let the anger go, say it out loud
 

I, unlike some people have time to ponder the content of the posts, and find ways to adjust the anger that boils up from life's natural turmoil.

It is one thing to get the anger out, and clear the feelings that are disturbing your mind, cluttering up your life, but not to learn from what you have said, why you have said it ... that would be like making the same mistake in Aikido practice without trying to correct it, wouldn't it?

The spirit is an intangible thing that manifests itself in behavior, words, sometimes deeds. Although we try to be martial in our training of Aikido, there is the factor of sitting and talking about it in either roundtable situations, or here in our forums.

There is a catharsis of emotional turmoil that seems to bind some of us together in seeing that we are so much alike that we tend to disagree. I think it is a good thing that we try to help each other by improving, not only our own spiritual wellfare from aikido experiences, but we are concerned enough to reach out to people we have never met.

Are we kidding ourselves?

Or ... is there a better person inside all of us trying to work through the turmoil of modern life that pokes and prods us to manifest anger, a test, to see if we have the right stuff?

The old saying no good deed goes unpunished, is this part of your life, or not?

It is quite appropo to write about the easy way to be for practice, with an open mind, empty cup, and ready for practice, but how much of that is learning to cope with pressures of everyday life as you learn to find this balance and ways to relieve the anger?

I am just about to click fifty and I am just starting to get a handle on a clear mind and spiritual balance, what advice for we give to those who come here, and with pieces of turmoil like "getting slapped by sensei" in the forums, how personal should advice be, and how martial should our goals be?

IMHO, no one gets in trouble for being angry, its how they express that anger that causes the trouble. Holding in or letting out, can cause trouble.

Found a great anger pattern.

Seldom do we get angry unless we have had our feelings hurt. The anger is a positive protective defense reaction. Yet, what would happen if we just said "Ouch" and stayed with the pain? We would get a different reaction. Next time some one is angry, just ask them about their pain. Enter and blend with compassion. Its a great redirect and reframe.

But that's not all.

Most pain comes because we take things personally. Some one has said or done something and we think its about us. Actually, its a statement about them. So what happens if we don't take what other people say or do personally and see it as a simply expression of who they are?

No personal = no pain.

No pain = no anger.

No anger = no problem.

Just a thought.

Until again,

Lynn

So Maim, Kill, Burn... is the wrong approach to a thread?

Man i'm so laid back i'm verticle i'm so kewl you could store a side of meat in me for a month. My five told me she was pregnant like five minutes before i was told i'd got my job at this really kewl company and i wasnt sweating or anything.

Although i agree reacting with anger is silly, it clouds the judgement and Evil overlords in training such as myelf could make a vital mistake by doing so, i must relax and focus my energies into something productive...Like activating storm trooper legions or devising an evil and insidious plot to overthrow those that could stand against me, stuff like that...

evileyes

pete

I hate to constantly agree with Lynn, but I think she's right; its all about this ego thing. As far as I understand it (though I know some of you have different interpretations) - when Ueshiba said 'I am the universe', he wasn't boasting; he was saying that each and every one of us is a part of one whole - in fact the universe is one entity and our individuality is an 'illusion'. For me that is why selfish actions come from a misunderstanding of reality (rather than being intrinsically evil or anything). We all know we are going to die, and eventually the whole human race will die out. There is no real goal - I always find that very comforting.

I think Ueshiba said something like life is the arena where we test our spiritual strength (or at least that meaning).

Ian

P.S. I think religious/spiritual belief is utilised for several reasons:

1. empathy for a persons situation and wishing to help them through it

2. affecting other people so that they support your belief system (and thus way of life) e.g. physically weak people would naturally support pacifism as they gain more power from using other methods.

3. control of others

4. insight which you wish to share (or be confirmed) by others.

Also, we have to remember, that what we think we think (what our concious mind is doing) may only be a way of justifying our own selfish actions in a way in which we can portray ourselves as unselfish.

Ian

Try he's right.;)

I am starting to wonder if James Joyce was really trying to say something, or merely gasped as his body died?

I'll bite.

What are the last words of James Joyce?

And who is that person Nobody he was talking about?

Ahhhhhhhh .... gasp .... then he died.

Seriously though, isn't anger management a big part of learning Aikido?

IMHO, unfication of body and mind implies the control of both. By controling the mind you can manage the anger or even learn how not to have it in the first place. But, this is seldom addressed directly.

Until again,

Lynn