The problem with righteous anger is that it is still anger.
Anger is a toxic state that destroys us from within before it destroys everything we care about.
It is not some finely tuned weapon that can be safely directed only toward whomever or whatever we are angry at without causing collateral damage.
It is a poisonous cloud that lingers in our hearts and minds, and seeps out into our relationships, especially the relationships that matter most to us.
Regardless of how doggedly we try to contain it, anger permeates our thoughts, words, and deeds, spilling over into every aspect of our lives, tainting that which is pure, corroding and undermining all of the good that we have done or hope to do.
It matters not how justified our anger is, how right we may be, or how badly we have been wronged.
Anger’s toxicity does not discriminate between right and wrong.
Its only purpose is pain and destruction.
But a sense of righteousness attached to our anger deceives us into believing that we are safe.
It entices us, draws us in, and intoxicates us, making us feel powerful and telling us that we are in control, but we must resist this deception.
Even though it pains us at first and even though every fiber of our being screams out against it, we must seek an attitude of forgiveness.
Forgiveness fortified by compassion is the antidote to anger’s poison.
HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.