In difficult times, it’s easy to turn to anger. But is it productive?
According to Tibetan Buddhist nun Venerable Thubten Chodron, anger is never useful. In her book,
Working with Anger: Buddhist Teachings on Patience, Acceptance, and Transforming Negativity, she draws from the teachings of the 8th-century Buddhist philosopher Shantideva to offer practical tools for uprooting anger. By seeing that ignorance of our interconnectedness is at the root of anger, we can respond with an understanding of emptiness.
“When we can develop the wisdom that sees that what ignorance is holding as true is not true, then ignorance collapses,” says Venerable Chodron. “When ignorance collapses, then its offshoots like anger, greed, hostility, arrogance, jealousy, these things all collapse. That’s how when we realize the ultimate nature, which means how things really exist, then that works to diminish this anger on the conventional level.”
Venerable Chodron joined
Tricycle’s Editor-in-Chief, James Shaheen, on the
latest episode of Tricycle Talks to discuss these facets of anger and how we can cultivate peace and compassion.
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