Anger

Anger is everywhere. But what is anger? 

Anger is the expression of the thought: “I am not getting what I want.” When we recognize this as a personal and conditional thought, anger becomes possible to heal.

Conflicts and even violence between individuals, nations, religions and political groups often express angry thoughts of what is wanted and not wanted, what should and should not be.

When we are angry we are often not aware of it, as we are blinded by thinking that we are right, justifying that we should get what we want. Sometimes after we have expressed anger, we regret it and are embarrassed by our angry behavior.

The moment we are embarrassed is a turning point, an acknowledgement that anger is not good. We recognize we are hurting ourselves and perhaps others. 

At other times anger may be repressed or held inside, expressed internally as a physical symptom or externally as behavior. However angry thoughts are expressed, they can be exposed, understood and healed.

Getting what we want is not always good, and not getting what we want is not always bad.

The question: “what do you want?” has been present throughout our lives. From the moment we are born to the end of our lives this question is asked in many ways like “What do you want to do?”, “What do you want to eat?”, and, “Where do you want to go?” On and on.

We have been inadvertently led to believe that knowing what we want, and doing what it takes to get what we want, is the purpose of our lives. We are convinced that getting what we want is what makes life good.

Yet, what is good in life has nothing to do with what we want. While we may stop being angry when we get what we want, this is often just temporary satisfaction which soon fades away.

And  then  the  search  for  what  we want resumes again. This  is  the  Personal  View  where  we  try to get satisfaction from persons, places and things which are temporary and come with conditions.

Instead of living for what we want and being angry when we don’t get it, the Spiritual View offers an alternative which is recognizing what is good and expressing it. For instance, wanting peace is not peaceful, sometimes even angry, while expressing peace is peaceful.

Instead of thinking in terms of what should or should not be, we can turn to ideas like “I am here to be peaceful, to seek clarity, to be grateful.” If we practice this our anger will be healed, and this will benefit our lives and those around us.

This is the benefit of the Spiritual View.