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Taking Care of
Anger Thay often compares our anger to a small child, crying out to his mother. When the child cries the mother takes him gently in her arms and listens and observes carefully to find out what is wrong. The loving action of holding her child with her tenderness, already soothes the baby’s suffering. Likewise, we can take our anger in our loving arms and right away we will feel a relief. We don’t need to reject our anger. It is a part of us that needs our love and deep listening just as a baby does. After the baby has calmed down, the mother can feel if the baby has a fever or needs a change of diaper. When we feel calm and cool, we too can look deeply at our anger and see clearly the conditions allowing our anger to rise. When we feel angry it is best to refrain from saying
or doing anything. We may like to withdraw our attention from the person
or situation, which is watering the seed of anger in us. We should take
this time to come back to ourselves. We can practice conscious breathing
and outdoor walking meditation to calm and refresh our mind and body.
After we feel calmer and more relaxed we can begin to look deeply at ourselves
and at the person and situation causing anger to arise in us. Often, when
we have a difficulty with a particular person, he or she may have a characteristic
that reflects a weakness of our own which is difficult to accept. As we
grow to love and accept ourselves this will naturally spread to those
around us.
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