From: darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re:  Men are Scum etc.
Date: 22 Jul 92 16:17:46 GMT
Organization: University of California, Davis

In article <1992Jul22.024022.8837@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>, radzy@ICSI.Berkeley.EDU (Tim Radzykewycz) writes:
> 
> In article <15379@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie) writes:
> > ... anger is also a dangerous and basically negative
> > emotion. It basically doesn't help anything, *particularly if
> > you buy into it*. Then it just feeds on itself and grows and
> > takes over.  By "buying into it", I mean that you identify with
> > your anger and so develop the "*I* am angry" mindset.  There's a
> > very powerful anger meditation in a book which I have at home.
> > If there's any interest I'll post it tomorrow.
> 
> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post it.  Or if you decide not to, then send
> me a copy some other way!
> 
> Blessings!
> 

Before giving the meditation, here's some background on its source
and some pertinent lead-up text. All this material is from 
"Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk
who is one of humanity's greatest spiritual resources. He was, among
other things, responsible for getting Martin Luther King to come
out against the Vietnam War (a very controversial move for him at
the time). King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for his
work (unfortunately futile) for peace in Vietnam. He is the author
of *numerous* books, all of them lovely and wonderful, among them
"Being Peace" and "The Miracle of Mindfulness".  Here's some of what
he has to say about 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 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 love and compassion.
      When our anger is placed under the lamp of mindfulnes, 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 know ourselves fully.
      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 so on. The more we think
    about him, listen to him, or look at him, the more our anger
    flares. His 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 who is 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 the house on fire...
       When we are angry, our anger is our very self. To suppress or
    chase it away is to suppress or chase away our self. 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 that is decomposing and smelly, we know
    that we can transform the waste into beautiful flowers... We need
    the insight and non-dual vision of the organic gardener with 
    respect to our anger. We need not be afraid of it or 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
    the way an 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.
       Expressing anger is not always the best way to deal with
    it. In expressing anger we might be practicing or rehearsing it,
    and making it stronger in the depth of our consciousness. 
    Expressing anger to the person we are angry at can cause a lot
    of damage.
       Some of us may prefer to go into our room, lock the door, and
    punch a pillow. We call this "getting in touch with our anger".
    But I don't think this is getting in touch with our anger at all.
    In fact, I don't think it is even getting in touch with our
    pillow. If we are really in touch with our pillow, we know what
    a pillow is and we won't hit it. Still, this technique may work
    temporarily because while pounding the pillow we expend a lot of
    energy and after a while we are exhausted and we feel better.
    But the roots of the anger are still intact, and if we go out
    and eat some nourishing food, our energy will be renewed.  If the
    seeds of our anger are watered again, our anger will be reborn
    and we will have to pound the pillow again...
       ...In order to have real transformation, we have to deal with
    the roots of our anger - looking deeply into its causes. If we
    don't, the seeds of anger will grow again. If we practice mindful
    living, planting new, healthy, wholesome seeds, they will take
    care of our anger, and they may transform it without our asking
    them to do so."

So here is Thich Nhat Hanh's anger meditation:

    "When anger arises, we may wish to go outside to practice walking
     meditation. The fresh air, green trees and plants will help us
     greatly. We can practice like this:

        Breathing in, I know that anger is here.
        Breathing out, I know that the anger is in me.
        Breathing in, I know that anger is unpleasant.
        Breathing out, I know this feeling will pass.
        Breathing in, I am calm.
        Breathing out, I am strong enough to take care of this anger.

     To lessen the unpleasant feeling brought about by the anger, we
     give our whole heart and mind to the practice of walking
     meditation, combining our breath with our steps and giving full
     attention to the contact between the soles of our feet and the
     earth...After a while, our anger will subside and we will feel
     stronger.  Then we can begin to observe the anger directly and
     try to understand it.

Whew! my fingers need a rest. Sorry for the long post! If even one
person can benefit, it will have been worthwhile.

Blessings to all, 

--richard

                          *********************************
Richard Darsie            *                               *
(Tuneweaver)              *     The one who dies with     *
darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu   *   the most instruments WINS!  *
                          *                               *
                          *********************************