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It is widely believed that religions deal with metaphysical issues and propose precepts that are difficult to apply in everyday life. A recent personal experience, however, provided an opportunity to demonstrate the exact opposite.

For some time now, I have had to live with a situation that constitutes a clear injustice against me, caused by the decisions and behavior of other people. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with one of them about issues related to this situation, which had already caused a few tense moments in the past. At a certain point in the conversation, a remark by my conversation partner struck a raw nerve. I was overcome by an immediate and uncontrollable surge of anger, which I did not direct at the person I was speaking with, but which drove me to storm out of the room, visibly furious. Realizing the state I was in, I decided to leave the building for a walk in the fresh air.
I immediately wondered how a single remark of his—which, incidentally, referred to an event that had happened to a third party—could have caused such an impetuous and uncontrollable reaction. The answer to this question is clearly found in a cornerstone principle of the Buddhist view regarding the dynamics of human life: the principle of the “Ten Factors.” That phrase was the external cause that triggered a reaction (the manifest effect) stemming from an internal cause already present within me—namely, a reservoir of anger that had built up over time and was ready to explode if triggered by a spark. Once the effect of my anger had disappeared, I realized not only that the other person had no intention of hurting me, but that the course of our conversation up to that point was actually demonstrating their willingness to take action to resolve the unfair situation I was facing. As often happens when we’re overcome by anger, we direct it toward the wrong people in the wrong situations. Putting myself in the other person’s shoes, it became clear that my reaction had been disproportionate, so I went back to apologize for my inconsiderate behavior toward him.

In the days that followed, I reflected on the difference between anger and rage. I found inspiration not only in Buddhist and Catholic teachings but also in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.
In the Catholic tradition, there is no shortage of accounts of Jesus’ indignation in the face of injustice. Anger in the face of injustice is an entirely human reaction. I’ll recount the episode known as the Cleansing of the Temple (Gospel of John 2:13–16):

He found people in the temple selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers sitting there. So he made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple, along with the sheep and oxen; he scattered the money-changers’ coins on the ground and overturned their tables, and to the dove sellers he said, “Take these things away from here and do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”

The Gospel records other episodes of Jesus’ indignation, such as the harsh “Woe to you” pronouncements directed against the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew.

While differing in form but identical in substance, the “Ten Worlds” principle of Soka Gakkai Buddhism states that anger is one of the ten inner worlds that every person can experience at any moment. The assertion that even the Buddha—the symbol of the enlightened being—is not exempt from any of the ten worlds means that it is entirely human to experience the “lower” worlds, that is, those characterized by negativity such as anger, stupidity, and greed.
However, there is a huge difference between feeling and expressing anger, and instead harboring it within oneself, transforming it into rage ready to explode or resentment that consumes us from within.

Anger that erupts against someone, as well as resentment fueled by unexpressed anger, are states of mind that harm ourselves and our relationships with others.
That is exactly what I realized after my outburst of anger. Anger and resentment make life miserable.
In the Divine Comedy, Dante effectively depicted the condition of the wrathful in the fifth circle of Hell, immersed in the swamp of the Styx. Here they beat and tear at one another on the surface of the muddy water. The murky, stagnant water of the Styx represents the soul of the wrathful, agitated by uncontrolled passions and incapable of spiritual clarity. The struggle among the damned represents the eternal conflict experienced by those consumed by anger, while the mud symbolizes the moral degradation that results from it.

In conclusion, this experience has made it clear to me that anger and resentment harm both ourselves and others. However, we must not forget that anger in the face of a wrong done to us is human and justified, and it is neither wrong nor reprehensible to express it in a polite, civil, firm, and decisive manner.

You can send your comment to info@esperienzedivalore.it, I will be happy to respond.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)