Question: I was hoping you could offer me some advice. I’ve been practicing Buddhism for about 2 years now, but I’m still struggling to manage my anger. I have an anger disorder but I haven’t seen much improvement in managing it so I was wondering if you had an advice, or some meditation techniques that might help. Thank you and take care!
Like any skill or practice, it takes time to master. We can’t become doctors overnight, meditators after one session, or an olympic athlete in an hour. It takes years of practice and self-discipline. Meditation likewise needs years of practice. Improvement with anger management, stress, frustration, anxiety, etc. is not a quick fix. We live in a world where even the smallest and most mundane things causes us to suffer. So when we try to work on and manage any mental or psychological issues through meditation, our progress will be at the rate of a growing tree. Slow but steady.
Work on your anger management throughout the day, everyday. Whenever a hint of anger or any other negative feeling arises, address it right then and there. Do not let it control you and cause you to think, say, or do any negative things. Awknowledge the anger, attempt to find the core of that anger, accept it, and let it pass. The more you hang on to anger, the longer it will linger within you. Even if you finally think you’re over it, it’s still there. So instead of holding on to it and addressing it at a later time, address it right then and there when it arises, see where it comes from, why it came, accept, and move on.
Most of the time when we’re angry at something or someone is because of something else. So when we meditate on anger, we try to find its root cause, the core of that anger. Sometimes it’s an easy find, sometimes it’s not. But when you do find the root, we can work on healing the cause or eliminating it.
When that root cause has been dealt with, we will have this feeling of freedom and relief!
Smile and be well!