The Value of Healthy Anger

Speaker 1 · 0:00Welcome to the Mindfulness Exercises podcast. May this be a source of inspiration and motivation in your mindfulness practice and teachings.

Speaker 2 · 0:14In mindfulness circles, you get different opinions about anger. A month after I disrobed and left the monastery, I visited my parents for a while. My mom got angry about something in the newspaper, and I relayed the story to my mom of something that the Buddha talked about, which is that even if some not so nice people attack you and sever all of your limbs, you know, one should relate to these people with compassion and care rather than feel angry. And I think a lot of like people kind of aspire to that. And I think that some of those people suppress the natural emotion that you might feel. Sharon in that book, Real Change, talks about anger and holds the view that if we feel angry, it may be a really good thing. Like, you know, we don't want to hold on to it and navigate our whole lives from that, but it can spark action, it can spark, you know, this fierce compassion. You know, we want to tend to that anger with care and wisdom, but it can be a positive driving force in its initial form. Yeah, and I think there's very healthy ways of expressing anger. You know, a lot of people um struggle with seeing what happens in the world, seeing what happens with people around them, seeing what happens with their own family. You know, bad habits, giving in to, you know, these urges because things are unpleasant, and so they numb out, or they do things that aren't aligned with their actual deeper values. There's no shortage of things that we can feel worked up about, but you know, honoring our emotions, allowing them to be here, finding healthy ways of expression, whether it's journaling, talking to a friend. I highly recommend, you know, mindful communication training, nonviolent communication training, so that we can express things verbally without harming. But there's other ways of expression too, you know, physical expression, journaling, forming intention. This is a really big topic, and it kind of touches on so many different facets. But I really recommend Sharon Salzberg's book, Real Change, because she eloquently talks about how mindfulness relates to these feelings of anger and wanting to help others, and it touches on fierce compassion.

Speaker 1 · 3:40By sharing mindfulness with a deep sense of faith, knowing that seeds we plant will certainly someday bloom. To learn more about Sean's Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training Program and the wisdom, support, and community that's available there, visit teach.mindfulness exercises.com.