Spiritual Anger

Anger. It is a difficult thing to deal with, and it has no easy answers. That is why I feel the need to talk about it. The question is do people that are "spiritual" and try to be loving ever get angry? I think that the answer is yes yes and yes...of course. We all get angry, and should get angry...anger is a healthy emotion and is telling us something. I think the question is not so much do spiritual people get angry but how they deal with anger. The past few weeks I have been feeling quite a bit of anger, which is uncommon for me. Sometimes it's at certain people or situations, sometimes it's in the middle of the night for no reason at all. And, I've been thinking to myself good lord! What is all this about? Anger has many messages, but I think that its biggest message is "hey, something is not right here, and my boundaries are being crossed!."

Boundaries can be physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual...so it can be a sticky thing to uncover, and sometimes it is anger at yourself for not doing something or being something and sometimes its anger at others. SO with anything just look at it first, ask yourself what is going on that is crossing your boundaries. Then, address it. If it is something that is within you then make the changes that you need to get to a place where you are not angry, and if it is with someone else then address it with them. But, truthfully, it is best done in a simple and direct manner that doesn't need any type of outburst or abuse. The Dali Lama has one of my favorite quotes on anger, when asked if he ever gets angry he said "yes, of course" and they said, "well, what do you do" and he responded..."I watch it come, I watch it go." This is so wise because first he is taking a moment to look at it. Second, he is not taking action from a place of anger. I am sure that if something needs to be said or done he does it, he just doesn't do it from a place of anger. I think that anger used justly as an Urban Samurai might do, can be used for personal and planetary power, or what one might call "a fire in the belly." Because I am still riding the words of MLK from last week I shall end with another quote of his. But, to conclude, listen to your anger...learn from it...allow it to be transformed into truthful powerful action of growth and love.

"One of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love…. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

- Martin Luther King Jr.