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Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins

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Anger. People who get angry do nasty things. They swear, throw things, shake their fists at the sky, and kick things that don't necessarily deserve a kick. Or worse. Maybe they launch a thousand ships. Maybe they invade a country. In any case a lot of nasty things have anger as their foundation. So how do we deal with it? This book offers some suggestions.

This little book begins by delineating two grand traditions of anger. One, dominant in the West, accepts anger as an inevitable and necessary evil in the course of existence. By this view, anger becomes as unstoppable as the wind. It just plain exists. So we had best accept it. The other tradition, dominant in the East, seeks to annihilate anger altogether. Or, at least, rechannel the energy anger generates into more positive channels. The author finds these two views too polarizing and seeks a middle path by denying neither position but combining somewhat diluted versions of both into one distinct stance. This amounts to, in short, the view that we can't obliterate anger from the earth, but we don't have to let it control us, either. Given the author's background, it shouldn't astonish readers to find that he utilizes Buddhist psychology to attain his goals.

Prior to that, however, he takes a small dip into current politics. Chapter One, "The Momentous Present", defines "war" as "organized anger". Then he lets it all hang out, as they say. These 3 pages leave nothing to the imagination concerning Thurman's political views. Essentially, he thinks that the current world bristles with anger, and an analyzis of anger and how to ameliorate or rechannel its energies must occur sooner than later to avoid catastrophe. Then he gets to it (current politics never comes up again, which feels a bit strange considering the obvious passion of this short chapter).

Next, a comparison of anger and violence in the East and West concludes that the East shows a "real, progressive demilitarization of societies that were once just as violent as the Europeans or Americans, and of the attainment of relatively higher levels of peacefulness." The book follows this line to the end. But first Thurman engages in a little sideroad concerning opinions of anger in Western history.

The fascinating chapter four discusses the views on anger of Jesus (who sounds like a Buddhist on the subject of anger), Seneca (who writes about anger as if it were a pestilence and destroyer of societies), Plutarch, St. Augustine, and Chaucer.

Following this chapter the book shifts drastically over to the Buddhist perspective and doesn't stray from it. The rest of the book discusses the rechanneling of anger and some of the foundations of Buddhist psychology. The Western perspectives in the first few chapters get almost completely marginalized (a feature that distinguishes this book from the other current books in this "Seven Deadly Sins" series).

Starting inexorably down this path, Thurman first subsumes anger as an emotional addiction. The initial step involves seeing anger as a bad thing that comes from within oneself. This provides an insightful key to overcoming the affects of anger on oneself and others. Next, one must use suffering to transcend pain and anger (in the process of explaining this Thurman misquotes Nietzsche as saying "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger"; this is a common misquote; Nietzsche was himself quoting an old German proverb to make a point; he didn't coin the phrase). Thurman then begins a deep nosedive into Buddhist philosophy. The concepts thicken incredibly at this point. He discusses the various sources of misunderstaning of physical pain that can lead to anger, quoting Shantideva: "Even if beings are gentle-natured / And the evil of harm is occassional / It is still wrong to be angry; / Like resenting space for filling with smoke." This involves perspective, and perspective can help distinguish anger's fire. He also speaks about the importance of seeing one's influence beyond the scope of one's life. This helps to wash away thoughts such as "my anger won't matter in a hundred years, so why not quench it?" The discussion gradually becomes a little too deep for a text of this size (125 pages). And quotes from Shantideva begin to dominate the author's text and ultimately detract somewhat from the end of the discussion.

Nonetheless, Thurman does make some good points about anger by using Buddhist psychology, and some very good advice lurks in the book's final five chapters. But the last part of the book never resolves with the first part of the book. A feeling of incompleteness hangs over the final chapter. Not only that, the book slowly morphs from a book mostly about anger into a book mostly about Buddhism (which accounts somewhat for the unresolved feeling of the final chapter).

This book also keeps with the practice of some of the other books in this series of including pictures that don't tie to the text. The pictures are great, but how do they relate to the text? They don't seem to at all. So why include them?

In the end, this book presents some useful viewpoints on its subject matter. But it's almost exclusively slanted towards the Buddhist answer to the problem of anger. Obviously, the size limitations of the series limited the discussion to one viewpoint. And that viewpoint receives a thorough (almost too thorough) treatment. Consequently, this book probably represents the most difficult read so far in the "Seven Deadly Sins" series (especially for those with no knowledge of Buddhism). Still, along the way readers can learn a lot about Buddhism and about the "deadly sin" of anger.

This book wasn't as hard to read as I thought it to be (I don't usually read books on philosophy and psychology, though my interest in the seven sins urged me to read this book).

The author opens this book by saying he's angry at anger, but by being angry, it has already defeated him. So appearantly anger (or wrath, as most people, including myself, refer to it as) can only be defeated by ceasing to be angry. The author lays out a plan to the reader to defeat anger: The Buddhist Plan. He personifies anger as being a force that turns its victims into zombies and pits them against each other; it is the `real enemy'. According to Buddhism, he says, the best way to defeat anger is to not destroy it, but instead build a tolerance to its supposed causes, and then take the energy that would be angry energy and use it in for more positive forms.

The first couple of chapters are relatively easy to read; they examine both Western and Buddhist views of anger, and how one views it as a vital part of human nature, while the other considers it more a delusion. Then as the author moves on in explaining Buddhist methods, the text delves deeper into the psychological mechanics of anger, providing a bit more challenging read, though probably fascinating for people into psychology, religion, and self-help.

Unlike what the Western world is taught about anger, that it is part of our emotional landscape therefore out of our control, Thurman makes sense when suggesting to us that anger is actually a concept, an acceptance that our anger is within our control because it's a behavior we choose rather than an emotion we cannot avoid.

Great read, it's another branch of the mind/body connection. Would highly recommend this book for anyone, to read with your adolescents too.

The jewel in the crown of the New York Public Library's uneven 7 Deadly Sins series, Robert Thurman's book on anger is both erudite (although the erudition is worn easily) and wise (a rare commodity these days). Thurman's erudition comes through in his masterful survey of western and eastern philosophical and religious reflections on anger. His wisdom is evident in his prescriptions for transmuting anger into patience and then compassion. Thurman leans heavily on the 8th century Buddhist sage Shantideva. Since most of his western readers will probably be unfamiliar with Shantideva (I certainly was), the book offers a refreshing alternative to conventional western thinking about anger.

The west has frequently distinguished between "good" and "bad" anger, with the former being what's commonly called "righteous" or "justified" anger. Righteous anger is displayed (and thereby legitimized) by the Hebraic Jehovah and by Jesus (in the Temple, for example), and non-Christian philosophers such as Aristotle have praised it. (The Roman Stoic Seneca stands almost alone in refusing to defend anger as occasionally righteous.) Given this assumption that anger at times is morally legitimate and even obligatory, the question for the west then becomes one of determining under what conditions it's morally appropriate to display anger. The tragedy, however, is that overt displays of anger have a tendency to degenerate into violence and destruction.

Thurman takes a different approach to anger. His starting point is the Buddha's claim that humans tend to suffer from "self-addiction," the obsessive delusion that we possess a self which is absolute and independent. This delusion gives rise to desire-addiction, in which one tries to acquire and control as much of reality as one can: objects, power, reputation, etc. But the sheer impossibility of ever acquiring as much stuff as our desire-addiction craves leads to a chronic state of anger: "anger at the universe for resisting being incorporated into oneself" (p. 53). We may at times disguise this anger as "righteous indignation," but it in fact is always a negative emotion born of fear and unsatisfied craving. Anger is a symptom of what Thurman's fellow Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh would call "ill-being."

The opposite of anger, writes Thurman, is love and compassion. But for most of us, the leap from the resentful anger caused by unsatisfied craving to love and compassion is too great. So Thurman, following Shantideva, recommends the intermediate cultivation of patience, which in turn encourages tolerance, forbearance, and forgiveness. The hope is that eventually the fiery energy that all-too-often fuels anger will eventually fuel a compassionate desire to alleviate the suffering of all sentient beings. One can address the injustices of the world with the energy of anger but not its violence, fearfulness, or destructiveness.

But how to cultivate patience? This is where the wisdom of Thurman's book shines through. He offers certain bells of mindfulness to help us control and sublimate our anger energy. For example, if I become angry at another person's insults, I can use that moment to become mindful of the fact that insults enrage me because I'm narcissistic (that is, self-addicted), and that others insult me because they too are fearful and suffering. Looking at an anger-generating situation in this way really does put things in a completely different light. The point isn't to deny or repress the anger so much as to channel its energy into a different direction--in this case, the direction of compassion for both oneself and the insulting other. Moreover, if I succeed in rechanneling my anger, I also discover grounds for gratitude (rather than resentment) to my insulter: after all, she's become the occasion for my act of self-discipline. Although not intending to, she's benefited me.

Utopian? Idealistic? Simplistic? A cynic might think so, but generations of Buddhists (and not only Buddhists) would surely disagree. Thurman's excellent book invites us not just to rethink anger. It also invites us to overcome our addiction to it, and provides us with some steps in the yoga of enlightened patience. What more could one possibly ask for in a book on anger?

Disappointing: rambling, disorganized and directionless except for the constant Buddhist theme. While Buddhist ideas are worth reading, this is not what one expects from this series: a concise, stimulating overview. Simon Blackburn's Lust is the paradigm, but this volume is anything but a satisfying read. It should have been titled : "An Introduction to Buddhist and Christian basic theological concepts".

Typical passage: "The 'buddhaverse' is the universe in its deepest reality as experienced by enlightened being, themslves, or some projection of their isolated self as being an absolute, omnipotent and unaffected deity. This buddhaverse, 'pure land', enlightenment mandala is nothing but the interactive mindfield of sensitive beings, including gods, demons, hell-beings, animals, ghosts and so forth. A bodhisattva thus creates a buddhafield by..."

I came to the book hoping it would help identify (i) what anger is; (ii) its origins; (iii) the possibility of a biological basis; (iv) the possibility of 'positive' uses of anger; (v) the significance of anger when it is directed at injustice....etc.

Forget it. None of it is here.

Anger can indeed be deadly, to those who experience this strong emotion as well as to those on the receiving end of its expression. It can be very diffcult to know how to cope with the feelings of anger one may have, and to control the vocal or physical expression of emotions that in themselves are difficult to control. Often we justify our anger; sometimes we let it go unbridled to its extreme. Robert Thurman's book on Anger is giving me tools for understanding this strong emotion, from which I have suffered greatly over the years, and have caused others to suffer, as well. He is also giving me ways to become more aware of the nature of anger and its alternative expressions, so I might be more able to keep myself from uncontrolled and insensitive expression of that anger. Dr. Thurman communicates his belief that it is in fact possible to completely extinguish negative emotons such as anger, and their expression, permanently, replacing them with compassionate thoughts and behavior. Dr. Thurman utilizes extensively the Indian master Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life to this end. I have been studying and practicing ways to be more caring and compassionate, generally, and Robert Thurman's book is an enlightening and inspiring addition to my endeavors.

This book is worth reading for several reasons, among them which is a succinct treatment of the Buddhist philsophy of anger as an addiction/delusion that keeps humans from achieving transcendence. However, the book gets too frequently bogged down in undistilled prose that seems culled directly from Buddhist texts (particularly Shantideva, a Tibetan thinker, whose verses on anger make up much of the second half of the book), as opposed to broken down into understandable language that a novice learner might gain knowledge from; this is, after all, supposed to be a layman's guide, not a text for a postgraduate seminar. (A sentence as an example of this tendency: "Focusing in particular upon the root anger, we see that the analysis locates it as arising from the base of the self-other-absolute-separation delusion, which is what makes it an emotional addiction rather than a raw emotion.")

The first couple of chapters of the book touch briefly on Western concepts of anger, especially classical thinking on the matter (Aristotle, Plutarch, Seneca, etc.), and seem completely disconnected from the rest of the book, which is strictly an examination of Buddhist thought. The Western side of the matter is dispatched with overquickly, which does not particularly help Thurman's case.

Thurman preaches at the reader about the importance of transcending anger, often in annoyingly detached, dry, high-horse tones, but does very little in the way of making clear to the reader who may not have a grounding in Buddhist thought why overcoming anger is crucial, or, more importantly, how to overcome it (especially in a culture such as ours, in which Thurman comes close to acknowledging that anger is viewed as a normative, even positive, impulse). It is these qualities that make the book seem slapdash and thrown-together, as though Thurman threw together whatever he could in a hurry to meet a publisher's deadline. These flaws detract from the book's otherwise important themes.

Do not buy this book if you are looking for a good treatment of anger. This book is nothing more than an anti-western, anti-christian and pro Buddhism book. It is a poor treatment of the subject and poor promotion of Buddhism. If the author's intent was to disappoint and to cause anger then he accomplished his goal. Rarely have I been more disappointed in a book and I go thru 25-50 books a year. I am sorry that I spent the time reading it. I guess I was hoping it would get better. I am happy that I did not have to sit through the lectures. I think one would have drowned in smugness.

This book was a recommendation, and I have enoyed reading the book and am looking forward to completing the entire series. Thank you!!!