" When angry states of mind arise in meditation, balance
them by developing feelings of loving-kindness. If someone does something bad
or gets angry, don’t get angry yourself. If you do, you are being more ignorant
than they. Be wise. Keep in mind compassion, for that person is suffering. Fill
your mind with loving-kindness as if he were a dear brother.” -Ajahn Chah
Anger is suffering. It feels unpleasant. Like a sickness. A poison.
Harming the body.
Metta
(loving-kindness) feels good. It feels pleasant. Like a medicine. It helps heal
the body. Metta fosters connection and friendship. Is good for our health and
wellbeing, as well as everyone else’s.
Anger harms the body; metta heals it.
Anger harms society; metta heals it.
It can feel extremely challenging to go from anger to metta
(loving-kindness) though. Sometimes I can't just snap myself out of an angry
state.
Something interesting about feelings: a neutral feeling feels pleasant after a
painful feeling. Knowing this can be helpful.
It takes a bit of effort, and some will power at first. One must
refuse to enter into any dialogue with the mind. Ignore thoughts. This is not
an intellectual matter. For me, anger is a state of emergency, a dangerous fire I need to put out ASAP.
I
must forget the past, forget the future, forget the self, forget what the anger
is even about, forget it all, words are not what’s needed. There’s no reasoning
with a mind absorbed in anger. Keep attentive to the neutral feeling, which becomes
easier to do as the mind notices it feels more pleasant than being angry
Let what is sensed be just what is sensed, without adding
anymore to it.
Awareness of space. Of the elements, earth, water, or air.
The touch of clothing on the skin.
A cool breeze can also help.
Half-closing my eyes reduces the visual information coming in.
Which can ease agitation. It is amazing how much difference half-closing one’s
eyes makes. It helps reduce sensory input, which can be calming.
Pacing back and forth, and gradually slowing my pace down, till
it becomes a calm serene walking pace. Imagining myself walking like a Buddha.
Walking can feel good, because it has this feeling that you are
walking through stuff, walking it out of your system. I like the feeling of
motion, the sensations in the feet, the feeling of the space around the body.
When the mind is calm, metta is easier to practise which brings pleasant
feelings.
The neutral feeling like a bridge from anger to loving-kindness.
There's a quote I remember, but not sure who said it. (I can't
find it anywhere online.) But it was by a forest monk (I think). Someone asked
him if greed, anger, and conceit still arose in his mind. He answered 'yes, but
there isn't anywhere for it to land, so nothing becomes of it.'
Sometimes I can centre on an empty space within. When I go there the fire of
anger can’t take a hold and goes out. Same with wanting, conceit and delusion.
They don’t affect me when I am centred with emptiness. It all just stops,
ceases before it can take a hold. There’s a lovely feeling in the heart space
then. It becomes a place of no fear and can feel freeing and peaceful.
…
