|
"Anger" August 2005 Anger is something that does not exist outside the human domain. It is not a primary feeling or emotion. It is the flow of emotion, filtered through the personality, through our expressions. It is a product, something manufactured. It is created. It is a lack of awareness, and a response "on cue". A habit, an entrapment. It presents physically in many ways, but largely through the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. The place in the brain where ego operates is the superior parietal lobe. Empathy operates from the prefrontal cortex. Impulses from the limbic system (mid-brain) travel four times as fast as impulses from the cortex. Learn - to wait 3 seconds before replying. It is necessary to train yourself to wait this time, for the cortical impulses to be acknowledged, and then a balanced approach is possible. (SPECT scanning, Dr Andrew Newberg, University of Pennsylvania.) Our brains are wired for beliefs and expectations. To allow change, one must practice discipline, and BELIEVE it is possible. It is said that: "for one who gets angry, it is as if they worship idols". Anger is all about the ego - "I". It is an expression of personal pain, a response to being challenged in your own significance or meaning. It is a habit that reinforces itself - a questionable short-term gain, for no long-term benefit. It is harmful to the person expressing the anger, as well as the recipient of that anger. Pain and anger suppress immune system function, leading to infections. There are blood pressure changes, malfunction of the digestive system, and others. In the act of becoming angry, the idea is that you somehow become "bigger" - by occupying more "space", but in fact as a communication technique, it is bound to fail, because there is no room for the other. Anger can only be used as a "put-on", a contrived attitude, for effect, to achieve a desired result. This can only be used with a clear intention of well-being for the other, and with perfect control and composure. Anger causes wisdom to leave the person. Wisdom is the ability to apply an appropriate response. Emotion is a dimension of the soul, filtered through the resonance of the heart. Intellect is a dimension of the soul, filtered through the resonance of the brain. The mind must apply direction for the heart. Anger should NEVER be allowed. So, is it possible to become a person without anger, someone who doesn't generate anger, to recreate the person you want to be without anger? Is anger something like a balloon, which fills and fills, and then explodes? Or is it a flow of energy, which we choose to exhibit through our will? How can we use the energy that arises, but channeled in a way that doesn't manifest as anger? The answer: to have an attitude that is not "I-centered" but "other-centered". When our focus is "the other", anger can be bypassed. To have a belief system about the moment of adversity that does not give rise to that feeling called anger. Elements: • Anger is a wish to control, It may be for the benefit of the other, but anger in itself breeds resentment, creates distance, a barrier, causes separation. It is therefore a perverse form of giving. • "The mind shapes the heart". The mind dictates the pathways of emotional expression. Anger separates, and is therefore the antithesis of human endeavour . • Seeming adversity ->"my will is not in accordance with the will of the cosmos". Very egocentric view. If we recognize that everything is tailor-made for our growth and benefit, then the adversity is exchanged for curiosity -> where is the opportunity here? What is the learning available? • Anger is misplaced and misdirected kindness. It is "I" focused: "If you behave in the way that I want, I will feel better". "I" focus leads to lllness, focus on the other leads to Wellness -- (Wayne Dyer).
|