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Anger and hate eh, tough things to break out of....
I guess if you refer these thought patterns back to Buddhism, or common sense, we can see that hate and anger do not exist in the world, you cannot point to them or show them to anyone, no situation or object contains anger or hate, everything in the world just is, simple as that. Anger and hate only exist in the mind, therefore there is nothing in the world that can change in order to free your friend from these thought patterns, rather, your friend must work on their inner thought patterns in order to free themselves from anger and hate.
Easier said then done though!
I think everyone needs some form of trigger in order to fundamentally change themselves or their habits...that trigger can be easy to find or hard to find.
My best friend was a vegetarian for years and nothing he said could change my views on eating meat (in my pre-spiritaul life), no chance on earth would I become a vegetarian...a few years later I meet my girlfriend, a vegan, and within a month I'm a vegan! He laughed for a while...but my girlfriend was my trigger (girlfriends have a habit of forcing triggers at times hehe)...Iwatched many documenatries on 9/11, illuminati, banking scandals etc. but they didn't change me or my views on the world very much, one day I read a David Icke book and my whole perception or reality changed and I can never look back, the David Icke book was my trigger for spirituality, the love of the planet and every person on it, nothing pre David Icke book could force that feeling and understanding....
I guess what I'm getting at is that you can tell your friend alot of good info and schools of thought, you can show them documentaries, books and real life examples of this stuff at work but you may never hit that trigger point that enables them to start to change and see things as they truly are...perhaps all you can do is be a good friend and keep casually feeding them good information and hope that something sticks!
Also I guess if we bring ego into the equasion, it can be hard for people to change around their friends because they have an image and a persona that they are known for, therefore, by breaking out of this in front of people we know can leave us feeling vulnerable. Keeping up the persona of anger and hatred maybe a safe place for your freind to reside, and this could be a conscious or subconscious habitual pattern.
Anyway just my thoughts based on my experiences...keep on being a good friend 333Xforever, thats the best you can do!
P.s recommend meditation? yeh sure why not everything is worth a try, they may like it or not, they may prefer yoga or chanting or kickboxing...
P.p.s I just remembered...my gf is a very negative person and often sees the bad in everything (for the last 6 years!) but recently I've been doing something that has really helped. I explained about the middle path in Buddhism. Then everytime she mentioned something negative I always get her to see the positive or opposing view point. This has had a great impact on her thought patterns, now she starts talking in a negative manner then halfway through the sentence starts to realise that there is another angle to view it from and therefore sees everything from a more equal viewpont! might be worth trying this excersise with your friend?
Sorry for the long reply
Namaste XXX
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