The purpose of learning meditation is to bring greater clarity and ease into our lives. That is how it can truly support us in daily living.
Whenever there is something weighing on your heart, a strange feeling, or something that makes you unhappy, you can simply pay attention to it and observe it. If a feeling arises, allow yourself to feel it. There is no need to deliberately search for anything.
These lessons do not come only through meditation practice. There are opportunities to learn everywhere in daily life. Learning is present in every moment.
Meditation does not necessarily need to provide an answer or tell you exactly what something is. Simply maintaining awareness is enough. There is no need to force yourself to achieve a certain result, nor is there a timetable. Relax, follow the process naturally, and whatever appears, continue to observe it with attention.
At the beginning, there will naturally be many stages and processes. Learning itself is a process. Observation also contains many stages. Whatever arises is part of the process, and life itself is also a process.
Anger is only a surface-level expression. Beneath it lies something deeper. When we see what lies underneath, it is often fear. Only when the deeper layers become clear is freedom possible. There is a path, a pattern, to this process.
Anger is the starting point. If you continue inward, you will encounter loss, sadness, and grief. Going deeper still, at the very core, is fear.
Remaining stuck in anger means remaining at the outermost layer, the surface of the experience.
If you merely try not to be angry, but do not patiently unravel and observe these layers, then the grief and sense of loss beneath the anger remain. As long as they remain, anger cannot completely dissolve.
Only when fear is clearly seen can the entire structure collapse and lose its power to exist.
Moving inward from anger, we find sadness, hurt, and loss. Moving deeper still, we find fear. This is a natural sequence. By continuing to look inward, we dissolve the problem at its root. Beyond that point, it is no longer about anger.
Sometimes a person becomes angry because of a single comment or a minor incident. A small surface trigger can provoke anger, but that is only the outer layer. Why does it exist? At its root lies fear.
The anger we express outwardly is not usually a direct expression of fear. It often comes wrapped in many layers and disguises. When we are afraid, we create many forms of protection, and anger is one of them. If someone remains trapped in anger, it often indicates that deeper self-exploration has not yet taken place.
First, we must allow what is there. Only then can it emerge. Being angry and allowing anger to emerge are not the same thing. Anger is often a reaction to being triggered. Allowing it to emerge and then observing it is entirely different. Once observation begins, it is no longer simply anger.
When we allow the energy to flow and see what lies behind it, that is when genuine release occurs.
Recalling the past is not the same as observing it. Simply remembering is only memory; there is no awareness in it. The issue still exists because it has not been dissolved. It is merely a recollection that has resurfaced. If we remember something without observing and understanding it, it continues to remain within us. Only through awareness can what is remembered begin to loosen and transform.
Transformation happens when we truly stay with the experience during observation, understand the situation, and see the full truth contained within that moment.
Perhaps all you have noticed is, “I’m angry,” or “They’re so annoying.” Yet many truths remain unseen. The deeper meaning of the situation and the emotions that were never acknowledged are still hidden. There is much that has not yet been seen.
If you only notice the anger and then walk away, the real content of the experience remains unseen.
When everything is fully seen, liberation becomes possible. You are freed from the problem, from the obstacle itself. Once you reach the deeper layer of fear, anger can disappear completely, as if it had never been there.
When there is little interference, the power of observation is strong, and sometimes the process can pass through in a single day.
The interference comes from explanations and rationalizations:
“You were wrong.”
“You hurt me.”
The more we cling to our interpretations, the slower the process becomes. Beneath it all are sadness, pain, and fear. At the deepest level, that is what is truly there.
Suzhen Liu
If you enjoy Suzhen Liu’s writings, please check out her latest book, “Discover Love Within—Release your Suffering,” available on Amazon
