The God Light

Do Not Let Anger Control You

Some Western psychologists say that we should not repress our anger but express it—that we should practice anger! However, we must make an important distinction here between mental problems that should be expressed and those that should not. Sometimes you may be truly wronged and it is right for you to express your grievance instead of letting it fester inside you. But you should not express it with anger. If you foster disturbing negative minds such as anger they will become a part of your personality; each time you express anger it becomes easier to express it again. You do it more and more until you are simply a furious person completely out of control. Thus, in terms of mental problems, there are certainly some that are properly expressed but others that are not.

At first when you try to control disturbing negative minds it is difficult. The first day, the first week, the first month you cannot control them well. But with constant effort your negativities will gradually decrease. Progress in mental development does not come about through taking medicines or other chemical substances; it depends on controlling the mind.

By Kadampa geshe Langri Tangpa

The mind can be very unruly, it can often lead us astray, due to its impatience, the mind is not patient by nature. The mind goes wherever it wants without constraint.

It takes practice to gain control over your mind, it takes time and a lot of unlearning of bad habits, for you to gain sufficient control, so that you are not led by its friend the ego.

If you suffer with anger, do not blame yourself, for this blame only inflames your lack of self worth, the usual cause for anger. If you loved yourself fully, you would have no need to ever get angry.

Educate your mind, and your mind will learn to understand its own anger and impatience. It will understand that it can get what it wants by other means. It can communicate its needs by more loving ways.

You do not need to slay your anger, you need to understand it, and understand yourself more fully. By loving yourself, by bring love instead of anger to yourself, you bring your whole mind and body back into balance.