Holding Anger

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  • Onsho
    Member
    • Aug 2022
    • 187

    Holding Anger

    I return to anger.

    I have always seen the running theme of my practice is returning. Return to the mat. Return to my breath. Return to the precepts. Return to the clear and empty mind. Return to a sense of ease.

    However

    I feel anger for how our planet is being treated.
    I feel rage for the cast of clowns that we pay to take care of us.
    I feel fear for vulnerable communities being threatened.
    I feel sick that people are happy to let it all happen.
    It feels unfair and we have no options.

    And I return to anger.


    There is a podcast, Huberman labs. The host was interviewing Dick Schwardz. Dick is the creator of a type of therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS). The gist of it is that our psyche is made of many different archetypes and sometimes a part of us that should be running the show, gets put in exile and a different, unqualified part of you subs in for it. Dr. Schwartz asks the listeners a series of questions to get in touch with a certain part of yourself that you find disagreeable. I chose to dig into my feelings of righteous indignation and it started a bit of a self exploration over the last few days. My biggest take away was that I don’t hate people, I hate behaviors.

    I think all of us are struggling to some degree with reconciling good and bad anger. How to use it. Where to put it. How to transmute it in to action. Listen and learn from it and how it fits with the precepts. I decided to return to the vow of not indulging in anger today. I wanted to share what I came across in hope of it bringing comfort to those of us that are also struggling. Below are a few takes on the precepts. Not harboring ill will stands out to me.

    There is also a few paragraphs from Reb Anderson Roshi’s book Being Upright that helped a lot in putting my perspective back in in its proper place

    I feel better after doing the work. I know this will take a lifetime to understand and be with. But for now,
    I return to a sense of ease.

    I hope everyone is finding ways to take care of themselves. I think we are in for a long ride

    Gassho
    Onsho
    satlah




    Reb Anderson: A disciple of Buddha does not harbor ill will.

    SFZC: I vow not to harbor ill will.

    Treeleaf: To seek as you can, in this body and life, to refrain from all anger. -

    Bodhidharma: Self-nature is subtle and mysterious. In the realm of the selfless Dharma, not contriving reality for the self is called the Precept of Not Indulging in Anger.

    Dogen: Not advancing, not retreating, not real, not empty. There is an ocean of bright clouds. There is an ocean of solemn clouds.

    Zen Peacemakers: Transforming suffering into wisdom. This is the precept of Not Being Angry.

    From Being Upright:


    Without a commitment to refraining from all evil and practicing all good, we will be deeply confused and unable to wisely discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate actions. Not accepting the teaching of the entire universe, if someone asks for our help or requests some good deed that is difficult or inconvenient for us, we might not want to comply with the request. We might even feel irritated and imposed upon, and become angry at the person for asking us to do some wholesome deed. In such a case we are getting angry when we should not: this is inappropriate anger.

    If, on the other hand, someone were to offer a reward for committing some unethical act that was easy and convenient, we might not necessarily be bothered; we might feel quite comfortable with the thought of carrying out the act. In this case we might not feel angry when, in fact, anger would be appropriate.

    Hearing about this precept, people often ask, But what about injustice? Shouldn't we be angry about injustice? Anger with injustice does not necessarily violate the precept of not being angry. How is this so? Thoroughly studying ourselves in terms of these bodhisattva precepts, we come to see the light of the precepts. Seeing this light, we respond appropriately, in a liberating way, without any deliberation. The light of the precepts shows us the way, but anger and fear obscure the light. Still, being gentle, loving, and fearless with our anger, we become intimate with it, and the light reemerges. If we experience or witness injustice in the world and we are intimate with it, we see the light of the precepts. If anger arises in this light, it is no longer personal anger. It is the energy and activity of all beings, and it is appropriate and beneficial. Keeping an eye on the light of the precepts, we will find the way of liberating action for all those concerned: the unjust and the oppressed alike.

    One of Shakyamuni Buddha's most important teachings is called the lions roar, because his voice was so fierce and powerful that beings in all ten directions turned to listen. Buddha's roar was not an expression of anger, but his way of declaring that all beings fully possess the wisdom and virtue of the buddhas.

  • Jundo
    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
    • Apr 2006
    • 41297

    #2
    Hi Onsho,

    I have been around enough angry Zen and other Buddhist Masters in Asia and the West to know that few reject all anger. It is like fire, and must be used carefully, not running wild. I wrote this some years ago ...

    Must we forsake all our drive and ambitions for what we wish to achieve in life? Must we be cold people, perhaps unable to passionately and fully love someone deeply, with all our hearts? Must we avoid feeling indignation in the face of injustices in the world, all feelings of anger or disappointment? And so on.

    Here are my own 'rules of thumb'. As with fire ... which burns bright with light and warmth, or burns us and runs wild ... it depends how we treat these things.

    I believe that the Precepts generally guide us away from anger, greed, jealousy and other such emotions. As anyone who has ever had a moment (or days on end) flooded by those emotions can testify ... they generally do not lead to the peace and balance which is at the heart of this practice. Others get hurt, we get hurt, holes get punched in walls, plates get broken and life gets broken. These emotions are fire, and we must be careful how we play with it.

    On the other hand, to fully remove these emotions from the human mind ... including potentially harmful emotions such as anger ... would rob of us of an important part of being human. We would be reduced to living in a way as emotionally numb and dull as a piece of cold wood or a stone. Some schools of Buddhism (and some other Eastern and Western religions too) have sought to completely kill or squelch such emotions within us (sometimes many other human emotions too). This has traditionally been described as pouring water on the fire until coals become completely wet and cool, and the fire is completely out.

    When Buddhism came to China, Korea, Tibet and Japan ... the Buddhist teachings on the emotions subtly changed (I paint with a broad brush, but I speak as a general trend). The fires of emotions were not seen as necessarily negative things, but they must be handled carefully and with balance. A campfire, so useful for cooking our supper if skillfully made, will quickly burn down the woods if left untended. A single candle which offers light can burn us and others, and the whole house down, if handled wrong.
    Someone wrote me to ask if Buddhism requires us to abandon most of our passions. Must we forsake all our drive and ambitions for what we wish to achieve in life? Must we be cold people, perhaps unable to passionately and fully love someone deeply, with all our hearts? Must we avoid feeling indignation in the face of injustices


    Even the calm folks get angry sometimes. There is a video around somewhere, now hard to find, of Thich Nhat Hanh giving a priest a frustrated push, and the Dalai Lama has his moments ...


    There is a time to be like the parent of children, who sometimes may raise a voice and put on a scowling face to teach a "don't play with matches" lesson, but with love inside. I say that there is a place for "righteous wrath," where anger is motivation, but not overflowing in rage, like those wrathful Tibetan deities who trample ignorance ...

    .
    Gassho, J
    stlah
    Last edited by Jundo; 03-13-2025, 12:16 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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    • Junsho
      Member
      • Mar 2024
      • 214

      #3
      Originally posted by Jundo
      There is a time to be like the parent of children, who sometimes may raise a voice and put on a scowling face to teach a "don't play with matches" lesson, but with love inside. I say that there is a place for "righteous wrath," where anger is motivation, but not overflowing in rage, like those wrathful Tibetan deities who trample ignorance ...
      Hi Onsho,

      Read carefully the words of Roshi, they really say a lot.

      Honestly, there is not a single day that I am not angry (at least I must to pretend). If I do not act like this, my son of 3 years old certainly will try to kill himself somehow, grabbing knifes, climbing windows, Jumping with his head in the floor, etc.

      However, just be angry without compassion and love in our hearts is like ride horse without control. Feel angry is part of our human nature, but don't let your horse run away.

      Gassho!
      SatLah
      Junshō 純聲 - Pure Voice, Genuine Speech
      ​​​​​​
      If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” - Linji Yixuan​​

      Comment

      • Mujin
        Member
        • Jul 2023
        • 89

        #4
        Anger is a tricky emotion. The key to remember is that it is you that gets you angry. It is your perceptions of things. That being said, we must be careful what we allow into our minds. What do we feed it? Social and other media, for example, thrive on basically telling people what to think, and how to feel. The programming is subtle, but there.

        As Teacher said, there is a place for anger, as with all emotions. It can be used to spur someone to action. A good idea is to sit quietly and ask the anger what it is trying to tell you.
        You make the statement, "I feel sick that people are happy to let it all happen." That's is quite a generalization, that really will do nothing but, well, get you angry. Which people? How do you know they are happy to let it all happen? Maybe they are just as frustrated, yet feel helpless, as you do. Do you see where I'm going with that?

        As Teacher says, in Zen, we see out of both eyes. One sees the beauty and perfection, everything in its such-ness. The other sees the ugliness. Seeing with both, we can work to right wrongs without letting anger burn us.

        I hope this came out somewhat coherent and not just gibberish. I wish you metta and peace friend.

        Gassho,

        Mujin

        SatTodayLAH

        Comment

        • Chikyou
          Member
          • May 2022
          • 727

          #5
          I am struggling too with this lately. Unfortunately some of those people who “are happy to let it all happen” are members of my own family…and I get angry. It’s really hard not to.

          I’ve found myself taking refuge in my practice a lot more lately to find stability and direction. The Buddha Way has some very good guideposts.

          Gassho,
          SatLah
          Chikyō
          Chikyō 知鏡
          (Wisdom Mirror)
          They/Them

          Comment

          • Tairin
            Member
            • Feb 2016
            • 2991

            #6
            Originally posted by Chikyou
            I’ve found myself taking refuge in my practice a lot more lately to find stability and direction. The Buddha Way has some very good guideposts.
            Absolutely!!’ I was just thinking a very similar thought last night as I was reflecting on the daily events and more importantly how they are making me feel. I am grateful for this Practice, grateful for all of you here that support me and support all of the other members.


            Tairin
            sat today and lah
            泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods

            Comment

            • Seiko
              Novice Priest-in-Training
              • Jul 2020
              • 1193

              #7
              I may be wrong, so please take a pinch of salt with what I say, I am just a fledgling priest.

              As a layman I trained with two OBC monks. Good cop/Bad cop. One was motherly, lovely, kind - the other was a terrifying disciplinarian who never smiled. Perhaps we need to learn which one to be with ourselves?

              In my own life, the anger I felt as a young man is a memory, instead of anger at injustice, these days I more often feel sadness. This may possibly be frustrating for others around me. I wonder if a splattering of anger would actually be a good thing for me?

              Gasshō, Seiko, stlah

              Gandō Seiko
              頑道清光
              (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

              My street name is 'Al'.

              Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

              Comment

              • Seiryu
                Member
                • Sep 2010
                • 647

                #8
                Anger arises. It flares, it burns, it calls for action. And yet, anger itself is not the problem. It is only fire. Fire can destroy, but it can also warm, and illuminate. To be intimate with anger, to listen without being consumed, to meet it without letting it drive us, this is the path of practice.

                Gassho
                Sat/Lah
                Humbly,
                清竜 Seiryu

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