Anger and tonglen

I listened to one of Pema Chodron's meditation teachings today in which she spoke about tonglen - the meditative practice of sending and receiving. The link I've provided is actually some of her work that's up on the Shambahala website. It was timely information and I used it almost immediately to help get myself through some terribly unwarrented irritation. This feels like it's going to be a tool I will use often as I move forward and I'm glad the universe brought it my way.

The second thing I learned today was from Thich Nhat Hanh's book Anger. In it, he says that venting (like beating a pillow) is not helpful but harmful. It doesn't actually do anything except rehearse the anger and violent behavior and that that behavior could very well be acted out next time it is triggered. I hadn't thought of it in that way before but I feel he's right. Being angry at someone, going home and beating them up in effigy isn't a constructive way to work through those angry feelings - it's a violent way to reinforce the anger.

Recent interview with T.N. Hanh.