THE FOUR FORMS OF ANGER
Rev. Hyonjin Sunim
What is anger and how does it cause us to suffer? More importantly, how can we free ourselves from anger, transforming love and compassion? Anger is one of the three poisons, along with greed and delusion that causes us great suffering, or dissatisfaction in our lives. In the teachings of Zen, there are six kingdoms that appear as projections of our mind, one specifically made for our anger, resulting in the experience of life as a living hell. Not a punishment for evil deeds, but a mental filter that projects to the outside world, based on selfishness, aggression and frustration. It is the time when we are lost in a paranoia discriminating between a non-existent self and others as our enemies. We perceive the world as separate from us, creating prejudice against people as bad, ugly, or inferior. For this mental discrimination, we begin to think in a negative way, resulting in aggressive words or actions. It is the law of karma: what we think is what we create in the world, returning back to us the experiences we have created with our intentions manifesting as our thoughts, speech and actions. Although the world is neither good nor bad, perfect as it is, the way we experience it is our own projection, an aspect of our mental habits, that is, the ego. However, the ego is not real, in the sense of a permanent thing, isolated, or unchanging. It's just a set of ideas forming habits of thinking. You can change these habits to experience life directly, without filters of discontent or dissatisfaction.
What we do is what we get, the law of karma. When we are attached to thoughts of aggression, we project this aggression to the outside world. What we perceive is a hostile, aggressive, and threatening world. This perception is like a hell. We suffered physically and emotionally because of this mental tendency. The more you experience the world like this, then the more our thoughts become negative, while in turn contributing to a world of negativity. There is no end to this inner circle of aggression manifesting in external aggression. Whatever it is, you can not remove the external threat through internal aggression. It only creates more aggression in general. Anger causes more anger everywhere. The more we try to kill the imaginary enemy, the more it grows. Thus, we create our own hell.
We all experience difficult situations in our lives. The fact that a negative event comes out of nowhere, say an abusive childhood, is the result of negative intentions in another previous life, forming mental habits that carry from one life to another. When we are born, we have the opportunity to rectify the negative karma based on our thinking, giving us the opportunity to rectify the karma we created earlier by our aggressive intentions. If someone was abusive in a past life life, we are born receiving the same treatment in this life, enabling us to purify our karma and live in peace. However, out of ignorance, we tend to perpetuate negative thoughts and ideas, creating new negative karma, creating a rebirth in a new life all over again, in order to face our mental habits, which continue to cause suffering to ourselves and others. When we react with anger, greed, or confusion, the karmic cycle begins again and again, making a new life, a new body and a new personality. We are not bad for creating this chain of suffering. It is only because of ignorance. We feel insecure, thinking that we need more protection, forcing us to continuously strive to survive. What is needed to overcome this paranoia and selfishness is a radical intervention in our minds, which is located in Zen.
There are four types of anger: instinctive anger, reflexive anger, perceived anger, and compassionate anger. Instinctive anger is a reaction attached to our habitual and automatic emotions, based on past karma, with karmic consequences in the present or the future. This form of anger is the most difficult, causing us much pain and suffering, and can take hours or days before we return to a calm mental balance. The reflexive anger arises when we are aware of our instinctive anger, which happens when we practice mindfulness. When we are aware and reflective about our anger, it doesn’t last as long, and one can return to a calm and peaceful mind that can now help others. It is when we believe in ourselves one hundred percent, "Yes, I am willing!” trying to follow our Zen practice, letting go of anger, and returning to our inner peace. The third type of anger is perceived anger. Although we perceive our anger inside, we do not show it externally, choosing instead to abstain from expressing it until calm returns to our inner mind. Finally, there is compassionate anger, anger that is expressed to help others, but we don’t feel angry inside, only love and compassion. It is the anger a mother expresses to her son, who is about to run into a street full of traffic, yelling "STOP!" This anger manifests as the most appropriate response in order to support, teach, or save others from suffering, the ideal of the bodhisattva, who promises to save all sentient beings in the universe until all reach enlightenment.
The following story of Diana shows these different forms of anger. She attended a meditation retreat for several days. However, although she returned home very calm, she got into an argument with her son, screaming at him with such fury that she was about to slap him in the face. She went to her bedroom and began crying and embarrassed by her violent reaction to something so insignificant. But now something profound changed in her and she stopped crying. She realized that something very important had just happened, and instead of crying, feeling guilty and worried, she realized that she should do something drastic to change the environment and the karma of his son. She saw clearly that her child's school was not good for him. This school did not challenge him; his friends there were a bad influence, being very naughty and apathetic. Although her son had never wanted to change schools, she knew for sure he needed this change. Regardless, she had to change his school, even though her son might hate her for it. She rose from his bed, went into the kitchen where he was, and told him he had to change schools, and that he could not speak to her again in such a disrespectful manner, causing her so much anger. At first, he said no. But for the first time, the mother did not hesitate and was very firm and resolute, telling her son that if he couldn’t try something more challenging and new, then he would never amount to anything. He surprised her that night when he informed her that he had changed his mind, and he was willing to change schools at least for a couple of days, if only to try it out. The mother was very happy to have made this decision for his son, who was not mature enough to decide for himself. Her determination for the sake of her son had changed everything, and the child understood that she was right, accepting her decision and changing his attitude in how he treated his mother.
Diana's story reflects the different forms of anger. Before practicing Zen, the mom got mad as a habitual reaction, without reflection or consciousness, this being instinctive anger. After practicing Zen in the retreat, her mind was calm and lucid, like a mirror reflecting everything. She was totally angry with her son, completely honest and direct. She was one hundred percent clear in her anger, like a mirror reflecting exactly what appears in it. However, she was now aware of her anger, causing her great pain and sorrow, that of reflective anger. If the Mom continues practicing Zen, her anger could become perceived anger, perceiving it, but choosing to abstain from externalizing it. After further practice, this anger could disappear completely, resulting in compassionate anger, without attachment to the inner emotion, with the capacity to express an external display of anger for the good of her son.
Zen gives us the tools to calm the mind and transform anger into compassion. This compassionate isn’t found in the ego, thought, reason, or mental intelligence. It is found before the duality of thought, before discriminating thoughts divide the world into good and evil, likes and dislikes. Before this division, our nature has neither beginning nor end, is neither born nor dies, is unchanging while it continually manifests itself in an infinity of changing forms and phenomena. This essence is the life force of all, what makes plants grow, the planets rotate, and our hearts continually beating. It is our both our divine nature and our everyday experience. It is the Buddha Mind. Zen practice is based on letting go of our attachments to dualistic thoughts. Ironically, we don’t practice Zen to achieve something, like happiness, peace or a vacation from anger. Instead, we practice Zen for the practice itself, a sense of non-duality.
At first, we imagine that we are practicing; creating duality between our self doing something and the goal we seek to achieve. But eventually the mind begins to see its own mental states, its habits and hidden aspects of the personality. We can see the thoughts as they flow, without identifying with them. Without attempting to remove anything, we just observe our thoughts with calm awareness, seeing them arising from emptiness and then returning to emptiness. In fact, everything is empty. This emptiness is our Buddha Mind, an unlimited potential in everything, while all forms emerge from within this emptiness. As it says in The Scripture of Great Wisdom: "Form is only emptiness, emptiness is all forms, there is, then, nothing more than this, for what is form is emptiness, and what is emptiness is form, the same is also true for all sensation, thought, activity, and consciousness.” These feelings, perceptions, mental impulses and consciousness make up what is known as ego, a set of mental habits connected to the form of this body. But in themselves, they are all empty. When we directly discover for ourselves the truth through Zen, then enlightenment reveals itself, with unlimited consequences, because enlightenment awakens our inner bodhisattva. As we purify our own mind, we purify all minds. Practicing Zen, compassion arises naturally. Now practice is not just for ourselves, it is for everyone. Thus, freeing ourselves from the anger, greed, and delusion, we free the whole universe from suffering.
Bibliography
Trungpa, Chogyam. (2002) The Myth of Freedom. Shambhala Publications:Boston , USA
Sahn, Seung. (1999) Only Do not Know. Shambhala Publications:Boston , USA
What we do is what we get, the law of karma. When we are attached to thoughts of aggression, we project this aggression to the outside world. What we perceive is a hostile, aggressive, and threatening world. This perception is like a hell. We suffered physically and emotionally because of this mental tendency. The more you experience the world like this, then the more our thoughts become negative, while in turn contributing to a world of negativity. There is no end to this inner circle of aggression manifesting in external aggression. Whatever it is, you can not remove the external threat through internal aggression. It only creates more aggression in general. Anger causes more anger everywhere. The more we try to kill the imaginary enemy, the more it grows. Thus, we create our own hell.
We all experience difficult situations in our lives. The fact that a negative event comes out of nowhere, say an abusive childhood, is the result of negative intentions in another previous life, forming mental habits that carry from one life to another. When we are born, we have the opportunity to rectify the negative karma based on our thinking, giving us the opportunity to rectify the karma we created earlier by our aggressive intentions. If someone was abusive in a past life life, we are born receiving the same treatment in this life, enabling us to purify our karma and live in peace. However, out of ignorance, we tend to perpetuate negative thoughts and ideas, creating new negative karma, creating a rebirth in a new life all over again, in order to face our mental habits, which continue to cause suffering to ourselves and others. When we react with anger, greed, or confusion, the karmic cycle begins again and again, making a new life, a new body and a new personality. We are not bad for creating this chain of suffering. It is only because of ignorance. We feel insecure, thinking that we need more protection, forcing us to continuously strive to survive. What is needed to overcome this paranoia and selfishness is a radical intervention in our minds, which is located in Zen.
There are four types of anger: instinctive anger, reflexive anger, perceived anger, and compassionate anger. Instinctive anger is a reaction attached to our habitual and automatic emotions, based on past karma, with karmic consequences in the present or the future. This form of anger is the most difficult, causing us much pain and suffering, and can take hours or days before we return to a calm mental balance. The reflexive anger arises when we are aware of our instinctive anger, which happens when we practice mindfulness. When we are aware and reflective about our anger, it doesn’t last as long, and one can return to a calm and peaceful mind that can now help others. It is when we believe in ourselves one hundred percent, "Yes, I am willing!” trying to follow our Zen practice, letting go of anger, and returning to our inner peace. The third type of anger is perceived anger. Although we perceive our anger inside, we do not show it externally, choosing instead to abstain from expressing it until calm returns to our inner mind. Finally, there is compassionate anger, anger that is expressed to help others, but we don’t feel angry inside, only love and compassion. It is the anger a mother expresses to her son, who is about to run into a street full of traffic, yelling "STOP!" This anger manifests as the most appropriate response in order to support, teach, or save others from suffering, the ideal of the bodhisattva, who promises to save all sentient beings in the universe until all reach enlightenment.
The following story of Diana shows these different forms of anger. She attended a meditation retreat for several days. However, although she returned home very calm, she got into an argument with her son, screaming at him with such fury that she was about to slap him in the face. She went to her bedroom and began crying and embarrassed by her violent reaction to something so insignificant. But now something profound changed in her and she stopped crying. She realized that something very important had just happened, and instead of crying, feeling guilty and worried, she realized that she should do something drastic to change the environment and the karma of his son. She saw clearly that her child's school was not good for him. This school did not challenge him; his friends there were a bad influence, being very naughty and apathetic. Although her son had never wanted to change schools, she knew for sure he needed this change. Regardless, she had to change his school, even though her son might hate her for it. She rose from his bed, went into the kitchen where he was, and told him he had to change schools, and that he could not speak to her again in such a disrespectful manner, causing her so much anger. At first, he said no. But for the first time, the mother did not hesitate and was very firm and resolute, telling her son that if he couldn’t try something more challenging and new, then he would never amount to anything. He surprised her that night when he informed her that he had changed his mind, and he was willing to change schools at least for a couple of days, if only to try it out. The mother was very happy to have made this decision for his son, who was not mature enough to decide for himself. Her determination for the sake of her son had changed everything, and the child understood that she was right, accepting her decision and changing his attitude in how he treated his mother.
Diana's story reflects the different forms of anger. Before practicing Zen, the mom got mad as a habitual reaction, without reflection or consciousness, this being instinctive anger. After practicing Zen in the retreat, her mind was calm and lucid, like a mirror reflecting everything. She was totally angry with her son, completely honest and direct. She was one hundred percent clear in her anger, like a mirror reflecting exactly what appears in it. However, she was now aware of her anger, causing her great pain and sorrow, that of reflective anger. If the Mom continues practicing Zen, her anger could become perceived anger, perceiving it, but choosing to abstain from externalizing it. After further practice, this anger could disappear completely, resulting in compassionate anger, without attachment to the inner emotion, with the capacity to express an external display of anger for the good of her son.
Zen gives us the tools to calm the mind and transform anger into compassion. This compassionate isn’t found in the ego, thought, reason, or mental intelligence. It is found before the duality of thought, before discriminating thoughts divide the world into good and evil, likes and dislikes. Before this division, our nature has neither beginning nor end, is neither born nor dies, is unchanging while it continually manifests itself in an infinity of changing forms and phenomena. This essence is the life force of all, what makes plants grow, the planets rotate, and our hearts continually beating. It is our both our divine nature and our everyday experience. It is the Buddha Mind. Zen practice is based on letting go of our attachments to dualistic thoughts. Ironically, we don’t practice Zen to achieve something, like happiness, peace or a vacation from anger. Instead, we practice Zen for the practice itself, a sense of non-duality.
At first, we imagine that we are practicing; creating duality between our self doing something and the goal we seek to achieve. But eventually the mind begins to see its own mental states, its habits and hidden aspects of the personality. We can see the thoughts as they flow, without identifying with them. Without attempting to remove anything, we just observe our thoughts with calm awareness, seeing them arising from emptiness and then returning to emptiness. In fact, everything is empty. This emptiness is our Buddha Mind, an unlimited potential in everything, while all forms emerge from within this emptiness. As it says in The Scripture of Great Wisdom: "Form is only emptiness, emptiness is all forms, there is, then, nothing more than this, for what is form is emptiness, and what is emptiness is form, the same is also true for all sensation, thought, activity, and consciousness.” These feelings, perceptions, mental impulses and consciousness make up what is known as ego, a set of mental habits connected to the form of this body. But in themselves, they are all empty. When we directly discover for ourselves the truth through Zen, then enlightenment reveals itself, with unlimited consequences, because enlightenment awakens our inner bodhisattva. As we purify our own mind, we purify all minds. Practicing Zen, compassion arises naturally. Now practice is not just for ourselves, it is for everyone. Thus, freeing ourselves from the anger, greed, and delusion, we free the whole universe from suffering.
Bibliography
Trungpa, Chogyam. (2002) The Myth of Freedom. Shambhala Publications:
Sahn, Seung. (1999) Only Do not Know. Shambhala Publications:
