On the 'Blessedness' of Anger.....

[Bob Michael]

Below is a quote by Kierkegaard. In contrast, this quote describes how anger is a protective measure to ensure the preservation of the self:

The natural man can tolerate spirit for an hour when it is introduced very
guardedly at the distance of the imagination - yes, then it even pleases him.
But if it's moved any closer to him, so that it is presented with dead earnest as
a demand on him, then the self-preservation instinct of his ego is aroused to
such an extent that it becomes a regular fury.

That quote doesn't click here at this end regarding the matter at hand, Sue. Though here's a rather upbeat K quote that I particularly like:

"Most people live dejectedly in worldly sorrow and joy; they are the ones who sit along the wall and do not join in the dance. The knights of infinity are dancers and possess elevation. They make the movements upward, and fall down again; and this too is no mean pastime, nor ungraceful to behold. But whenever they fall down they are not able at once to assume the posture, they vacillate an instant, and this vacillation shows that after all they are strangers in the world. This is more or less strikingly evident in proportion to the art they possess, but even the most artistic knights cannot altogether conceal this vacillation. One need not look at them when they are up in the air, but only the instant they touch or have touched the ground – then one recognizes them. But to be able to fall down in such a way that the same second it looks as if one were standing and walking, to transform the leap of life into a walk, absolutely to express the sublime in the pedestrian – that only the knight of faith can do – and this is the one and only prodigy." (Kierkegaard)

Anyone care to dance? Or do you just want to sit along the wall and discuss things?

[sue hindmarsh]

Bob, you're discussing things! ; )

... ... ...

Staying on topic: On the 'Blessedness' of Anger. Anger can be useful when you are starting out thinking about things. It can help distance you from ordinary life in order for you to see it more clearly. But once you understand the emptiness of all things, the use of anger is obsolete.

The problem with the emotions is that they feed off of themselves. Exercising them, such as using anger in the way I mention above, stirs them up, making it hard to see past them. And, as Kierkegaard points out in my quote of his; thought about the true nature of things automatically threaten the ego, with the result that anger arises. So it is good to be aware of the hidden trap that lies down the path of using anger as a means to an end.

... ... ...

Your Kierkegaard quote shows that discussing the Infinite is a natural thing to do.

[Bob Michael]

Bob, you're discussing things! ; )

Perhaps I am Sue, though I'm doing so from a vantage point of being high above all these things that are being discussed. So high above them that I clearly see the total vanity of these kinds of discussions. I find, after many years of participating in many various online discussion forums, that they are of absolutely no benefit whatsoever in bringing anyone to the point of the breakdown of the conditioned mental-rational manner of brain functioning and to the breakthrough of an arational-aperspectival manner of brain functioning. Which is vitally necessary if one is to discover a radically new state of consciousness or being. Virtually all of the discussion activity in these many various online discussion forums, and regardless of their name or modus operandi, goes round and round and round to absolutely nowhere and serves only to reinforce the participants empty egos rather than serving to totally annihilate them. Which is necessary if one is to attain to a genuine living realtionship with the INFINITE. Breaking away from the herd in all the many facets of life is also necessary if one is to ever truly become a Free-Spirit.

"All the sick and sickly instinctively strive after a herd organization as a means of shaking off their dull displeasure and feeling of weakness: the ascetic priest divines this instinct and furthers it; wherever there are herds, it is the instinct of weakness that has willed the herd and the prudence of the priest that has organized it. For one should not overlook this fact: the strong are as naturally inclined to separate as the weak are to congregate; if the former unite together, it is only with the aim of an aggressive collective action and collective satisfaction of their will to power, and with much resistance from the individual conscience; the latter, on the contrary, enjoy precisely this coming together - their instinct is just as much satisfied by this as the instinct of the born "masters" (that is, the solitary, beast-of-prey species of man) is fundamentally irritated and disquieted by organization. The whole of history teaches that every oligarchy conceals the lust for tyranny, every oligarchy constantly trembles with the tension each member feels in maintaining control over this lust. (So it was in Greece, for insance: Plato bears witness to it in a hundred passages--and he knew his own kind - and himself.)" [Nietzsche - 'Genealogy of Morals' - 3rd Essay Sec. 18 - Trans. by Kaufmann & Hollingdale]

My experience has been and continues to be that breaking free of the herd requires transformation, courage, and action, and surely not merely talk, debate, or discussion.

[cousinbasil]

My point (idea) was made in the thread title "On the 'Blessedness' of Anger", Sue. That is "Magnificent Anger". Without which a person is as good as dead. And regardless of how much or how little discussion they may be involved in. Magnificent anger preserves the soul, the human spirit. Praise the INFINITE for magnificent anger!!!

One may go an entire lifetime without witnessing "magnificent anger." More often it is childish anger, effete anger, misdirected anger, selfish anger, ego-centric anger, mindless anger, vengeful anger, violent anger, unjustified anger, well, you get the picture. A Jesus turning over the counting tables in the Synagogue is all too rare. Most people are not righteous but self-righteous.

I'll say this about displays of anger: they are exhibitions of bare truth, one way or another. You see more of a man's true nature when he becomes angry, for all too often "anger" is a synonym for "loss of control" and little else.

[cousinbasil]

My experience has been and continues to be that breaking free of the herd requires transformation, courage, and action, and surely not merely talk, debate, or discussion.

Ah, action. How's that Ark coming along...?

[Bob Michael]

Ah, action. How's that Ark coming along...?

Well CB, I think I've finally gotten my head completely out of my ass. As a result I feel quite optimistic and enthusiatic that the adventure will be successful. I too have 3 potential shipmates, that is if they are willing to fully detach themselves from their worldly entanglements. Which time alone will tell. In any case, one-day-at-a-time, it's all up to the Captain to pull it off. Not to mention that the future of humanity depends on its success. So there remains a dead-seriousness on my part about it all.