The dose I need.

[cherydactyl]

Māvoca pharusaṃ kañci,
vuttā paṭivadeyyu taṃ.
Dukkhā hi sārambhakathā,
paṭidaṇḍā phuseyyu taṃ.

Speak not harshly to anyone,
for those thus spoken to might retort.
Indeed, angry speech hurts,
and retaliation may overtake you.

Dhammapada 10.133

from the "daily words of the Buddha," aka dailybuddha

I think I need to start chanting this to myself.

Comments

[bitter-lily.livejournal.com]

Who are you angry at?

[vretallin.livejournal.com]

My recent internal chant, everytime I start to feel my ire rise, has been "Virtuous thought, action, and speech...loving kindness and compassion to all"

[cherydactyl.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I'm afraid that is not for public consumption at this time.

It's definitely not you, though.

[bitter-lily.livejournal.com]

Okay, so that was a very nosy question. I'm sorry, although I'm glad it's not me!

I personally think anger gets a bad rap -- at least acute anger. I think it's the emotional equivalent of physical pain; it lets us know that injury and damage are occurring. People who have nerve damage and cannot feel pain know that they are at grave risk for suffering real injuries without knowing it. People who've just shut down their anger are similarly at risk.

Chronic anger, like chronic pain, unfortunately isn't so useful (you already know you've suffered injury) and can be debilitating. I hope it's not the type that you're dealing with.

[cherydactyl.livejournal.com]

It's no problem. I was not in the least offended.

I think your analogy has some merit, except that anger is a bit more like the reaction to pain, such as pulling your hand away from the fire. While the reflex has value, there is higher value in avoiding the fire in the first place.

It's definitely in chronic form that I am battling it. I find that it's at least as toxic to me as it is to the object, in this form.