There are four kinds of anger.

The first is attached anger. We can’t get what we want, so we get angry. Or we get something we don’t want, and we get angry. This is the same as an animal. As you know, we are also animals.

The second kind is reflected anger. You’re not angry initially, but someone becomes angry at you, and you get angry in response. This happens often while driving. Originally, the person isn’t angry, but someone shows them anger, and they get angry back. That is reflected anger.

Both of these are "low class" kinds of anger. They lack a center and are attached to personal opinions.

The third kind is perceived anger. You recognize inside that you’re starting to get angry. You see it before it comes out in speech or action. If you can let it go completely, no problem. But if you just push it down, one day you might explode, or you might get sick. In Korea, they call this "fire sickness." Holding anger inside can lead to heart attacks, ulcers, or even cancer. Perceived anger is a little high class because it involves awareness, but it’s still problematic if you cannot fully let it go.

Lastly, there’s big-love anger. This means you appear angry outside, but inside, you’re not angry at all. This kind of anger arises from love when it’s necessary. The only person I have seen do this often is Zen Master Seung Sahn. I’ve been able to do it a couple of times. For example, a monk once called me screaming about another monk. I wasn’t angry at all, but I screamed back, which calmed him down. Afterward, I gave him a compliment, saying, “You’re not wrong, but you’re like a person who takes a baseball bat to beat people. Keep practicing, and one day you’ll be like a surgeon who cuts off someone’s head so cleanly they won’t realize it until it hits the ground.”

Big-love anger is like a good mother’s mind. Imagine a child trying to touch a flame. The mother warns, “Don’t touch it; it’s hot.” If the child persists, the mother raises her voice to stop them. The energy is strong, but there is no anger inside. So the mother can then gently comfort the child and explain her concern.

I remember a story about Zen Master Seung Sahn. A student called him on the phone, and he said, “Oh, hello, how are you? What kind of problem? No, no, no, that kind of thinking is no good. Put it down.” The student kept complaining, so Sunim turned red and screamed, “I said put it down!” into the phone, slammed the phone down, and immediately turned back to me with a perfectly normal color and said, “They're holding something strongly, so I used strong energy.” Inside, he wasn’t angry at all. It was just necessary energy. That’s very high-class anger.

Anger, when used correctly, can even be life-saving. But if used poorly, it causes big problems.

One way of talking about anger is energy up.

So one thing you can do for fear, or any strong emotion, is to use your meditation to bring your energy back down. If your energy is high—if anything's energy is high—and it's knocked over, it's difficult to come back up. But if anything's energy is low and it's knocked over, it can come back up and help us digest what's happening.

So first, allow yourself to feel your feelings, but don't lose your direction. Be aware of breathing in, breathing out, make your exhale longer, and realize your energy is up.

Be aware of your experience and realize that anger means something is going against your opinion.

So bring your energy back down through the awareness of breath and letting go, and as you do that you will be able to digest your anger and your opinion in any situation. And then handle the situation in a much more beneficial manner. It's like magic when it transforms itself, so try.

On Anger