Anger is a state of mind. But it does not stand alone. Some-one has to be angry about some-thing. I or they can be angry about iniquities or inequities that are minor and interpersonal or major and cultural.
The word ‘anger’ sits on a continuum of feelings that include:
::: irritation, indignation, resentment, displeasure, anger, vexation, rage, fury :::
Anger has moral and ethical links. It is provoked when cultural shoulds and oughts are violated and when there is corruption and cruelty, injustice and wrong doing, and many other iniquities and inequities.
People are maddened and incensed, exasperated and belligerent and generally overcome with wrath and ire; and this has bodily implications in terms of choler, bile and spleen. Not a pleasant experience, not a pretty sight!
Neuroscientists have noted which modules in the brain light up when someone is angry. There are links to the adrenalin based ‘fight or flight’ response system.
From the perspective of evolutionary psychology we can suppose that the anger package has survived and prospered by helping to stabilise the moral cement that held hunting and gathering groups together.
Man is a social animal and is genetically programmed to fit into a cultural system - but the details will be acquired through learning. Anger will be provoked when the habits and rules are challenged or broken and it will pull the offending individuals back into line.
When I was a child I was prone to temper tantrums. I was often overcome by what in the dialect we called ‘stoonies’. These days I put this down to having received mixed messages about the shoulds and oughts in the local culture in the 1950s. I had my first existential crisis and bout of cognitive dissonance really early!
Since I was thirteen I have been away from the village for various periods ranging from a few weeks to several years. I have lived and worked in seven countries with different sets of shoulds and oughts. It might therefore be supposed that I am now cool, cosmopolitan, and relaxed about operating in cultures other than my own. I like to think that of myself most of the time.
The ‘cool dude’ image works well for the petty details – I am happy to eat with cutlery, chopsticks or my fingers. But it does not work so well for what I take to be the ancient, evolved, cultural universals. For example the six moral foundations as set out by Haidt:
1) Care/harm
2) Fairness/cheating
3) Liberty/oppression
4) Loyalty/betrayal
5) Authority/subversion
6) Sanctity/degradation
The Dalai Lama recognises two types of anger. The key difference is in what motivates action. Anger which is rooted in the self and a hatred of others is negative and destructive. Anger which is rooted in compassion related to the unfortunate condition of others can be positive and useful. Indeed anger which motivates action against social injustice will remain until the goal is achieved. There can be such a thing as a justifiably angry Marxist!
Thich Nhat Hahn reckons that the most basic condition for happiness is freedom from the mental formations of anger, despair, jealousy and delusion – these are poisons which prevent happiness from forming. They are also called knots because they tie us up and restrict our freedom.
Mindfulness is the cure but it does not fight anger or despair. Mindfulness recognizes that something is there in the present moment. Then you embrace it and get relief. The mother (mindfulness) is there to take care of the baby (anger) and the situation is under control.
And who is this mother? The mother is the living Buddha. The capacity of being mindful, the capacity of being understanding, loving and caring is the Buddha in us. Every time we generate mindfulness, it makes the Buddha in us a reality
Every time you give your internal formations a bath of mindfulness, the blocks of pain in you become lighter and less dangerous. So give your anger, your despair, your sorrow a bath of mindfulness every day—that is your practice.
SO – there are ‘things’ that might be called ‘energetic anger packages’ which at their best might be adaptive in ensuring that individuals and cultures toe the line. Sometimes the packages get coopted to the service of individual, selfish egos and this is normally destructive. In either case mindfulness mothering can convert emotional and intuitive reactions into thoughtful and reasoned responses.
General rule, “Please engage brain before opening mouth”.
>>>>>>>>>>
References:
http://dictionary.com
Jonathan Haidt on Moral Foundations
http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/haidt-on-morality.html
The Dalai Lama on anger:
http://www.tricycle.com/blog/justifiably-angry-marxist-interview-dalai-lama
Thich Nhat Hahn on anger
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1756
>>>>>>>>>
No comments:
Post a Comment