Dialogue with Shiva on Anger

Shiva appearing as a goddess, looked up and smiled as I stood before her. She told me, "You will be able to see the truth beyond the myriad forms of things. I predict that the Divine will reveal to you the emotional origins of your glaucoma. As you will see, it has something to do with anger, fear, and guilt,” she said with such all-knowing wisdom.

Pearls of wisdom always seemed to me a curious phrase. Beauty and wisdom did not seem such suitable dance partners until I met Shiva. Her complexion had an opalescent glow as she spoke such profound words.

“I want to ask you why we human beings are so angry? I’ve worked with so many people, myself included, and everyone at some level of awareness is angry.”

“Tell me what you think,” she said. I smiled. She was acting the part of a good therapist. Shiva would do this often.

“We are angry that we’re stuck in a corporeal costume, a soul-suit. We hate that it ages, has aches, pains, and a disgusting digestive tract. ‘Man is the god who sh-ts.’ Ernest Becker wrote this in his book Denial of Death. He wrote this book when he was dying of cancer. He also wrote, “Mankind’s greatest enemy is the turd.”

Shiva laughed. She had such an engaging almost coquettish laugh. Even in its coyness, her laugh reverberated to the farthest reaches of the universe and tickled the stars.

I continued, “We take in delicious food and after it passes through the digestive tract and down through the colon, it emerges as foul waste. Reverse alchemy. Delicacy turns disgusting. Fowl turns foul. This foul-smelling and fetid pâté fills our cesspools and sewers. It’s been said that if you feel intimidated by someone imagine him or her in their underwear. Better still, imagine the person who intimidates you on the toilet. For effect add sound and smell.”

Again Shiva smiled. “Such graphic language you human beings use as if to mock your predicament.”
“Undoubtedly you’ve overheard what we humans say about arrogant people: ‘They think their sh-t don’t stink.’”

“So fundamentally what are humans angry about?” she asked. Her questions were rhetorical like those of Socrates in Plato’s dialogues. Nonetheless, her radiant presence emitted such a powerful energy that I was coming up with answers that would have eluded me if in the solitude of my own thoughts.”

• Today, explore what arouses anger in you. And, remember to use the shift your focus and energy technique to see what your anger is telling you about what you don't want and would love to have happen instead. After fully expressing what you don't want or don't like and what you would prefer, observe the gap between what is and what you'd love instead. Is there any way to close the gap? If so, then proceed to do so. If not, pray for help to accept what you cannot change as San Francesco (he was Italian and St. Francis is his Anglicized name) advocated in his Serenity Prayer. In a future posting, there will be more dialouge with Shiva regarding anger.