Anger and Transformation

When truly experienced, anger is very quiet. It has a certain dignity. There's no display, no acting out. When we truly stay with anger, then the personal and self-centered thoughts separate out and we're left with pure energy, which can be used in a compassionate way That's the whole story of practice A person who can do this with great consistency is a person we call enlightened. A truly enlightened person is one who can transform the energy nearly all the time. It's not that the energy no longer arises; the question is, what do we do with it? Most of us prolong the reaction and enlarge upon it. When the personal element - how I feel about the person - is removed, then there is just energy. When we sit with it with great dignity with this energy, though it is painful at first, it turns into a place of great rest. "Those who would molest me cannot find me here." [Bach]] Why can't they find me here? Because there is no one home. There is no one here. When I am pure energy, I am no longer me. I am a functioning for good. That transformation is why we're sitting. It's not easy. It doesn't happen overnight. But if we sit well, over time we become less and less engaged in interpersonal mischief, harming ourselves and others. Sitting burns up the self-centered element and leaves us with the energy of our emotions, without the destructiveness. Sesshins, regular sitting, and life practice are the best ways to bring about this transformation. Bit by bit there is a shift in our energy... As our self-centered preoccupations drop away, we can't go back to the way we were. A fundamental transformation has taken place. There is a real peace when we rest within that fundamental contraction, just experiencing the body as it is.

The Baseboard, pages 37-38, Nothing Special by Charlotte Joco Beck