After many days of travel, Buddha arrived at a small town to give a speech. Everyone was happy to see him, except one young man.

While Buddha spoke, the man was shouting at him. Buddha did not pay attention and continued speaking. This infuriated the man even more. He walked directly in front of Buddha and continued to ridicule him. “You have no right to teach others. You’re stupid and you’re a fake!”

The crowd began to react to this young man’s caustic behavior. Buddha stopped the crowd from turning against him and turned to the man and asked, “If you buy a gift for someone and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”

The young man was surprised by the question, thought for a moment and answered, “It would belong to me because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha said, “Correct. It’s the same with your anger"