Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, is an excellent book for any American who drives.
With road rage increasing and tensions rising in homes across America due to the financial mess due to falling retail sales and mass layoffs the ten verses in Anger should be required reading for all adults and most teenagers.
Although Hanh is a Buddhist monk the book is not all about the whole meditate until you are healed self help pap served up by many holistic and alternative practitioners.
Hanh does have his moments that are rather ho hum.
(If you are mad at someone go tell them, don't let it fester and get worse.
But remember to keep your temper when conversing).
The main tenet in the book is that when we get angry we are really angry with ourselves not the person we perceive ourselves to be angry with.
He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr.
in 1967 for his efforts to end the hostilities in Vietnam through non violent civil disobedience and the traditional meditation techniques of Buddhism.
He was exiled and now lives in France and has written over seventy five books of varying themes including poetry, prayer and prose.
His writings are not overly Buddhist in flavor but appeal to a worldwide audience of all faiths.
In Anger, Thich Nhat Hanh offers ten verses to help you curb your anger.
All of them are great examples of how we should treat anger in our every day lives.
One deals with understanding the nature of your anger.
Once you understand the source of your anger you can embrace it and actually deal with it so that it no longer angers you.
Another is to remember that although you may be angry always remember you have love within you.