Mindfulness of Anger

Anger is an unpleasant feeling. It is like a blazing flame that burns up our self-control and causes us to say and do things that we will regret later. When someone is angry, we can see clearly that he or she is abiding in hell. Anger and hatred are the materials from which hell is made. A mind without anger is cool, fresh and sane. The absence of anger is the basis of real happiness, the basis of live and compassion.

When our anger is placed under the lamp of mindfulness, it immediately begins to lose some of its destructive nature. We can say to ourselves, "Breathing in, I know that anger is in me. Breathing out, I know that I am my anger". If we follow our breathing closely while we identify and mindfully observe our anger, it can no longer monopolize our consciousness.

Awareness can be called upon to be a companion for our anger. Our awareness of our anger does not suppress it or drive it out. It just looks after it. This is a very important principle. Mindfulness is not a judge. It is more like an older sister looking after and comforting her younger sister in an affectionate and caring way. We can concentrate on our breathing in order to maintain this mindfulness and to fully know ourselves.

When we are angry, we are not usually inclined to return to ourselves. We want to think about the person who is making us angry, to think about his hateful aspects, his rudeness, dishonesty, cruelty, maliciousness and many more. The more we think about him or her, listen to him or her or looking at him or her, the more our anger flames up. His or her dishonesty and hatefulness may be real, imaginary or exaggerated, but in fact the root of the problem is the anger itself and we have to come back and look first of all inside ourselves.

It is best if we do not listen to or look at the person whom we consider to be the cause of our anger. Like a fireman, we have to pour water on the blaze first and not waste time  looking for the one who set fire on the house. In this case, we avoid thinking about the other person, we refrain from doing or saying anything as long as our anger persist. If we put all our mind into observing our anger, we shall avoid doing any damage that we may regret later.

When we are angry, our anger is our very self here within. To suppress or chase it away is to suppress or to chase it away ourself. when we are joyful, we are the joy. When we are angry, we are the anger. When anger is born in us, we can be aware that anger is an energy in us and we can accept that energy in order to transform it into another kind of energy.

When we have a compost bin filled with organic material which is decomposing and smelly, we know that we can transform the waste into beautiful flowers. At first, we may see the compost and the flowers as opposite but when we look deeply, we can see that the flowers already exist in the compost and the compost already exist in the flowers. It only takes a few weeks for a flower to decompose.

When a good gardener looks into her compost, she can see that and she does not feel sad or disgusted. Instead, she values the rotting material and does not discriminate against it. It takes only a couple of months for the compost to give birth to the flowers. We need the insight and non-dual vision of the organic gardener with regard to our anger.

We need not be afraid of it or to reject it. We know that anger can be a kind of compost and that it is within its power to give birth to something beautiful. We need anger in the way the organic gardener needs compost. If we know how to accept our anger, we already have some peace and joy.

Gradually, we can transform anger completely into peace, love and understanding.