The Meditation Body

Sayadaw U Tejaniya’s teachings on anger

Listen Later

Sayadaw U Tejaniya's teachings on dealing with anger and other difficult emotions are rooted in his emphasis on a relaxed, continuous, and all-encompassing awareness paired with the development of wisdom (or understanding).

​Here are the key points of his approach regarding anger:

​1. The Importance of Understanding (Wisdom)
  • ​Awareness is not enough: He emphasizes that simply knowing anger is there is not the end goal. If anger persists despite consistent awareness, it means wisdom is lacking—you haven't fully understood its nature or its causes.
  • ​Investigate the Attitude: The core of the problem lies in the mind's attitude or reaction to the experience. Anger arises from aversion (disliking) combined with a lack of understanding. When a defilement like anger arises, it's an opportunity to investigate your mindset: What am I angry with? Is there an underlying expectation or belief I'm holding onto?
  • ​Anger as an Object, Not "Mine": A fundamental shift is seeing anger as a natural, impersonal phenomenon—a mental state that arises and passes away—rather than "my" anger or a reflection of your self. Suffering is not inherent in the object, but in the mind's relationship to it (e.g., aversion, identification).
    • ​2. Practice: Observing and Learning
    • ​Be With the Anger: Don't try to suppress, follow, or quickly get rid of the anger. Instead, you should continue to be with the anger and learn from it. This is a valuable, real-life experience.
    • ​Watch the Reaction, Not Just the Feeling: The key is to watch whether the mind is reacting to the anger or the situation that triggered it. Are you judging it, wanting it to stop, or wishing for things to be different? This reaction is the source of suffering.
    • ​Change the Object if Too Strong: If the emotion is overwhelming and you can't watch it with a balanced attitude, you can temporarily switch your focus to a physical, neutral object (like the feeling of your feet or hands) to calm the mind down. Once calmer, return to the emotion to learn from it.
    • ​Be Interested and Curious: Approach the anger with an attitude of interest and curiosity, like a scientist studying a phenomenon. This interest (which is an aspect of wisdom) naturally reduces judgment and aversion. Don't see it as a "problem," but just see it as it is.
      • ​3. Attitude in Practice
      • ​Relaxed and Continuous: The practice should be relaxed but continuous. Forcing effort or having a strong desire for peace or a certain outcome (like wanting the anger to disappear) can actually weaken wisdom and make you more prone to getting angry.
      • ​Look for the Causes: Use the arising of anger to look for the cause and effect. When you notice anger, check what mental factors were present right before it. What was the attachment that led to the aversion? He suggests that when he saw the underlying idea he was holding onto, the anger "just slid away."

        • ​In summary, for Sayadaw U Tejaniya, the way to deal with anger is not through forceful suppression, but through turning awareness toward the internal process, patiently learning about the mind's attitudes and reactions, and developing the deep wisdom that sees the emotion as a temporary, impersonal phenomenon.

        ...more
        View all episodesView all episodes
        Download on the App Store
        The Meditation BodyBy themeditationbody