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Transforming Anger
By Nikhil Gangoli
All of us feel anger and hatred from time to time. Eastern
meditation and mindfulness techniques can help us mange
and transform our anger so that the energy contained in the
anger benefits us instead of spreading misery in others and
ourselves.
It is important to note that although anger causes us pain we
should not reject it or disown it. Suppose your stomach or
legs or some other part of your body grew diseased and
caused you pain. Would you for that reason try to get rid of
your stomach or your legs? Of course you would not. Anger
can be transformed and the energy contained in it can be of
much use to us. The story is told of Angulimala - a famous
dacoit who had murdered 999 people. Yet a meeting with
the Buddha changed him and transformed the anger within
him. If a legendary dacoit can transform his anger then surely
so can we.
Think of your anger, as a farmer would regard organic
fertilizer. A farmer with garbage and organic waste knows
that he can use it to grow nutritious fruits and vegetables. So
also we can use the anger within us to grow spiritually and
become awakened.
We can care for and transform our anger the way a mother
cares for here baby - by practicing mindfulness whenever we
are angry. The effect mindfulness has on anger can be
compared with the way flowers respond to sunlight. At
sunrise the rays from the sun reach the flower. The photons
contained in the sunrays penetrate the flower. After 15 to 20
minutes the flower can no longer resist and she opens herself
to the sunrays.
In a similar manner we need to practice mindfulness at all
times and especially when we are angry. Observe the breath
entering or leaving the body when you are angry. At the
same time observe the anger within you without judging or
condemning or rejecting it in any way. After some minutes
the anger will open itself to you and fade away. The cause of
the anger will be revealed and the energy contained in the
anger will be available for your use.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese poet and Zen Buddhist
master, says that we need to care for our anger the way a
mother cares for her newborn baby. The mother may be
cooking in the kitchen and yet the moment the baby cries out
she immediately goes to see what is wrong. Because she is a
skillful mother she soon finds out what is wrong - whether it
is that the baby is hungry or the nappy is too tight or
whatever may be the case. In the same way the moment we
fell angry we need to care for it by practicing mindfulness.
We can observe the breath. We can go out for a walk and
make the act of walking our meditation practice. Observe
the sensations in the feet as they land on the ground one after
the other. At the same time observe your breath. You will
soon know how many steps you take for each in breath and
out breath. Walk in this mindful manner for 20 minutes to
half an hour and your anger will open itself to you and be
transformed.
Anger, left uncared for, spread a lot of pain and misery not
only in ourselves but also in other that we come in contact.
There is a natural tendency to lash out at others when we are
angry and this has the result of spreading misery. If we
practice transforming anger through mindfulness we will not
only be much happier and more peaceful ourselves but we
can also care for others and share our happiness and peace.
In this way our meditation practice will help in making the
world a better place.
Thich Nhat Hanh has written a very insightful book on this
subject - Anger, Buddhist wisdom for cooling the flames.
Many effective ways of dealing with anger are explained.
Pick up a copy of this book by clicking on the link below
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573229377/re
f=nosim/easternphilos-20.
I hope you enjoyed this article and hope that it will be useful
to you.
Stay tuned for more.
About the Author
For more articles in this series and a Free report on the connection between Quantum Physics and Eastern Philosophy visit http://www.eastern-philosophy-and-meditation.com. Find out why it makes scientific sense to practice these methods.
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