The dominant collective emotion in America is anger. On social media, you witness multiple battles. Besides race and politics, people are clashing over masks, vaccinations, global warming, healthcare and police reform, economic policy and military spending.
Please allow me to share some perspectives for transforming anger into self-awareness. Rather than rob anger of its legitimacy, let’s clear the fog of rage to make way for deeper understanding. Anger can play a generative role; for example, anger can provide the impetus for social change in transforming systemic racism.
I had anger issues. I turned to Eastern perspectives through the work of the Indian mystic Osho, who left behind a legacy of over 2,000 books on life’s challenges. I found his books “Intimacy” and “Emotional Wellness” particularly useful.
Here’s a glimpse into my journey:
Thank the person who pisses you off: When people say or do things that aggravate you, feel grateful to them, because they have opened the closet door and exposed the anger that is hiding inside. They are the not the cause of our anger. Their comment or action is just the spark that ignites the rage we are carrying from our individual or collective past. Use the situation to explore the source of the suppressed anger.
Recognize anger in its multiple disguises: Spot the many forms our anger can take. Judging others, feeling superior, delighting in being right and in making others wrong, controlling and dominating others — these are just a few symptoms of chronic anger.
See anger as lightning in the inner sky: Our usual reaction is to condemn ourselves for being angry. This is the surest way to become angrier! Instead, just as we can see beauty in lightning, Osho urges us to appreciate anger as if it’s “lightning in the inner sky.” Only through compassion and self-acceptance can we heal and transform deeply.
Look inward through the window of anger: When angry, we focus outward, projecting hate and blame on a person or event. This is the moment to stop and look within. Anger is an outer shell for inner fear. Get in touch with what is terrifying. The fear could be of losing control. Or the situation may remind us of our childhood when we felt powerless. It’s the abuse we suffered in childhood that’s a major source of anger later in life. As Osho says, “When a battle is raging within, enemies appear on the outside.”
Witness — Don’t just express or suppress: We either suppress our anger or lash out at others. Instead, Osho offers “witnessing” — start watching, observing and witnessing our anger. Just when we feel the anger rising, there is a moment of awareness before we are carried away. That’s the moment to watch for, maintaining awareness of our anger, not just acting it out.
Osho invites us to explore creative ways to transcend anger. Usually, we dump our anger on others, who then keep passing it on. The boss yells at the worker, who yells at their spouse, who yells at the child, who bullies his friend, who then kicks the dog!
This cloud of anger is producing untold cruelty, from domestic abuse to needless wars. The fate of America will be determined less by our military or financial clout and more by our ability to transform anger into compassion.