77. Rage As Motivation

When I am angry about the wrongdoing I see in the world, I feel energized and capable. My rage becomes a source of motivation. It pushes me to take forceful action to resolve the problems I face. With this newfound purpose and energy, I feel ready to fight tirelessly on the side of justice to make the world better.

But while I might accomplish many things, my actions are unlikely to be especially good ones. When I am in the grip of anger, my attitude becomes adversarial. I see the unjust world as my enemy. I want to prevail. I want victory. I seek the most direct means to defeat my enemy and I pursue those means relentlessly.

Instead of defeating the world or anyone in it, I end up defeating myself. For my anger has given rise to an overwhelming desire: I want victory and I will stop at nothing to get it because my rage demands it. I have become attached to my anger and the desire that follows from it. And this attachment will inevitably produce suffering, both for myself and for any unfortunate person who happens to get in my way. My anger might provoke me into creating some limited good, but it will also produce enormous harm.

Fortunately, I do not need rage (or any other motivator) to make the world better. As long as my attention is open and free of attachment, I will act from compassion towards myself and others.

A liberated body is more powerful than any effort born of anger. It will do the right thing no matter what harm comes to it. It will do so purely out of the necessity that each and every compassionate action carries. It will push harder and more resolutely than any motivating feeling towards a more just and joyful world. It will do so without desire, without being consumed by righteousness, and without producing further suffering.

To be liberated I must learn to release my attention from the attachment that has taken hold of it. Set free, my compassion will no longer be repressed by the bloodlust that arises from surrendering myself to rage. To become a truly powerful force for good, I must allow myself to let go of anger entirely.