Thank you all SO MUCH for your support, kudos, & kind words last week & tonight. Next Sunday, we return you to your regularly scheduled "programming." :D
I’ve never had a problem with anger. This statement does not mean I’m always patient, and nothing ever bothers me. Anger is a constant companion, especially these days and over the last few years in my personal life.
All we have to do is watch the news, read a newspaper, or come to DailyKos to see plenty to make us angry. Or, even if you’re not a "newsie" like me, there’s usually a colleague at work who is constantly under your skin, the person who’s driving too fast and cuts you off in traffic, maybe a boss who took credit for one of your ideas and got a raise for it, or watching someone you care about suffer.
There are plenty of "opportunities" for anger. Even Zen Master Seung Sahn (the founder of the Kwan Um School of Zen) said in The Compass of Zen, "When you’re angry, be angry." OK... I’ve got that covered, and I’d even go so far as to say that anger or energy generated by anger can be a motivator toward positive change. Allen Ginsberg wouldn’t have written "Howl," arguably one of the greatest poems of the 20th century (or ever!) without being angry at what he saw in American society in the 1950’s. Civil rights legislation would’ve never been signed by President Lyndon Johnson were it not for the anger that played a role in the Civil Rights Movement. The specter of McCarthyism would have unraveled less quickly if journalist Edward R. Murrow hadn’t taken a stand against it in his See It Now program at a time when it was dangerous to be different.
However, as we are painfully aware, history and contemporary society are inundated with examples of unchecked anger. So, where is the line between unchecked anger that causes nothing but pain and suffering and anger with the intent of fostering change for the better? For some guidance, we can remember Buddhism’s Second Noble Truth that the origin of suffering, craving, or clinging is attachment to a transient object, idea, etc. Logically, we know it’s pointless to waste time and energy on a fleeting concept of how we think something or someone should be. Actually "practicing what we preach," however, is easier said than done. We can additionally look to more of Zen Master Seung Sahn’s teachings in The Compass of Zen: "There is suffering that hurts us, and some kinds of suffering that can actually help us, if we have a strong try‐mind."
Trying, trying, trying for ten thousand years will be what it takes, and circumstances will change from moment to moment. This fact is why Buddhists call what they do "practice," and, I don’t know about you, but I have a long way to go. So, if you promise to help me do what I can to try, try, try for ten thousand years and to save all sentient beings, I vow to do the same for you!