For Such a Time as This (Esther 4:14): Spiritual Practices to Ground & Center 

Warfare, wildfires, transportation tragedies, and political rancor… We are living in times of what Amanda Ripley terms “high conflict.” How can our spiritual or religious practices help us steady ourselves and respond to these and other challenges as bridgebuilders with greater compassion, courage, and focus? In this month-long series, we invite veteran practitioners and educators to share with us the sacred rituals and ceremonies that help them ground or center themselves.  

It is our hope that in reading these brief reflections, you will gain insight and inspiration as you seek to build pluralism in this difficult moment in American and global life. 

Compassionate Abiding: The Transformation of Anger

On a frigid Saturday this January, I was scheduled to teach a one-day retreat at a Boston Buddhist meditation center entitled “Sowing the Seeds of Peace: The Transformation of Anger.” It was less than a week since the Inauguration, and I wondered how the day would go, given the heightened emotion pervading the country. I was also struggling personally to keep an even keel, given the dramatic events in Washington, DC, at the Southern border, and the wars in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Sudan. But I welcomed the opportunity to meditate with a community of Buddhist practitioners and to share our challenges in these turbulent days. 

My Tibetan Buddhist teachers have taught, that instead of focusing particularly on specific events themselves, powerful practice comes from identifying thoughts, emotions, and feelings as they arise.  

Starting early in the morning, we sat in meditation together, in a tranquil hall, the sunlight pouring into the room, warming the oaken floor. The flower offerings on the shrine glowed in the morning light, the candles flickered, and the incense smoke drifted gently through the room. 

“Now think of a time in this last week that angered you. Visualize the circumstances—who was there, what was said, what was done that triggered your rage—and feel it now as if for the first time…. Take time with this and check the feeling. Where do you feel it now in your body? Tight chest? Heat rising to your face? … What is the landscape of your emotions? … What thoughts are coming to mind, and what words express them? … Now, how is this experience painful? … And if you reacted or acted upon these feelings, would you cause more pain to yourself and others?” 

The community tearfully shared their experiences of anger and how they moved quickly to hatred of specific individuals or peoples. The feelings also shifted to fear, vulnerability, helplessness, or numbness and overwhelm. Some feelings had already sparked destructive actions that caused regret—alienation from family and neighbors, sleeplessness and remembered trauma, angry confrontations, and worse.  

Several participants had previously faced legal consequences for domestic violence or road rage incidents and again, felt triggered. I could feel the energy of the room as community members spoke from their hearts, anguished by anger. I was reminded of the 8th-century Buddhist saint Shantideva who warned of the dangers of anger: 

From family and friends estranged, 
And shunned by those attracted by their bounty, 
Angry people have no joy, 
Forsaken by all happiness and peace. (VI.5) 

“Does this mean that there is no good reason to be angry?”, several asked. Isn’t it important to be angry at times? We reflected on the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who distinguishes between sparks of anger that motivate a desire to protect the marginalized and disinherited versus anger that seeks vengeance through hatred.  

When anger is a motivating source, it can spur us to skillful actions on behalf of the vulnerable without destroying our love for beings. But usually, anger moves quickly to rage that assigns blame, justifies hatred, and demonizes others in a way that could spark violence against them.  

Hatred is the seed of war; loving anger has the potential to bring change and peace.

How can we allow constructive anger to spark without fueling aggression and hatred?  

The Buddhist practice of Compassionate Abiding encourages leaning into feeling the experience of motivating anger without allowing it to target or hate anyone. The practice begins with sitting with scenarios that spark our anger and aversion—unkindness or thoughtlessness up to injustice and violence…. When experience is firmly in our minds, then we are to let go of thoughts associated with the feeling. We stay with the feeling itself—and then consciously breathe in the feeling of aversion. It could feel thick and threatening, but we breathe it into our hearts. As we breathe in these negative feelings, we allow ourselves to experience them fully without judgment. Then on outbreath we relax outward, letting go of any tension or complication. We open outward, expand our hearts, and allow ourselves to feel without constriction or resistance. We continue in this way, letting the wakeful energy of anger energize us to feel deeper love for all beings. 

Our community shared inspirations for skillful actions that we might engage in from a more heartfelt place while avoiding impulses and reactivity that can fuel divisions. 

Can we love those who are causing harm while rejecting their harmful actions?  

Can we protect the vulnerable without demonizing their oppressors? 

Their oppressors are suffering too. It requires real courage and skill to stand firmly against violence and oppression—and against systems that perpetuate them—without hating a single human being. At the end of our retreat day together, we bowed together as a community, finding strength and resolve in one another while dedicating all benefits from our practice to all beings.