Āghātavinaya Sutta
“Getting Rid of Resentment (1st)”
AN 5.161 gives five ways to get rid of resentment toward a person: develop love for them, develop compassion for them, develop equanimity toward them, disregard them and pay them no attention, or reflect that they are the owner and heir of their own deeds.
The five ways
- Love (mettā): wish them well.
- Compassion (karuṇā): see their suffering.
- Equanimity (upekkhā): let them be, without taking sides inside yourself.
- Disregard: stop giving them your attention.
- Ownership of deeds: “This venerable is the owner of their deeds and heir to their deeds… They shall be the heir of whatever deeds they do, whether good or bad.”
Why five?
They suit different people and different moments. When love is too much to ask, simply not feeding the resentment with attention is still on the list. The fifth way hands the outcome of the other person’s actions back to them, so you no longer have to carry it.
The next discourse, AN 5.162, gives five further ways, with similes such as a traveller who picks up a rag from the road with a foot and then a hand.
About this text
The Buddha tells the mendicants five ways to get rid of resentment once it has arisen toward someone. Three are attitudes to cultivate toward the person you resent: love, compassion, and equanimity. The fourth is simply to disregard them and pay them no attention. The fifth is to reflect on the ownership of deeds: that this person is the owner and heir of their own actions, and will inherit whatever they do, good or bad. Each method is given in a single line without elaboration, and the text ends by repeating that these five ways completely remove resentment toward anyone.
A note on this text. The fifth method uses the idea that each person is the ‘heir’ of their own deeds, stated without explanation.
The full text
Numbered Discourses 5.161 · 17. Resentment · Getting Rid of Resentment (1st) · translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 1 min · on SuttaCentral
“Mendicants, a mendicant should use these five ways to completely get rid of resentment when it has arisen toward anyone. What five? You should develop love for an individual you resent. That’s how to get rid of resentment for that individual. You should develop compassion for an individual you resent. … You should develop equanimity for an individual you resent. … You should disregard an individual you resent, paying no attention to them. … You should focus on the ownership of deeds regarding that individual: ‘This venerable is the owner of their deeds and heir to their deeds. Deeds are their womb, their relative, and their refuge. They shall be the heir of whatever deeds they do, whether good or bad.’ That’s how to get rid of resentment for that individual. A mendicant should use these five ways to completely get rid of resentment when it has arisen toward anyone.”
Questions
Is this the same as the “five ways of putting an end to anger”?
It is closely related. Several modern teachings on ending anger draw on this group of discourses, AN 5.161 and AN 5.162. This page shows AN 5.161 in full, as Bhikkhu Sujato translates it.