DEALING WITH ANGER...

For most of us anger, resentment and various kinds of resistances are a great stumbling block on the way to happiness.   It’s not that we are really bad people, or that we suffer from innate hatred.  It is more that the many shades of gross and subtle resistances tend to raise their head when we least expect it. In that moment of lack of awareness it sneaks up on us and we are trapped in its hold and locked into a negative response pattern. 

Anger is an energy that moves with force of resistance against the object of focus, or object of awareness. It sees its object/subject as having faults, and it wishes to harm and get rid of what is perceived to be opposing us. This kind of resistance can stem from fear of meeting the unknown, or not being able to control a particular situation. Our safe “reality” is being challenged or questioned, and ego steps in to force a change in favor of its territory.  This instantly leads to defeat and disables the intelligence which sees beyond the situation and finds a peaceful solution.  As a result things usually get out of control even more than they were before. Thus anger and resistance produces more stress and more conflict.  As well as that it may also be habit forming and setting a trend for future behavior patterns.  On top of this, it alters the chemical reactions in the body.  Over a period of time, before we know it, we have an irritable liver, and further down the track arthritic conditions in joints etc.  The unbendable, inflexible energy of anger and resentment has now become crystallized and frozen in parts of the body. Thus, the energy has spoken and manifested itself in matter. 

Ok, it looks like a good idea to take some preventative measures.  It would seem that if we allowed ourselves to fully experience the event, person, the negative speech, behavior or situation etc, instead of rejecting and resisting it, then at that point it would no longer have the power to cause harm, as there would be no ground for struggle. And also within this inner environment we could simultaneously see the point of view of the opponent. This would mean that we open ourselves to the negative force and willingly face it with calmness.  Unthinkable?  Well it has to be tried to be understood. It does not mean being someone’s doormat and accepting being treated badly. But it does mean approaching the situation with clarity, insight and understanding of both parties and then dealing with it swiftly, skillfully and appropriately.  We may even use quite a strong energy to deal with the issue.  Anger always is defeat and we loose face and loose our cool.  Here strong energy means; using a strong “anger-like” energy, but it comes from a point of view of compassion and love and understanding and it is never harmful or revengeful.

There are ways of dealing with the negative energies of anger and resentment and transforming them into our path of inner development. Perhaps it is easier said than done. But with some familiarity it becomes more and more workable. It will help us if we build the ‘armor of patience’ and we take some quiet time to prepare for future challenging situations, simply by cultivating our willingness to stay in the moment and willingly accepting the situation with dignity.  We may even decide to face the person or event with a feeling of love and compassion. And if we succeed in this, often the situation is completely diffused and others may even start acting kindly to us.  When our feelings are sincere they are powerful tools in overcoming difficulties.

M Johnson

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