How Meditation Can Prevent Anger
The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts. It’s common to have thoughts arise in our minds that incite anger or disdain. We then cling to these thoughts as though we have truly authored them.
Picture the following scenario: you are walking outside, enjoying the peaceful landscape in total bliss. Suddenly, you see someone in the distance whom you deeply despise. Perhaps they have wronged you or done something you find deplorable. Nevertheless, the very act of seeing this person opens the floodgates to hateful thought after hateful thought. Though this person’s transgressions are not new information, you are now replaying all the events that caused the initial dislike. You have become incredibly angry. Needless to say, your day is now ruined. And for what? Because you caught a glimpse of someone...
What control did you have over this? You certainly didn’t control seeing the individual. You also didn’t control the initial thought and subsequent emotion. But you could have stopped the endless stream of negative thoughts that cemented the anger. If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve already guessed my solution—meditation. The point of meditation is to cultivate the ability to notice your experience. That’s really it. With the ability to notice your experience, something most people neglect, you can observe thoughts and emotions arising in a dissociated way, facilitating the ability to let them go.
Let’s replay that scenario again from the perspective of someone who meditates. You are walking outside and notice someone you dislike in the distance. Naturally, a thought arises about how this individual previously wronged you. You then simply acknowledge that thought, realising that any incessant rumination about this scenario would be gravely unuseful to you. Any physical discomfort in your body is simply explored without contemplating its cause. In a few minutes, the physical discomfort dissipates, and you go on to enjoy the rest of your day.
Which scenario seems more conducive to a fulfilled life? That’s a rhetorical question, of course. The sad truth is that many people only have scenario one available to them. Their thoughts and feelings are entirely orchestrated by outside events, swaying like a tree in the wind.
By noticing thoughts arise and understanding their randomness—something developed during meditation—it becomes easier to let go of the thoughts that can lead to your entire day being ruined. Meditation can foster tremendous benefits for your mental well-being and create an ability to stop anger before it develops.