Unexpected Freedom

Meeting our Angernot mean to forget. But it can mean to be free from wastingour heart’s energy on negativity. We are not obliged to investour energy negatively. It is a choice. If we wish, we can directit in ways that lead to increased freedom from suffering.From the perspective of Buddhist practice there isnothing wrong with feeling anger. In the discourses theBuddha gave on mindfulness of breathing, he teaches us tofeel whatever we feel, but to feel it mindfully. If we feelpleasure – it is just so. So likewise, if we feel anger, we feelanger – it is just so. We are not going to see our angertransformed overnight, but as we become more familiar withit, we will experience the freedom that comes from notfighting it.This change will not, however, always feel good. Therewill be times when it will feel wonderful not to get soregularly burned, and there will be times when it will feel likewe are dying. We have been feeding on this wild energy,either by indulgence or repression, for a long time. Comingoff our addictions takes its toll. The process of going againstour habitual reactions to the passions is challenging andshould not be underestimated. For this reason there are allthe instructions in the spiritual traditions and the support ofgood companions on the path to encourage us in releasingout of our habits until we grow in confidence. Thisconfidence emerges out of finding our sense of who we are inawareness, instead of in the limited identification with thetumultuous conditions of the body and mind.This natural emergence leads to the insight that sees ‘thefalse as the false’ as the Buddha put it. When we see the falseas the false we can then see the real as the real. As werenounce the various false ways of getting energy, likeindulging in anger and greed, we move naturally into a newrelationship with life – a more real relationship with life. The81