Transforming Anger Into Wisdom
Explore how to work skillfully with anger in an increasingly angry world, learning Buddhist perspectives on the wisdom within anger and practicing compassionate abiding — a powerful technique to transform hatred and aggression while maintaining the clarity needed for compassionate action.
Introduction: Anger as Currency
Buddhist teacher Judith Simmer-Brown shares her personal background growing up in an “angry household” and introduces the urgent question of what rising anger is doing to us as individuals, practitioners, and societies.
01:23
Introduction: Anger as Currency
Buddhist teacher Judith Simmer-Brown shares her personal background growing up in an “angry household” and introduces the urgent question of what rising anger is doing to us as individuals, practitioners, and societies.
01:23
The Crisis of Anger — And How Buddhism Understands It
Examine alarming statistics on anger's growth in North America — from customer rage to road rage deaths — and discover Buddhism’s teaching that anger at its base is wisdom (dveṣa), but becomes poisonous when it turns into hatred and aggression (pratigha) that lashes out to hurt others.
11:07
Guided Practice: Compassionate Abiding
Learn and experience compassionate abiding, a practice developed by Pema Chödrön and Dale Asrael, breathing in feelings of anger and hatred directly into your heart while breathing out into openness and space, cultivating wisdom while releasing the urge to harm.
12:50
Living as a “Warrior Without Anger”
Discover how to incorporate compassionate abiding into daily life (including “emergency” versions for acute situations) and explore what it means to be a “warrior without anger” — showing up with gentle strength, holding perpetrators accountable, and meeting harm-doers eye-to-eye without demonizing them.
05:12Related Readings
The 4 Noble Truths of Emotional Suffering
The Buddha laid out a four-step path to freedom from difficult emotions. Anyen Rinpoche says the secret is understanding why our emotions cause suffering.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s Mindfulness Practice to Transform Anger into Love
This mindfulness practice from Thich Nhat Hanh will help you face your anger and transform it into the energies of love and understanding.
The Answer to Anger & Aggression is Patience
We can suppress anger and aggression or act it out, either way making things worse for ourselves and others. Or we can practice patience.
5 Surprising Slogans to Help You Handle Anger
Zen teacher Norman Fischer applies five mind-training slogans to anger and other emotions.
The Wisdom of Anger
If you know how to use it, says Melvin McLeod, the energy of anger becomes fierce and compassionate wisdom. Even the buddhas get angry about injustice.
How to Transform Anger in 4 Steps
Using the traditional metaphor of the poison tree, Judy Lief teaches us four Buddhist techniques to work with our anger.
RAIN Cools the Flames of Anger
Emily Horn teaches us how to recognize, accept, investigate, and not identify with our anger.