best friend because it supports and protects the ego. Besides greed, hatred is the ego’s biggest benefactor. In the pursuit of perfect intelligence, hatred is the first monster to be pacified and won over. Until hatred is exterminated, such a pursuit does not catch momentum.

In the business of spiritual evolution, there is nothing more grossly unprofitable than hatred. Greed is not always obvious as unwholesome, but hatred always is.

Yes. Greed and hatred are like parents of a child named evil. Greed is craving and hatred is aversion, and together they give birth to all imperfections. Technically speaking, if you abolish greed and hatred you become holy, a saint. Performing miracles or getting an ordination from a religious organization does not make one holy.

On the path of perfect intelligence, we don’t suppress or fight hatred. We simply befriend non-hatred. We see the unsightly, unpleasing, and ill-favored effects of hatred, we see the fault in hatred, and then we begin to develop strong will towards non-hatred. As in eliminating greed, meditation is our primary tool. Avoidance of conditions and circumstances that lead to hatred is the secondary tool. 

People who easily get angry should avoid conflicts in order to minimize the potential for hatred. They should avoid tasks or relationships that lead to arguments, disagreements, quarrels, clashes, and conflict-of-interest. In addition, they should avoid over-involvement of any kind. If they have to get involved in something, they should engage themselves with equanimity in mind so that aversion, indifference, or apathy does not arise. They should also learn to simply let go whenever unpleasantness, sorrow, or unhappiness is sensed.

I am not saying angry people should abandon the world. What I am saying is that they should minimize the occurrences that lead to developing distaste for anything. Angry people should also intensely focus on building two prime qualities of the wholesome mind: patience and forbearance.