by Leonard Jacobson: If we are to awaken, we will have to come into the right relationship with our feelings, including anger and rage…
Anger is always a response to hurt or pain. It is an indication that you are not getting what you want, or that you have to put up with what you do not want, and so you are angry. We have to learn how to express the anger in a conscious and responsible way, and in a way that does not hurt others. We have no right to dump anger on anyone.
No one can make you angry unless you have anger repressed within you from the past. When you feel angry, it simply means that repressed anger from the past has been triggered. This gives you the opportunity to take responsibility for yourself and release the anger that has been repressed within you for many years.
The key to releasing anger is to realize that the source and origin of the anger is in the past, and to allow the anger full expression without getting caught in anger’s story. This is only possible from Presence. When you express and release anger in a responsible way, you will feel empowered. You will feel liberated from the past and more available to the present. Anger is personal. You are angry because someone has hurt you but whoever hurt and angered you did so in the past. It has nothing to do with the present.
There is a deeper form of anger. It is rage. Rage is impersonal. It is not directed towards an individual, but rather the whole world and everyone in it. It is a warning:
“Do not limit me,” declares rage. “I am here. I have a right to be here. I have a right to be myself. Do not judge me. Do not invade my space. Do not interfere with me. Do not try to control me. Do not violate me. Be warned. Be afraid. Be very afraid, for I will deal with you harshly if you do not heed my warning. I do not want to harm you but I will not allow you to interfere with me.”
Try saying these words yourself. Let it be your declaration, but don’t direct rage towards any individual. Rage is neither violent nor destructive. It has no desire or intention to hurt anyone. It is just a declaration that will fill you with feelings of empowerment and bestow upon you the freedom to be yourself. It is not wise to repress rage within you, for to do so will turn rage into violence. But if you allow rage to express in a responsible way, it will lead to liberation.
