I take a unique direction with today’s blog post. Gary has been my friend since 1990. We have shared many of life’s challenges and opportunities over the years, especially during the 1990’s. Gary and his first wife Christy officiated at our wedding in 1994, and Sharon cleaned up the after-birth in their Canby home after son Christopher’s entry in our world in 1996. We helped him in his failed run for Oregon governor. Since the beginning of this century, when Gary focused his attention on charity projects in India, exiled Tibetan buddhist monks and befriending the Dalai Lama, we began to have reduced contact with each other.
Dialogue With Gary S., Founder Of The Dialogue With Gary S., Founder Of The Wholistic Peace Institute from 2017 that signaled the end of our friendship:
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.—-St. Augustine
In the following material, I purposely reduced Gary’s responses to their essence because his message is so-called Common Knowledge in spiritually aware circles, and needs no further amplification. My material, which is not “common knowledge” does need enhanced exposure to both those in the spiritual community and outside of it.
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The period of time after my friend Marty’s brain surgery, and my own “internal psychic surgery” of March 7, 2017, was characterized by a period of prolific writing, conscious dreaming, enhanced creativity, joy, happiness, and a desire to share some of the amazing insights that seemed to be just popping up like wildflowers.
I contacted Gary during this period of time. He was still associated with the Wholistic Peace Institute, as well as hosting a weekly Saturday spiritual gathering. I wanted to resume my friendship with him, and I was excited about the new energy that had lifted me into a new dimension of understanding. We scheduled a lunch meeting, and I shared my desire for continuing friendship and communication with him. I was much more aware of what was going on with Gary, than he was with me, so I tried to bring him up to speed a bit. We were friendly and quite engaged with each other initially. He then stated:
“There is so much hatred arising within our Portland area since the election of Donald Trump. It does not matter who is the President, for our society to continue to be a loving place, the people need to reign in their emotions and follow a path towards peace and reconciliation”.
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“Gary, it is unsettling to be a witness to what is being uncovered in our country right now. I had no idea of the predominance of ignorance and anti-social tendencies of many Americans. I hope that we are not witnessing the takeover of our country by a false prophet and liar.”
“Um, Bruce, perhaps there is a different way for all of us to see what is unfolding right now.
When I think of you, I think of Joel Goldsmith’s teachings. I see you as the perfect channel for the great teachings from that mystic and spiritual guide. Isn’t there a more spiritually appropriate way for you to be viewing this national process?”.
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“Gary, Joel’s teaching were indeed a blessing for me in the past, but a new energy has come upon me. I have a new love offering to bring to the spiritual buffet, I think, that is much more appropriate to the times, and the situation”
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“Oh, I look forward to hearing about your experience. Have you dramatically diverged from your spiritual path, or is this just a new description for the way towards love and peace?”
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“No, I believe that a bridge to peace and healing has been provided for me to offer to those still struggling with the human condition. It is not a time for absolutist philosophies and reasoning. It is the time to acknowledge our sacred humanity, and to not judge parts of ourselves as less divine, or Godly, than other parts. This divide and conquer routine that mankind has offered to the seeker is a fragmented, unholy approach to spiritual well-being. It is reminiscent of the “mortification of the flesh” processes that even the Buddha finally renounced”
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“Bruce, I am not sure what you are trying to say. Can you give me some examples?”
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“Well, for instance, anger is one of our human emotions that is judged as unacceptable by those supposedly in the spiritual “know”. We are all beings sourced from the energy of infinity. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it certainly can be accessed, and modified to meet the need of the moment. Anger is a name given to an aspect of human energy. Anger naturally arises in human consciousness, just as does love, sexual desire, and a desire for community, peace and personal safety. I have seen how anger itself is not either bad or good, it is a manifestation of the divine impulse within all of mankind.”
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“Bruce, that is an ignorant, shocking statement. The Dalai Lama himself says that anger is hatred, and that it damages the mind of all who use it as part of their life’s practice”.
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“I have to respectfully, but STRONGLY, disagree, with those interpretations of what the Dalai Lama has said, or even with him, if he holds strong to that idea. This is America not Tibet, or India. None of us were born, raised or treated like we were the next Jesus Christ, or reincarnated Enlightened One of the Buddhist tradition, like the Dalai Lama. Had he been born into my family, he would probably be speaking to you today with my point of view. Had I been born into his reality, perhaps I would be the one that you are quoting from right now. You simply cannot take a teaching like the Dalai Lamas, and apply it universally like some sort of magic salve. This is America, and we are a broken culture and civilization. Anger is appropriate and necessary in these times, as long as it is not institutionalized anger like racism, misogyny, xenophobia, white supremacy, genocide, or religious persecution. Anger born of the moment is infinitely different, and pure, whereas anger born of collective or personal memory is the source of hatred, lack of forgiveness, and what you now appear to fear.”
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“Oh Bruce, I can’t believe that you are saying this. You have changed, and I don’t recognize you anymore. Please read my book again, and, here, make sure to read some of the Dalai Lamas’ teachings. You have gone astray.”
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“Gary, no, I believe that I have found a middle path. If a stranger were to come over to our table right now, and urinate on our meals, or hit us, anger would spontaneously arise. What about the young man or woman about to be raped by a predator in a dark alley? It is that very energy of self-protection and defense, that anger, that we can channel for the good of the moment, to either inform the individual of their injustice against us, or to actually defend ourselves from the threat to our safety and well-being. To just sit there and turn the other cheek is NOT the proper response. If you believe that your thoughts and prayers could transmute the situation without action of any kind, that is fantasy thinking, and thus keeps us victimized and oppressed. We must stand up for our rights!.
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You have not fully connected with nor understood the inner matrix of collective consciousness that underpins the entirety of the human race, where darkness, isolation, fear, and hubris reign supreme, and operates as a strong potential energy under the surface of many men’s thoughts and actions. The Common Knowledge Game that plays out in collective human consciousness is what we have to consciously deal with. The aggressor is playing out a story that has been told and retold since man first created stories, and first lifted a hand against his innocent, or guilty, brother or sister, and either felt self-justified in doing so, or was oblivious to his own intentions. Our prisons are filled with millions of human beings who all of humanity’s best thoughts and prayers could not and did not help. Right now, virtually all of the people who you associate with cultivate peaceful, loving attitudes, and that is just great. But there are many of us who still have to make contact with the rest of humanity, where such intentions are not even considered. There is a fight for survival, a fight to defend one’s tiny little plot of life, land, illusions of thought and sense of self. And there is mental illness, and an indifference to the feelings of all others who are unlike their own limited understanding of themselves. If we do not rise up and let the indifferent know not only that we exist, but we have feelings, and that we will defend our right to continue to have feelings, and existence, then those who ignorantly attempt to repress and dominate us will continue their abhorrent behavior.
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Like a virus, those who oppress will be drawn to others who also have a desire to oppress, and the infection spreads through the collective mob mind. It is the feedback that we give back to them that eventually becomes part of the new knowledge for them, that others have feelings, and need to be respected, if they want to maintain some of their own freedoms. If we sit back and pray, as if the offenders already have the sensitivity to pick up on those finer vibrations, and that all they need to be reminded of is the underlying goodness of all is a self-defeating delusion, as our good intentions and prayers have little power for those people. The prayer that has the greatest power is the vocal one uttered through the WORD, loud, if necessary, to remind the offender that another human being is present, has rights, and will protect itself and reflect back to the offender his own offensive energy, until the offender finds a way to present a more favorable side of himself to the rest of the world. We are part of the feedback loop for the rest of the world. We neglect our responsibilities as teachers and healers if we do not confront evil wherever evil arises. To not confront evil, or to mask it over with another name, and make it OK, as long as its influence does not directly impact us in this moment, is a dereliction of spiritual duty, and is one of the responsible parties for the continued proliferation of darkness and evil upon our planet..
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Your vessel is shining on the outside, yet on the inside there appears to be an incompleteness of understanding, and of spirit. You attempt to suppress and repress part of your own humanity, and thus, the humanity of others. You are a well-meaning, but unconscious part of the conspiracy of silence, where men are made wrong for speaking or acting from their strongest emotions, through which our true spirit may reign supreme.”
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“Bruce, where you are wrong is simple. Through meditation, peace and reconciliation, we can create all of the relationships that either prevents the anger and hatred from arising that you believe that you may have to defend yourself against, or gives you a more creative, loving way to deal with the assaults.”
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“Gary, how is that working for you, and for our world, so far?
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History shows the cyclical nature of human civilizations, with the rise and falls of collective order, culture and spirituality, mutual trust, intelligence, creativity and the arts, and infrastructural stability. Our own personal history parallels the same cyclical principle, except in a more compressed time frame.
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To be aware is to note that as far as we can see, we can only see ourselves, and our own projections of what we think that we see, or might be. Note that to not see what is happening in the real world is remain in a dream world, the world of illusion, no matter how much you want to make peace and love the picture of the world.
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ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.
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Do you think that just because you are giving love to the offender, that his behavior is going to spontaneously change? You noted at the start of our lunch the predominance of anger and hatred arising in Portland right now. I am not seeing all of our prayers and meditations working right now, nor have they for thousands of years. All of the Dalai Lamas prayers and meditations for Tibet were useless. He left his country, and did not defend himself. He left the country in fear for his own life, and his country was to be overrun by the Chinese, to be defended only by those who could not escape with him. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, was left behind, and spent many years philosophically fighting the Chinese incursion, and languished in jail as a result of his best efforts. He stood up, and made his voice heard, in the only place and way a man of true spiritual integrity could. The Dalai Lama’s peaceful attitudes did not change one Chinese invader’s mind. I don’t see any of our thoughts and prayers reaching this reality TV star parading as our President, either. Three hundred and fifty million jabs back at his pudgy belly will help, though.”
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“Violence begets more violence, period. I think that our lunch time has come to an end. Please reconsider your position, Bruce. You have so much to give to the world, yet giving anger to the world is no gift, it is a curse. I can help, perhaps come to more meetings at our church, where we can give you the support of our spirit of peace”.
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“Thanks, Gary. I know that you say this with love. And I say this to you, this is also love, if only you had the ears to hear. Right anger leads to right action, as well. Protecting oneself against the violent assaults from others is an act of love, as well. Loving oneself through defending oneself, while giving an offensive human being necessary feedback from which to learn is an act of love, too. Would you watch your own child torture and torment a neighbor’s pet, and have no emotional reaction to it, and not confront him and teach him another way to behave? Love and righteous anger as a response to aggressive and offensive philosophies can live together in harmony, and they must, if America is to survive. Gary, I don’t have a church, a book for you to read, nor can I provide a forum for you to understand what I am talking about. Just know that my own “still small voice” is thundering from the silence in the center of my being, affirming the truth as I speak it, and live it. I am not a lamb before another person’s sincere, but wayward teachings, I am led from within, and I will go where the teachings lead me.
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Blessings to you on your journey, Gary. I love you.”
And I left the lunch, and we have not spoken since.
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In the timeless words of Bob Marley, come the words of a real spiritual warrior:
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Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
And in the words of another great spiritual warrior:
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“I come not to bring peace, but a sword!”,
as he, too, tried to break down the patterns of social, economic, and religious injustice of the day.
The Far Side Wait, Wait, We don’t have to be just sheep
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A lifetime of oppression, of not being heard, having cries of pain and suffering ignored because of some sort of prevailing philosophy, thus ignoring major energy centers of who I AM, creates energy field corruption and damage. How can a young woman, or man, not respond with anger and fear while being sexually abused by yet another Toxic Man, and his own distorted theories of how life should be? Extrapolate that to our entire country, where millions of our fellow Americans, or, more accurately, our fellow human beings, be they African-American, Hispanic, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, or whatever label we want to foist on another child of God, continue to be persecuted and oppressed by the dark philosophies spawned by other Patriarchal ideologues.
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For me, I layered myself with all manners of philosophies that suggested that I should ignore my personal human emotions, and all of the so-called dark energies that plague us, through the labeling, judging, and condemnation of all of these energies. Maya, or illusions, or cultural hypnosis, are terms coined by the “aware” that help us to understand that what appears to be in the “real world” may not actually be there, and to be aware of the potential of our minds to project out of our own unenlightened ignorance our misunderstanding of life, and our actual relationship to it. Ignorance and darkness, and their love child, evil itself, do exist, and is not an illusion. Rwanda, Syria, and any number of modern-day countries have witnessed the ravages of evil, and those residents who stayed seated in meditation and prayer are now dead, while those who are still alive escaped or had to defend themselves.
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The key is to place these so-called dark energies in the service of understanding and love. Enlightened anger IS wisdom, and if we deny our anger about the oppression we have experienced, or that which is persecuting the innocents of the world, our access to vast sacred energy centers will continue to be blocked away from us, by those who inadvertently become part of the control mechanism that we are attempting to become liberated from.
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Somebody has to act as a bridge between highbrow spiritual theories and/or realizations, and the damaged, hurt, misunderstood, persecuted, abused, sick and ill, and I AM THAT, along with countless millions of awakening abused people around the world. One size does NOT fit all, when it comes to how to spiritually respond to challenging situations. If we are sitting in an ivory tower or lofty spiritual “reality” then we will have one style of engagement with the world. If we are still in relationship with all of humanity, we have to be ready for anything, and we will have to be ready to engage ALL of our resources to meet the safe and sane requirements for each unique relationship . This is how my awakening world now spins, around the reunification of all rejected energies of our Holy Spirit (the spirit of wholeness that still resides within all of us, even in the “least of these” people, who may still reside in their own personal hell).
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There are those purporting to be “spiritual teachers” and advisors, who are admonishing their followers to abhor using human emotions with their dealings with the public. Specifically, I am frequently hearing that a “requirement for maintaining spiritual integrity” is to NOT EXPRESS ANGER, in any form, and instead to substitute “loving thoughts” and “forgiving actions”.
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Anger is a natural, normal response, in any particular new moment, to any assault on our being, on those that we love, or on our inner sensibilities. Anger, among all other emotions, and in balance with those aspects of our self, help us to manage our response to the outer world, which is, at times, quite the aggressive, distressed, ugly, oppressive environment. Anger is not positive or negative energy, it is HUMAN ENERGY ITSELF, and like all aspects of our humanity, it needs to be understood in the context from which it arises, and when and how it expresses itself.
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Anger can bring fear to the unaware among us, because of an incomplete or unhealed response to its expression in their past. We have all been persecuted, at one time or another (or many times), by the angry parent, boss, co-worker, or stranger driving next to us in a car. Or, how about the rapist, or child molester, who tries to attack us, or our children?
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According to classic psychology, humans engage in “fight or flight” behavior, when they experience fear and/or perceive that they are being attacked. Whether we choose one or the other depends on any number of circumstances, and ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. When we are backed into a corner, and there is no way out, where is our energy to come from, when the attacker makes his final lunge at us?
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We all feel a need to “be in control”, and to conform to social norms, especially those “norms” expressed in the common knowledge game that dominates the unaware human consciousness. Philosophies and theologies that stress the need to repress aspects of our human nature need to be examined in their fullness, and not accepted at face value. By their very nature, any umbrella philosophy and theology devalues the “intelligence of the moment”, and intentionally and/or unwittingly contribute to the suppression, and repression, of sacred human values and emotions. This unrepressed and unoppressed human energy, when balanced, keeps us as complete beings, capable of accessing and expressing the wholeness of our being, with emotionally intelligent actions appropriate to the activity of the moment.
There is a Wisdom deep inside us all, waiting to inform all of our thoughts and actions in this world. And, this world requires Ultimate intelligence to navigate through it successfully, without bringing harm to ourselves and others needlessly. Anger and fear are not to be repressed by any healthy human being, but instead are to be witnessed, and studied, and utilized intelligently for wise action in this troubled world.
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Stand up, stand up, stand up for your rights!
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But, make sure that the anger is appropriate to the moment, and not some formulaic response that the “non-healed, unbalanced” nature within your own self offers up under many questionable circumstances. An “institutionalized expression of anger” becomes hatred in disguise, and that characterizes the oppressive nature of far too many male originated, and dominated, philosophies. When anger becomes an automatic response to all situations where threat is perceived, then the intelligence of the moment is denied, and we are susceptible to bringing needless harm to our bodies, and to our minds, as well as to the “other”.
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To respond successfully in anger, we need to measure how mindfully we can engage these threats, and successfully group our own thoughts and actions, with others also engaged in the situation, to either fight the oppressors, or to speak our truth, and be heard. We do not engage in mass protests because we want to go for a walk with a bunch of strangers, we engage in protests because we want our voices heard. Channeled anger is an effective, time-tested method for standing up to those who would keep us silent in the face of their own misdeeds.
One only needs to review history to see how well the silent sheep held back the Nazi oppressors. If you want to conform to the “spiritual philosophies” of those who did grow up in our country, and did not share in our American Experience, good luck to you. I choose to wisely tend to my own “flock” of thoughts and feelings, and not to become just another follower in someone’s “herd”. I am now a shepherd of my own thoughts and feelings, and not just someone’s lamb.
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Anecdotally, we hear of those rare few who have successfully mitigated dark, evil circumstances, through some fortunate “intervention” through prayer, or luck, where those who are attacking us somehow are diverted, and move their aggression elsewhere. Stories of Gandhi’s non-violent protest against British occupancy of India’s lands gets a lot of play in so-called “spiritually aware circles”. Remember, though, the many years of British occupation prior to that stand, and Britain’s diminishing will to keep their empire extended throughout the world. We only need watch the news, or read the paper, to see that these anecdotal stories do not embrace the reality underlying most of the final acts, and resulting actions, of the aggressive ones. Murder, rape, child molesting, intimidation, oppression, misogyny, road rage, terrorism, paternal violence in ALL OF ITS FORMS, keeps manifesting itself, and has throughout all of history. Those who are inspired to make peaceful approaches to these problems must continue, yet, so do those who aggressively confront the forces of oppression and darkness. WE NEED BOTH ENERGIES FOR CHANGE.
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By the way, have you ever noticed how so many of the so-called spiritual savants, or gurus from foreign lands, do not have families? What is the real teaching here, do you think? It is so much easier to talk love and light for all beings, especially when one does not have to deal directly with the most challenging of human relationships. From the middle of 1987 to early 1988, I spent over 6 hours a day in meditation and prayer, and I had very few problems with my relationships with people. I lived in perfect peace and harmony within myself. Also, I had no children, or nobody to call me on my isolation and (potential) loneliness. All in all, it was beautiful for me, yet totally disengaged from the challenges of integration into society, and family and friendship development. I value my time in the “real world”, where the beauty, and the pain, of human existence is my greatest teacher. Mysticism has a place in our world, yet I struggle to find how to best stay in alignment with its ecstasy, and enlightenment, while maintaining a “normal human experience”. Perhaps I will drink again from its deep waters, when I have finally wearied of this world.
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If our minds are fed anything other than facts, ESPECIALLY WITHIN ESTABLISHED COMMUNITIES OF HUMAN BEINGS, we are involved in a process known as maya, or illusion creating, and our world(s) tend to end up in chaos. The result is individual, and cultural, hypnosis and schizophrenia, where we can end up losing personal power, and we can be too easily bullied by the wayward opinions and false insights of others. Too often those who claim to have real knowledge are as lost as everybody else, even though they may be claiming righteousness, religious or otherwise. When we try to fit into a situation or setting where our heart tells us we don’t belong, honor those feelings, and investigate where they are coming from. If we feel that we are already “swimming in the divine ocean”, then we can watch, and wait, and see who is swimming with us, and join with them as indicated (or reach out and help lift another up, as they request help). While in the marketplace of human thought and reason,
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LET THE BUYER BEWARE!
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It has taken me many years to speak my truth to our cultural, political, and theological power and knowledge brokers. My enhanced attention to my inner needs and the greater good of all finally took precedence over my own feelings of inadequacy in confronting this collective American life experience about it’s alienating, crazy making communications and relationships, and its collective consciousness, and collective unconsciousness. Our cultural spiritual dementia needed to be challenged, lest we all lapse into deeper degrees of anxiousness, powerlessness, and unreality. Confronting a difficult reality takes more energy than most of us care to bring to the table, yet, not doing so diminishes our own standing in Truth, Life, and Love
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I had very poor training since birth in how to successfully navigate group energy, up to, and including, the whole of society that we all participate in. As a boy, when family discussions turned into arguments, many times I found myself either raising my voice against the angry voice of my father, or retreating into submission and fear at the threat of being attacked for being contrary to the flow. And, I internalized that I was probably wrong anyway, and would be punished if I stepped out and asserted myself too much. I learned that I could undertake less obvious means of rebelling against authority, sometimes through indirect, or obvious, self, or other, destructive behavior.
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Passive/aggressive tendencies have haunted me most of my entire life, and becoming “self-aware” has gone a long way to keep me from employing those unskilled coping mechanisms unconsciously, though I am still occasionally haunted by their presence. Having undertaken the inner work of insight, and maintaining mindfulness, and identified those sources of suffering within myself, does not instantaneously remove all of the darkness within. But is also does not remove from me the responsibility to call out those who are the external agents of oppression and repression, no matter how much I might love them or want to protect them, or even to protect myself from the ramifications of asserting what is right, true, or proper in any situation.
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Alcoholism, depression, mental illness, murder, suicide, participating in the continued destruction of our sacred Mother Earth, and other manifestations of dis-empowered male energy can be the results of loss of integrity, and stifling ones feelings and voice. And, this is NOT yet another spiritual theory, this is the ACTUALITY of American male life, and of my life. Sitting in meditation, and or quoting other “spiritually enlightened individuals” may have brought me a temporary measure of peace, but this whole process became yet another “opiate”, and it never brought the change required by my spirit for its own emergence into its own unique wholeness. Thoughts and prayers are great preparation for action, but, without action, thoughts and prayers are only mental masturbation.
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Ignorance, and its most deadly spawn Evil continues to exist, in spite of Love’s presence, and I will not allow the “wise ones” and their dismissive theories on evil to discourage me from confronting that force, both within myself and within my American culture. It takes a force of will, or an energy FAR transcending those that the absolutist philosophies of unconditional love promote, to address this darkness. Jesus facing the devil in the desert has no value to me, if I do not also face my own “devil”, and our collective “devils”. If I lived in a spiritual “ivory tower”, where I never witness man’s inhumanity to man, then these philosophies might serve my needs. Why would any sane man create more Fake News, deny what they see, and gloss it over with Universal Love, whatever that means?
I no longer need permission from “higher powers” to deal with all of our difficult emotions directly and honestly.
There is the national stink of TREASON,
And the cult of Trump has lost all reason,
And the obsequious of Washington continue their appeasin’
Of a dangerous, corrupt man whose mind and heart is out of season,
Be careful, oh America,
On our minds, hearts, and souls
There is now a fatal lesion.
Truth, liberty, and justice are now about a freezin’
Isolate and imprison this cheatin’ sleazin’ demon.
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Anger as Sacred Human Energy: A New Perspective on Spiritual Integrity
There is a growing dialogue within spiritual communities suggesting that expressing certain human emotions—particularly anger—contradicts the ideals of spiritual integrity. Proponents of this perspective claim that anger is destructive by nature and that the path to enlightenment lies exclusively in cultivating loving thoughts and forgiving actions. But should we indiscriminately suppress an intrinsic part of our humanity to conform to these ideals?
The assertion that anger has no place in spiritual practice deserves a more nuanced exploration. Anger, far from being a negative force, is a profound and vital human energy that, when properly understood, can serve as a tool for transformation and empowerment.
Anger is neither inherently positive nor negative; it is a manifestation of our natural, human energy. Like other emotions—love, joy, or fear—it emerges as a response to specific stimuli. Anger can arise spontaneously when we encounter harm, injustice, or threats to our personal safety or that of those we love. Suppressing this energy outright in the name of spiritual ideals risks severing us from the fullness of our sacred humanity.
Anger is often misunderstood because many associate it with destructive acts, such as aggression, hatred, or violence. However, these manifestations are not anger itself but imbalanced or distorted expressions of it. Healthy anger is an immediate, raw emotional response that can catalyze mindful action and awareness when channeled appropriately.
Consider this: If a parent witnesses their child in danger, anger stirs within them as an instinctive reaction, mobilizing their strength and courage to protect their loved one. Similarly, many of history’s most significant catalysts for social change—movements for civil rights, freedom, and equality—were sparked by a collective acknowledgment of injustice and the righteous anger that followed it.
There is a fine line between anger and hatred, and the two must be carefully distinguished. Anger, when grounded in the present moment, has a purity and immediacy that can empower individuals to act decisively and justly. Hatred, on the other hand, is anger that has been institutionalized or allowed to fester, taking root as a long-term grudge or prejudice. Hatred is anger stripped of its mindfulness and flexibility, hardened into dogma or vengeance.
For example, anger can rightly arise when someone experiences or witnesses an instance of racism, misogyny, or xenophobia. However, allowing that anger to calcify into hatred of entire groups or ideologies transforms a moment of clarity into prolonged division and suffering. The challenge lies not in suppressing anger but in discerning its message and responding with wisdom rather than reactivity.
Many spiritual teachings advise against anger entirely, equating it with harm and detachment from one’s higher self. While these teachings promote ideals of love and forgiveness, they often fail to address the complexity of human emotions, particularly in contexts where anger may serve a beneficial purpose.
Take teachings such as those of the Dalai Lama, who argues that anger damages the mind and soul. While rooted in centuries of spiritual practice, these perspectives emerge from cultural contexts distinct from the lived experiences of many modern individuals. An “American experience,” for example, with its unique challenges regarding individualism, freedom, and oppression, cannot be universally mapped to teachings developed in different socio-cultural landscapes.
The anger that arises when one witnesses oppression or injustice need not be suppressed or judged but understood as a sacred and necessary response. Anger, when acknowledged and integrated, can align with the broader spiritual pursuit of truth and justice, rather than detract from it.
Key to navigating anger is cultivating what can be called the “intelligence of the moment.” This involves discerning when anger is an appropriate response—when it serves a higher purpose rooted in self-preservation, justice, or the well-being of others.
When channeled mindfully, anger is not destructive. Instead, it becomes a vehicle for asserting boundaries, fighting oppression, and reclaiming personal power. It demands that we stay actively engaged with our full emotional spectrum, rejecting philosophies that simplify human experience into rigid dichotomies of “good” and “bad” emotions.
Unchecked, zealous anger fueled by personal memory or societal conditioning leads to the institutionalized forms we must seek to avoid—racism, xenophobia, or systemic injustice. But, to automatically repress anger is equally harmful, leading to cycles of suppression that disconnect us from our authentic selves. Here lies the importance of balance.
Anger must be acknowledged, studied, and employed with discernment. This means responding to situations with actions that reflect self-awareness and awareness of the context, channeling the energy into truth-telling, advocacy, or self-defense rather than impulsive retaliation.
If we look to human history, it’s evident that silence in the face of oppression breeds further harm. Movements like the civil rights protests in the U.S. or actions against apartheid in South Africa demonstrate that passive acquiescence to systemic wrongs perpetuates their existence. The reverend Desmond Tutu was at the forefront of this movement. Within his Capetown church they planned how to disrupt and defeat apartheid, and in his own words they “did not spend a lot of time just praying”. Anger inspired these movements but was tempered by discipline and focus, channeling what could have been chaos into structured, world-changing resistance.
Suppose we simply sit back and suppress righteous anger, assuming that silent prayers or inner peace will naturally affect the oppressors. Such inaction risks leaving us victimized and complicit in the continuation of injustice. Silence in the face of injustice is also injustice, as Desmond Tutu has said. Acting as vessels of feedback for the collective consciousness can demonstrate to wrongdoers that their actions have consequences and that they must recalibrate their behavior for coexistence.
However, acting without wisdom or restraint leads to aggression and chaos. Thus, anger must only arise when the situation genuinely calls for its energy and purpose.
Suppression of any part of our humanity—whether anger, grief, or fear—takes us further from the wholeness we seek on spiritual paths. Sacred humanity calls for us to honor all emotions as vital aspects of our experience, which, when integrated, lead to harmony, healing, and transformation.
Complete spiritual integrity demands we acknowledge the sacredness of every human impulse, including those that challenge traditional spiritual teachings. Anger itself deserves a seat at the table—not as a destructive force but as a guardian and guide for justice, self-preservation, and transformation.
Through integrating anger with wisdom, compassion, and courage, individuals not only reclaim their humanity but also inspire collective healing in a world desperately in need of balance.
Silence or Action? The Role of Anger in Fighting Oppression
What happens when the world turns its back on injustice? When righteous anger is suppressed for the sake of maintaining peace, it allows oppression to quietly fester, entrenched deeper into the structures of society. This is not merely a philosophical question but a living, breathing testament to the uncomfortable reality of human history. Movements from the U.S. civil rights protests to the dismantling of South African apartheid have revealed this truth repeatedly. Desmond Tutu, standing at the epicenter of apartheid resistance, famously declared, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
Tutu’s lessons persist today, urging us to confront systemic wrongs not with chaotic outbursts but with disciplined and focused action, transforming what might have been unproductive rage into lasting change. And yet, a challenging question remains for modern activists and change-makers: How do we balance anger with strategy, passion with discipline? How do we transform pain into power while avoiding the traps of despair, fatigue, or disillusionment?
Silence is as much an action as speaking out; it actively strengthens oppression, creating an enabling environment for injustice to thrive. Suppressing anger in the hopes that peace and change will naturally emerge is not neutrality—it is complicity. For those enduring systemic oppression, silence can turn into self-erasure, weakening both individual resolve and collective strength.
The psychology of oppression tells us why this dynamic is so potent. Oppressors thrive on the silence of the oppressed, interpreting quietude as compliance. The oppressed, on the other hand, may resign themselves to a belief that resistance is futile, feeding into a cycle of inaction. When individuals and communities fail to push back, oppressive systems sustain themselves unchecked. It is only through collective acknowledgment and action that this cycle can break.
History offers stark examples of silence being shattered by voices that could no longer bear the weight of injustice. From Desmond Tutu’s Capetown church where resistance strategies were mapped out with unwavering focus, to the streets of Birmingham where Martin Luther King Jr. led marches for equality, these movements demanded that oppression be met with a resounding refusal to comply.
But crucially, anger alone was never sufficient. It was the transformation of anger into action that made these movements unstoppable.
One of the hardest questions facing change-makers today is this: Where is the line between righteous anger and unproductive rage? Anger can fuel both inspiration and destruction, and unmanaged rage often isolates individuals, leading to burnout, disillusionment, and fractured movements.
This is where Desmond Tutu’s example resonates powerfully. His leadership was rooted in understanding anger as a tool. Yes, passion inspires—it energizes movements and spurs individuals into action. But unbridled, directionless anger risks becoming self-destructive. Tutu’s resistance was disciplined and strategic, focused on creating tangible outcomes. “We did not spend a lot of time just praying,” he once said, emphasizing that action—not blind fury—changes the course of history.
The challenge for today’s activists is to emulate this balance. Righteous anger can light the way forward, but it must be coupled with meticulous planning, strategic thinking, and a clear vision of what justice looks like.
To understand how to harness anger productively, we can look to successful movements for social change, which share some common elements worth considering.
- Nonviolent Resistance as Strategy, Not Submission
Nonviolence is often misunderstood as passive or weak, but movements led by figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, and Martin Luther King Jr. prove otherwise. Each approached resistance with unwavering assertiveness, using boycotts, protests, and institutional pressure to expose injustice and dismantle oppressive systems without resorting to violence. Nonviolence, when wielded strategically, disrupts the moral and political legitimacy of oppressors, forcing them to respond.
- The Role of Collective Action
Not all resistance begins—or succeeds—with one voice. Landmark social changes, from women’s suffrage to marriage equality, have relied on the power of collective activism. What makes collective action so powerful? It erodes the isolation upon which oppression feeds. When individuals see others standing beside them, their confidence in challenging the status quo grows. Research consistently shows that effective movements create sustained pressure not by individual heroics but by mobilizing communities en masse.
- Maintaining Momentum
History also teaches us the importance of sustaining focus. Social change does not happen overnight. Movements lose steam when leaders and participants succumb to fatigue, disillusionment, or burnout. To counter this, successful movements develop mechanisms for renewal—recruiting fresh energy, celebrating small victories, and renewing their commitment to long-term goals.
By adopting a strategic approach, today’s activists can learn from these lessons while addressing the unique challenges of contemporary movements.
To create structured resistance, consider the following steps to integrate anger into disciplined, impactful action.
1. Understand the Root Cause of Your Anger
Before taking action, take the time to understand what sparks your anger. Who is affected? Why does the injustice persist? This clarity will help channel your energy towards solving a specific problem rather than reacting impulsively.
2. Transform Anger Into Strategy
Use your anger as a source of motivation but pair it with planning. What actionable steps can you take? Can you join a grassroots organization, start a petition, or educate others on the injustice? Focused action amplifies your voice while minimizing the risks of burnout.
3. Engage with Community
You are never alone in your anger. Share your frustrations and solutions with others who feel the same. Get involved in local or national movements. The power of collective voices cannot be overstated.
4. Measure Your Impact
Achieving small wins is crucial to sustaining your momentum and morale. Whether it’s gaining signatures, staging a peaceful protest, or swaying public opinion, acknowledge progress, and continue to build upon it.
5. Protect Your Focus and Energy
Movements are marathons, not sprints. Take breaks when needed. Avoid frustrations that drain energy unnecessarily, like unproductive online arguments. Focus on actions where you can make real, tangible change.
Righteous anger and a willingness to act are lifebloods for social change. Anger spurs momentum, but disciplined, focused resistance makes progress. Today, as oppression continues to wear new masks across the globe, your refusal to remain silent is more critical than ever. You are a vessel for feedback—a voice that reminds systems of oppression that their actions have dire consequences.
Apply the lessons of history. Channel your anger with intention, cultivate community, and act strategically. The next great movement for justice could very well be the one you start or join today.
Choose to disrupt. Choose to rise. And choose to act. The world is waiting.
