Rage
Rage is a bodily response. Emotional states arise at the neural level. Without this bodily response, there is no rage. We don’t think and become enraged. We experience rage in an ancient subcortical brain we have in common with other mammals. Rage is one of the primary affects (that arise from genetically encoded emotional circuits) that anticipate key survival needs. We automatically fight, run or freeze.
Rage
Heaven or Hell
A samurai demands the Zen Master tell him the nature of heaven and hell. The Master replies, “Why should I respond to a shabby, disgusting, idiot like you.” Enraged the samurai draws his sword to sever the Master’s head. But the Master gently says, “That is hell!” The enlightened sage responds, “And this, Master, is heaven.”
On “Autonomic”
Now we no longer have the same survival needs. No wild creature is likely to leap out at us. But we still have the same autonomic nervous system response, so we do our best to hold back our inbred reaction.
Sometimes we don’t hold back, especially those of us who have suffered developmental trauma and now suffer from PTSD. We live in constant fear of reacting from anger. For us, relief from anger is a heavenly blessing.
Conventional therapy did little to nothing. I came close to killing. I was a teacher and counselor, and like a werewolf who after work morphed uncontrollably into a violent monster. No one could have believed the calm intelligent man sitting in at student case meetings had this alternate uncontrollable hideous creature inside. A creature I detested, but could not destroy without killing myself.
The relief from rage for those of us who have suffered from trauma and now suffer from PTSD is heaven. There is proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. I attest to it. When you recover from suffering and you will, life takes on new meaning. Suffering opens worlds of understanding. I attempt to share this in my blog posts and books.
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
