I READ THIS LOVELY ARTICLE ABOUT ANGER in the magazine Lion’s Roar, Nov 2022 issue – these were the pieces stuck out for me that I felt called to share:
‘Anger is something most of us try to avoid. Yet … we can observe the source of our anger – and the source of all our mental states – is none other than ourselves. No one makes us feel, think, or do anything except as we allow. When we see that, we can begin to free ourselves from the delusional grip of anger, hate, and fear and the cycle of suffering they cause.
Anger comes from our attachments. We all have our likes and preferences, dislikes and aversions, and our fiercely held opinions of how things should be. We cling to what we want – to what we think is good and right – and reject what we don’t want in what amounts to a near-continuous war with reality.
One … thing that has changed my relationship with anger: admitting it. When I feel myself getting angry around others, I try my best to say, “I’m angry right now.” When I acknowledge my anger, it changes me, it changes my body. … It clarifies the situation for me and for everyone around me.’
~ excerpts from the article An Angry Person with a Zen Practice, by Karen Maezen Miller, a priest at the Hazy Moon Zen Center in LA.
Getting quiet, if even for a moment, and observing our thoughts, how we’re thinking and reacting within, inquiring within ourselves – can help us identify the root of our anger. It might take a little longer than that moment, it might take inquiry for a period of time. But awareness is the first step.
Inviting you to take a moment, a breath, a pause – if you’re feeling angry today, and before reacting in anger. Replace judgment of yourself and your anger with curiosity and compassion as you investigate the root of what’s been triggered within yourself. ❤
(Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger, pexels(dot)com)