Is There Righteous Anger Ever?
One of the most common expressions of violence is anger. When my wife or sister is attacked, I say I am righteously angry; when my country is attacked, my ideas, my principles, my way of life, I am righteously angry[…] So, when we are talking about anger, which is a part of violence, do we look at anger in terms of righteous and unrighteous anger, according to our own inclinations and environmental drive, or do we see only anger? Is there righteous anger ever? Or is there only anger?
The moment you protect your family, your country, a bit of colored rag called a flag, a belief, an idea, a dogma, that very protection indicates anger. So can you look at anger without any explanation or justification, without saying, "I must protect my goods," or "I was right to be angry," or "How stupid of me to be angry?" Can you look at anger as if it were something by itself?
[…] It is very difficult to look at anger dispassionately because it is a part of me, but that is what I am trying to do. Here I am, a violent human being, whether I am black, brown, white or purple. I am not concerned with whether I have inherited this violence or whether society has produced it in me; all I am concerned with is whether it is at all possible to be free from it. To be free from violence means everything to me. It is destroying me and destroying the world. I feel responsible -- it isn't just a lot of words -- and I say to myself, "I can do something only if I am beyond anger myself, beyond violence, beyond nationality." But to be beyond violence I cannot suppress it, I cannot deny it…I have to look at it, I have to study it, I must become very intimate with it and I cannot become intimate with it if I condemn it or justify it.
Excerpted from "Freedom from the Known" by J. Krishnamurti.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion of looking at anger as just anger without justifying or condemning it? Can you share a personal story of a time you were able to look at your anger without condemning or justifying it? What helps you move beyond a sociological analysis of anger and toward freeing yourself from it?
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16 Past Reflections
On Jun 19, 2017 Yvonne wrote :
h Anger have discovered is my body telling me why it is in pain....so anger is a wake up call for meto listen to why my body can tell me this is unfair.....now because I do not find any merit in pain I work with the anger....and eventually find release......and true peace comes into my body.....this is not easy...but very rewarding.
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On Jun 1, 2017 nunda wrote :
Expressing anger ,I thought ,was being authentic. As I age, I learned that it is a very destructive feeling . I still get angry when I feel someone close, is being unfair. Others don't rile me anymore.
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On May 30, 2017 Sudhir. P. wrote :
Anger is a manifestation of emotional energy. The challenge is to channel it productively & not reactively.Protecting one's family or the exploited is righteous. Waging a war to stop a tyrant can be righteous. But, these actions need not arise out of anger, which is but a reaction. Rather, they could arise out of an objective & considered decision.
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On May 30, 2017 sagar wrote :
They say anger is one letter away from danger. Anger is a spontaneous reaction -- it is not a response. The more matured mind is, less prone it is to anger. Always love JK's thoughts and thought-provoking questions.
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On May 30, 2017 Prateado wrote :
Sometimes we need to take decisive defensive, or even offensive, action in order to reduce collective suffering. Such action may even result in killing. How to do what is necessary without anger? This is the koan.
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On May 30, 2017 AJoy wrote :
"If you circumambulated every holy shrine in the world ten times it would not get you to heaven as quick as controlling your anger. " - Kabir
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On May 29, 2017 Peggy wrote :
A timely article. I am reminded of a story about a young starving child who is screaming to be comforted and fed. And the parent, feeling so powerless and at the mercy of external forces seemingly beyond her control... often leaves the child alone, sometimes physically and often psychologically... in order to fight the apparent "others" she believes are the source of her lack of resources. This to me is the way anger begins to become a way of life rather than a wave that rises up then subsides. There has to be 1) an experience of vulnerability that is not being met with love (from our very own selves!), and 2) a story about something external that needs to be controlled in order to feel better again.
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On May 28, 2017 Amy wrote :
Only God can free us from it!
I learned "anger" from my father! As an adult now, I want to keep as far from it as I can! Anger cheats and destroys (just like "the evil one")! I cannot repeat the sin of my father!...I pray ... Amen.
2 replies: Donna, Amy | Post Your Reply
On May 27, 2017 david doane wrote :
1 reply: Ana | Post Your Reply
On May 26, 2017 Rajesh wrote :
As Krishnamurti points out, any protection of dogma, country etc. is itself indicates anger. To me, it means that anger begins in very subtle ways and at some point becomes gross enough that it to comes into our awareness. When it comes into awareness depends on our sensitivity. I find that being sensitive helps a great deal in understanding emotions, including anger. More sensitive we are, the earlier we can catch ourselves. And that's brings up the question of what is the soil in which sensitivity springs and whether one can cultivate that soil.
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On May 26, 2017 Kristin Pedemonti wrote :
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