MANAGING ANGER

From attachment desire is born; from desire arises anger; from anger comes delusion; from delusion the loss of memory; from loss of memory the destruction of discrimination; from destruction of discrimination a man perishes'' - Bhagavat Gita Anger is a negative expression of our inner pain; It is an indication that all is not well in our world. It is one of the most powerful and destructive emotions. Whether it seeps out in the form of irritation and resentment, or explodes in full rage, it causes damage to ourselves and to others. Anger: A Secondary Emotion Anger Iceberg Anger is often called a secondary emotion because we tend to resort to anger in order to protect ourselves from or cover up other vulnerable feelings. A primary feeling is what is what is felt immediately before we feel anger. We almost always feel something else first before we get angry. We might first feel afraid, attacked, offended, disrespected, forced, trapped, or pressured. If any of these feelings are intense enough, we think of the emotion as anger. As the drawing below illustrates, anger is like an iceberg in that only some of the emotions are visible. The other emotions exist "below the water line" where they are not immediately obvious to outside observers.