how to store energy......

[Tom]

There is a concept from Vajrayana Buddhism which applies: "appearances arising as enemies". It means that if you are frequently angry then more circumstances will arise to provoke anger. You will be given many more reasons to be angry than someone who does not usually react with anger, and they will all be perfectly valid reasons to be angry. Unfortunately, if anger is not the most harmful emotion it is at the top of the list. There are different strategies which can be applied to dealing with anger. It is usually necessary to use more than one. Should I continue?

[Shadow17]

yes continue

[Tom]

We take in energy every day through food, air, water, sunlight, wind, and other sources. This energy keeps us going from day to day. We use a certain amount of energy every day. Robert Bruce said that when starting to work with energy it is normal to use more than is taken in for the first few months. The processes get started and continue on their momentum for some time after each practice session. The extra energy required for removing blockages and training the energy body comes from places like the subnaval storage center. This same energy is what we use to grasp new concepts. Just picking up a book about energy for the first time and studying it takes energy. The reason why this is important is because energy is involved in emotions. Some emotions cause an increase in energy, such as joy, rapture, love, equanimity, etc. Other emotions like fear and anger burn away large quantities of energy and leave behind poisons in the body. Anger counts even in its milder forms, such as boredom or irritation. When it feels like anger is releasing a large quantity of anger that is because it can burn away enough energy for several days. The first step in dealing with anger is learning to actually recognize it when it is happening. Anger is not without causes and contributing factors. By becoming aware of what triggers your anger and what increases your anger you will begin to have more choices. There are going to be moments when you are on the edge of losing your temper and this is not the time to try to change your course. The time to choose a different reaction is when the anger is still weak enough that you can do something with it. There is a big difference between crushing a lit cigarette under your shoe and putting out a forest fire that covers many acres. If you can find the lit cigarette, great. If you can get to the fire when a bucket of water will be enough, that is still good. If the forest is burning down and it looks like nothing will be left but ash, learn from it and decide to catch it earlier next time. Getting angry at yourself for getting angry can happen.

The thing to keep in mind about ways to deal with anger is that they are not really meant for when you are angry. Even the traditional method of counting to ten and taking deep breaths is not for when you are angry. Drinking cold water is sometimes suggested. What these do is to break the current mental / emotional state. The idea is to create moments within anger of not being angry by redirecting your attention to something neutral. Anger feeds on anger by creating changes in the body. It takes a while for the blood pressure, pulse, breathing rate, adrenalin and noradrenalin levels to go down. It takes time for the muscles to loosen up. If anger was must a matter of what you were thinking it could only last a few seconds. If it were just an emotion, it might last a few minutes. Twenty minutes would be a very long time to stay angry. Because of the body, however, it is possible to stay angry for hours or days at a time. When the body is angry it supports angry thoughts and emotions. Despite this, it is still possible to switch the thoughts in another direction. At first this is awkward because the body is going one direction and bringing the emotions with it. It feels artificial to choose a different line of thinking. This is suppression. It does not really do anything for the energy which has already been released and it does nothing for dealing with whatever provoked anger. It is still an important step. Sometimes there is no opportunity to apply more challenging responses. Other times there is too much anger and it has to be brought under control through suppression before it can be managed.

The biggest advantage to working with anger, especially when you are not actually angry at the time, is that you begin to weaken the tendency toward anger. Fewer things will arise as causes for anger and when they do arise the anger will become weaker. This brings up another complication. There is a tendency to want to be angry. When you are accustomed to frequent episodes of anger and you get rid of them, it will definitely feel like something is missing. This is especially true because you will begin to see the effects of long term anger on your energy levels. At this point it is actually tempting to go back to being angry no matter how much that choice will hurt. It is familiar. Give it time instead. You will be able to replace the energy you lost and this will fill in the hole where anger was.

Then there is the Vajrayana approach of transformation. You are right that anger is powerful and that it has its uses. The negative emotions in general can be used to develop wisdom, because they are actually aspects of the same thing. It is a matter of learning how to see negative emotions correctly so that they become powerful wisdoms. The danger in this approach is that instead of transforming anger it is possible to just increase it and that will cause the tendency toward anger to increase. This is where studying the patterns your anger follows and the initial use of suppression can help. You will find a level of anger that you can sustain without losing control over it. Then use concentration with wisdom to study your anger, looking for the qualities of the wisdom that anger is paired with. If you want to try this approach, be sure to know your limits in terms of how strong you can let your anger get and still control it. If you want to look it up on the web, do a search for "five Buddha families".

Below is a section from this web site:
http://www.himalayanart.org/pages/Visual_Dharma/buddha.html

Vajra
Vajra is associated with anger, which is transmuted into mirrorlike wisdom. In the cloudiness, possessiveness and aggression of anger, there are qualities of brilliance, lucidity, great energy.

Seeing these qualities clearly in the vajra yidam, the essence of anger is spontaneously transmuted into openness and precision. Transmutation is not performed deliberately but automatically follows upon clear insight.

Vajra is associated with the element of water. Cloudy, turbulent water symbolizes the defensive and aggressive nature of anger. Clear water suggests the sharp, precise, clear reflectiveness of mirrorlike wisdom. The color white, also associated with vajra, expresses both the all-pervading ice storm of anger and the brilliant reflectiveness of mirrorlike wisdom. Vajra's direction is the east, which is connected with the dispassionate clarity of dawn. The symbol of the vajra family is the vajra (T.: Dorje; Tt.: rdo rje), the thunderbolt scepter which betokens indestructibility and precision.

[goingslow]

I dont know if that post helped shadow any, but it gave me a different insight into anger.  I found it very helpful.  Thanks

[Shadow17]

hi im new to this site im wondering i have a lot of anger due to everyday life and im wondering how do i store that into energy or basically what im asking is how do i store energy is there some sort of felling im suppose to get or what