Emotional Outbursts

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Gem

I'm more inclined toward Molearner's stance and agree that spiritualists tend to justify anger even though it's fundamentally ill-will. However, when betrayed, abused, treated unjustly it's understandable to feel angry.

I think appeals to authority such as Jesus got angry is only a way to justify your own anger, and just because a guru was angry, it doesn't mean 'it's fine'.

If you were a neighbor to a family that let their kids do anything such as play in the street, w Would you get angry if you saw a speeding truck coming down the street and one of the neighbor kids just happened to be playing in the street with their back toward the truck?

Do people get angry at times when the hammer they are using hits the wrong nail, like your finger nail?

[Starman]

Gem yes, there is an appeal to authority in referencing the anger which Jesus had, or a guru had, but it is only done as a reference to the perspective that spiritual people should not be getting angry.

Perceived spiritual masters are often referenced, regardless of religion or spiritual practice, when the faithful are looking for guidance on a spiritual matter. So in the context of spirituality and anger such references are made, and I do not defer to any church or clergy that justifies anger.

I am just referring to Jesus as an example of a highly spiritual person showing anger; right or wrong, it happens to the most spiritually advanced of us. I distinguish between controlled anger and uncontrolled anger; again how it is expressed. Spirituality, depending on a person’s development, does not exempt them from anger, in my opinion.

But as I stated earlier, I am open to other opinions, and whatever opinion we have may be right for us as an individual. It is not my intention for me to get others to see things my way, no matter how much I may debate the conclusions of others. Each individual will make their own decision on spirituality and anger.

Namaste

[Gem]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Do people get angry at times when the hammer they are using hits the wrong nail, like your finger nail?

Ha. I probably get angry, irritated or something most days.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Starman

Namaste

He was upset by degenerates misusing the temple. I don't like that either, so I think it's understandable. To me (going by the scene in JC Superstar) it looks exactly like a religious extremist storming in and taking things into his own hands. I understand his reason, and I agree with him - it's supposed to be a 'house of prayer' - but smashing up the place like that is a bit much (though admittedly I liked it better afterward), so to me it represents an ethical quandary rather than something I'm sure about.

The justification is, He literally can do no wrong, therefore it was virtuous etc. but even though I agree with Him in principle - a temple is supposed to be a place of worship - and I can rationalise his actions, I don't condone let alone exemplify them as virtuous.

When it comes to my anger or anyone else's, if you think like, well, Jesus got mad at the temple, so it's fine, or the guru got mad at the follower, that's fine, or 'Yea but, it was out of compassion', I don't think that indicates appreciation of the message. If the story presents a quandary that makes you uncomfortable and uncertain, then I think you get an inkling of how the 'knowledge of good and evil' is pretty tricky.

[Alethia]

Hi Starman

I cannot speak for others here, but owning my anger in the early part of my journey, taught me, that I was reacting to my anger, rather than feeling my anger fully to resolve it over time. Anger also taught me underneath I was grieving, so sadness would often arise as the inception point. As I learned to feel fully and resolve deeper, my movements on the surface, would not change. So giving anger my full attention, overtime resolved it. Without anger in place, I am now moved with patience and without trying to control myself or the external in whatever way it occurs. I think most people have triggers of control, where anger can be misused and often as we see, it harms and hurts. I feel now, I’ve replaced anger with assertiveness, which confuses people at times. They sometimes in their own unresolved anger, feel your angry with them, but in fact for me I can feel directly, when I am clear and I do own my feelings and deal accordingly. It can be difficult for someone still attached to anger to understand how it feels being free from it, but being clear and not reacting tends to change the flow between yourself and another in this way.I also feel, when anger is fully resolved, I’ve seen and witnessed in myself, the arising of patience and deep acceptance. When I am not controlling how I feel, own it fully, without harm to others, it moves fast. It clears very fast and I find my centre fast, which then changes my reaction to what I’m dealing with. Another thing, once I healed my anger, I had to be willing to be open and clear and feel others in their own, without reaction. This was showing me, not to be afraid and know I was now safe in myself, to let others be as they need for them.

I do feel this was a great turning of the wheel of anger, in me, like coming full circle in this issue. I also feel, in my early life, I was very afraid of anger in others. I do think, that lead me down the path of fearing my own, covering it over other emotions, until all were resolved and felt fully, it often stays at the forefront of most situations, where it is triggered.

I have to wonder now, where I am, in all this, whether our reactions towards other life who we judge as wrong, hurtful or who trigger our anger, is memory and association. My father swore and threw his Impatience and anger around me like a constant storm. He never hurt anyone, but as a child observing his behaviour and his patterns, he became a strong model of how to respond and act in my world. As did my mother in hers.