Thoughts on Anger –

A friend and subscriber to my Daily Inspiration emails asked me to write about anger – here you go:

First, I think we have to analyze where the anger comes from. In many cases the source is the feeling of not being in control, which results in fear, which results in anger.
Once we can pinpoint the source we are better able to deal with it.

I find it important to be able to safely express that anger – vent; asking a good friend to just listen; by saying things out loud we can – most of the time – find the source and therefore solutions.
Personally, I rarely get angry. If you are like me anger can take you by surprise. I learned that it is important not to beat ourselves up over it. Anger is ok, we can’t always be cheery, compassionate and happy.

Anger is our “shadow side” that is as important as our “happy side” and it will pass quicker if we just acknowledge it, safely express it, deal with it, rather than suppress it. SSP

In Buddhism it is said that anger is one of the three poisons – the other two are greed and ignorance – and those are said to be the primary causes of the cycle of samsara and rebirth. Purifying ourselves of anger is essential to Buddhist practice. Even highly realized masters admit they sometimes get angry. Not getting angry is for most of us probably not a realistic goal.
Thich Nhat Hanh has a different view: “When you express your anger you think that you are getting anger out of your system, but that's not true,” he said. “When you express your anger, either verbally or with physical violence, you are feeding the seed of anger, and it becomes stronger in you.” Only understanding and compassion can neutralize anger. He suggest meditating/sitting with the heat of that anger. That too may not be possible for many of us.
Buddha said, “Conquer anger by non-anger. Conquer evil by good. Conquer miserliness by liberality. Conquer a liar by truthfulness.” (Dhammapada, v. 233)
Namaste