Now Reading: Integrate your shadow and practice zazen to manage anger
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Integrate your shadow and practice zazen to manage anger
In a Times of India article, author Narayani Ganesh draws on Jungian psychology, Zen Buddhism and J Krishnamurti to offer a path to managing anger. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung held that recognising…
The Story in Brief
In a Times of India article, author Narayani Ganesh draws on Jungian psychology, Zen Buddhism and J Krishnamurti to offer a path to managing anger. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung held that recognising and integrating the 'shadow', the dark side containing anger and greed, reduces unconscious outbursts and projection onto others. Zen priest Kaaren Maezen Miller says regular zazen (sitting meditation) helped her slow down and resist anger's pressure. Krishnamurti, in 'Freedom from the Known', questions the idea of righteous anger and argues that true freedom lies in being beyond anger itself.
The Indian Opinion
The article's focus on individual introspection is valuable, but it risks feeding the lazy narrative that anger is always a personal failing to be meditated away. Structural injustices, provocation and abuse do trigger genuine righteous anger. Ganesh's advice works best when paired with discernment: is this anger a signal to act or a habit to drop? A key test: when someone is angry at oppression, does the same inner work lead to passive acceptance or to wiser action?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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