I hope that you enjoy reading this post on the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where eleven of us write on the same topic. Today’s topic has been chosen by Conrad The Old Fossil. The ten other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, Delirious, gaelikaa, Grannymar, Maxi, Maria SF, Padmum, Paul, Rohit,Shackman, The Old Fossil and Will. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, do give some allowance for that too!
I get angry. I am human. But, it is rarely that I do and that anger passes away before it can do any harm to me or others. It is rare that it becomes destructive. All that is in the present tense. In the past my anger has resulted in violence and harm but after I took to meditation, it simply became manageable. I did not have to go to any Anger Management Course or for counseling. It simply happened by itself.
Please turn on the speakers before you press the play button if you want to understand what anger can do to a man. Discretionary viewing is advised as the language is devastating.
What this guy and others with similar dispositions need is a dose of Thich Nhat Hanh.
“Just by breathing deeply on your anger, you will calm it. You are being mindful of your anger, not suppressing it…touching it with the energy of mindfulness. You are not denying it at all. When I speak about this to psychotherapists, I have some difficulty. When I say that anger makes us suffer, they take it to mean that anger is something negative to be removed. But I always say that anger is an organic thing, like love. Anger can become love. Our compost can become a rose. If we know how to take care of our compost…Anger is the same. It can be negative when we do not know how to handle it, but if we know how to handle our anger, it can be very positive. We do not need to throw anything away,”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh. In For a Future to Be Possible: Buddhist Ethics for Everyday Life
Thanks. I’m ready to go asleep now. That was deeply relaxing.
Maria recently posted..REVIEW – BUSINESS SUTRA by Devdutt Pattanaik
How nice! I am glad to have been of some service.
interesting piece, Ramana. Not that I can hear the clip because, well, you know … I run on reduced fuel.
As of 1200 GMT today (30 minutes ago) I have been very angry with myself and with good reason. Being angry with oneself is the worst kind of anger. You can’t even justify kicking the cat. If you bang a door the noise will only echo in your own ear drums.
When I get angry with someone or a situation I do take a deep breath and leave the house, any house. I walk round the block – as often as it takes. And then I return. Works wonders.
I think anger is underrated. Obviously no one should take it out on anyone physically (not even the cat) but a good shouting match will at least entertain the neighbours.
I hazard a guess that you are similar to me in that respect. We blow up, we calm down. – fast. It’s the only way. Simmering, allowing resentment to fester, is a recipe to unravel an otherwise sound relationship. Give me anger any day. But don’t let me stew in your silence. Incidentally, and I hope they won’t mind (they won’t mind because they don’t know who they are), I know a couple where he will flare and she, consequently, will sulk (for a long time). It’s tragedy. Where it turns into comedy is when her sulking makes him flare up again. Thus a vicious circle perpetuates itself.
There you go, Ramana. What drove me to despair half an hour ago is still no better but writing to you has calmed me.
Scratching my head,
Yours,
U
Ursula recently posted..Operator
That is a sight I would dearly love to see – you scratching your head!
You are right. I to blow up but within a few moments, I am back to normal. It is not only anger, even other emotions are like that for me.
I wondered if that guitar player was fighting a battle of frustration with palsy in his right hand?
Grannymar recently posted..Anger
I have seen that clip a few times and am yet to figure out why he is so angry.
his hand is not working. He says so in the clip and points to it at one stage.
Grannymar recently posted..Anger
My father had a terrible and terrifying temper. I resolved never to be the same, and since that time I’ve seldom been angry. I think anger is an extremely selfish emotion – while you’re consumed with anger, you’re totally oblivious to the needs and feelings of other people. And if it gets any result at all, it’s only because the other person is scared stiff.
Nick recently posted..A bit of lippy
I have mentioned this earlier to you, but we have many things in common including the angry father. Calling it an extremely selfish emotion is new to me but so right!
i was like nick. i adored my father. but he was a strict disciplinarian with a very short fuse. he was starting to mellow just a bit. but he died of a massive heart attack at 45. i sometimes wonder if anger were partly to blame. i didn’t really ever have a chance to know him as an adult but would ask him that now.
i don’t get angry easily. i keep a seething anger though with things i can absolutely do nothing to alter. and that is the way factory farms treat animals and the slaughterhouses that finally and excruciatingly in their own way put those poor creatures out of a miserable life. from beginning to end. their fate is sealed. and i literally stay angry about that. just being a non-meat eater myself doesn’t seem enough. but it’s like david slaying a giant. i haven’t got any more chance to help them than they have of helping themselves. so yes. i’d say. i’m angry.
and it hurts only me. in the long run.
i love thich nhat hanh by the way and have many of his books.
peace at every step is a particular favorite. what a wonderful little monk.
tammyj recently posted..london
If all non human creatures decided to get angry at humans, imagine what can happen! Just take what one small mosquito does to the man who casts his net wide and catches all kinds of creatures, but gets inside one to avoid a tiny mosquito!
Omg, can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.
blessings ~ maxi
Maxi recently posted..8 Images from the One You Hate to Love
If some one’s anger can make you laugh so much, imagine what will happen if I post something really funny!
I have heard that anger is just an expression of pain and hurt. I do think that is true.
Delirious recently posted..Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium: Anger
Fair enough.
Like you, my anger passes quickly and is a natural anger, like the other emotions. I find it lessening over time in a natural way, but experience and change is like that. I am fascinated by the insight Grannymar shows for our guitar player, for I suspect she may well be onto the core problem. If you have had something that has been special to you and it is lost, the frustration can be very explosive.
The Old Fossil recently posted..Yesterday was exciting!
You are like vintage champagne!
Flat? LMAO
The Old Fossil recently posted..Yesterday was exciting!
Did I say anything about the effervescence?