Is there righteous anger ever?
One of the most common expressions of violence is anger. When my wife or sister is attacked I say I am righteously angry; when my country is attacked, my ideas, my principles, my way of life, I am righteously angry. I am also angry when my habits are attacked or my petty little opinions. When you tread on my toes or insult me I get angry, or if you run away with my wife and I get jealous, that jealousy is called righteous because she is my property. And all this anger is morally justified. But to kill for my country is also justified. So when we are talking about anger, which is a part of violence, do we look at anger in terms of righteous and unrighteous anger according to our own inclinations and environmental drive, or do we see only anger? Is there righteous anger ever? Or is there only anger?…
Freedom from the Known - 52
Freedom from the Known - 52
posted by Wendy C. at 9:01 am
6 Comments:
I am inclined to say that there is just anger. All the other words put in front of it are just adjective to cover up the word and make it sound less or more violent. Anger is anger, nothing good comes of it. It is never justified, only thought to be justified by the conditioning of our society IMO.
much love, alds.
I am inclined to agree with you. It seems to me, from the inside, that anger just is. Whether it is justified or not really seems to depend on whether consensus can be found. If another person agrees that they also woud have been angry in similar circumstances - then anger is said to be justified...but does a feeling need justification to be real? I suspect not.
I would reverse that and say that violence stems from anger. That anger can also be expressed or evidenced in a firm resolve to act.
That it can be channeled in a positive direction and be replaced with determination, eventually, to resolve a situation.
To feel anger is a fact.
To act violently is a choice.
If I may respectfully say, I don't think it is important whether anger is justified or not, or whether it is called righteous or not righteous; these conclusions are interesting but have little importance except in asserting our individual beliefs and conclusions about anger, what we may feel is a morally superior response or what have you. Having an opinion, which we are all capable of having in any given circumstance in an instant does not lead us to an awareness of what anger is. Or for that matter, how anger operates in us?
What may be of greater significance to each one of us in the long run may be to have a mind that is capable of observing anger; comprehending it, and seeing first hand what it is, without any distortion?
We easily observe anger manifesting itself in the outer world between other people but when it comes to ourselves we seem to want to deny that anger exists in us and we often pretend that it just isn’t there. But it may be much much more important, to observe anger manifesting itself within our own psyche, than to have a theory about it being justified or unjustified.
It may be possible to observe anger as it emerges in us. Right from the beginning of anger we can easily see how it operates in us, see its process, and what we do to try to deal with it, or stop it and how we justify or condemn it. That may lead to an ever widening awareness of what anger is and what we ourselves are, since it is in fact a part of us.
What a wonderful capacity this is. We don’t have to turn anything off in order to see something clearly in the moment of action. A total honest awareness of ourselves means awareness of our usually hidden motives, our reactions, and seeing the conclusion as it emerges in us, in our psyche. That surely must lead to a deeper understanding of our selves.
I suppose that requires a mind that is alert and capable, and of course interested in a deeper understanding of itself. A mind that is capable of looking at itself while it is having and expressing an opinion simultaneously, so not missing a thing.
All the opinions in the world, of right or wrong, good or bad, justified or unjustified don't reveal the whole process that is going on inside us. Reactions are never ending and repetitive and without an awareness of what is taking place only dulls our minds and prohibits a potential awareness of what we are doing inwardly.
Looking at ourselves; that is, paying attention while we are feeling something, as we are thinking about it, while having an experience, may lead us to an awareness of the surface responses as well as the deeper psychological processes. Certainly this is the beginning of wisdom and may be much more important than what is the better response to anger.
It could be said that every reaction is justified in the sense that we are conditioned and are responding according to our conditioning. We have no choice in that really; but we can be choicelessly aware of what is taking place in us and that awareness may lead us to see the danger of an action and stop doing it. When we see a danger as we might see the danger of a poisonous snake we immediately move away from it.
I think we have to learn to be intelligent but not according to a theory; our own or another persons.
Please forgive if I have repeated myself. This small box to compose an adequate response leaves me rather squeezed. I hope to improve my writing with time.
you have made a very Nice blog on Jiddu Krishnamurti Teachings
I am also a Jiddu Krishnamurti Lover and have a made a blog dedicated to Jiddu Krishnamurti teachings
http://krishnamurtidiscourses.blogspot.com/
I wanted to exchange link with your blog
Please be in touch with me at
amittre@gmail.com
best regards
Amit
Jiddu Krishnamurti contando chistes.
“There are three monks, who had been sitting in deep meditation for many years amidst the Himalayan snow peaks, never speaking a word, in utter silence. One morning, one of the three suddenly speaks up and says, ‘What a lovely morning this is.’ And he falls silent again. Five years of silence pass, when all at once the second monk speaks up and says, ‘But we could do with some rain.’ There is silence among them for another five years, when suddenly the third monk says, ‘Why can’t you two stop chattering?”
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/kr/jokes.html
http://seaunaluzparaustedmismo.blogspot.com/
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