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Freedom from Anger: Understanding It, Overcoming It, and Finding Joy Paperback – June 9, 2015
by Alubomulle Sumanasara (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
Extinguish anger forever and find true happiness with this step-by-step guide.
Anger is a potent poison that ruins health and damages relationships. In today’s world of Twitter feuds, road rage, and internet trolls, it is all too easy for anger to grab hold of us.
This timely book offers practical advice on how to put aside anger and ego and embrace laughter and reason. Like a friendly family physician, Venerable Sumanasara helps you see what triggers your anger, what affect it has on you, and what you can do about it. Maybe you have trouble at work or at home, maybe you had a difficult childhood, or maybe you just get angry in traffic. In short, bite-sized chapters, he offers wisdom, along with a laugh, that you can use.
Drawing on easy-to-follow metaphors and parables from a variety of cultural traditions, in an accessible, conversational style free of dogma, Venerable Sumanasara shows us how to manage our emotions so that we can lead healthier, happier lives finally freed from anger.
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144 pages
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Editorial Reviews
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"Sumanasara's guide is a firm but gentle paternal hand, offering thoughtful meditations on anger and the choice between destructive rage and happiness.” ― Publishers Weekly
“Ven. Sumanasara’s friendly tone and plain way of speaking reveal the ridiculousness of anger.” -- Sylvia Boorstein, author of Happiness Is an Inside Job
About the Author
Ven. Alubomulle Sumanasara, a Buddhist monk schooled in the Theravada tradition, has written more than one hundred books addressing the practical application of Buddhist thought and practice to daily life.
Born in Sri Lanka in 1945, he became a novice monk at the age of thirteen and was ordained in 1958. After teaching Buddhist philosophy at the University of Kelaniya, he first went to Japan in 1980 to study Japanese Buddhism on a fellowship from the Sri Lankan government, pursuing his doctoral studies at the graduate school of Komazawa University. In 1994 he established the Japan Theravada Buddhist Association, through which he continues to spread the Dharma and lead others in the practice of vipassana meditation.
Sumanasara’s sincerity and gentle manner, as well as his facility as a speaker in both English and Japanese, have earned him a broad following. Focusing on the fundamental teachings of Buddha, he explains how Buddhism offers down-to-earth wisdom that anyone can put into practice to better understand and manage the challenges of the here and now. He lives in Tokyo.
Product details
ASIN : 1614292248
Publisher : Wisdom Publications (June 9, 2015)
Language : English
Paperback : 144 pages
ISBN-10 : 9781614292241
ISBN-13 : 978-1614292241
Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
Dimensions : 5 x 0.7 x 8 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #2,334,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#1,090 in Anger Management Self Help
#10,221 in Buddhism (Books)
#17,384 in Happiness Self-Help
Customer Reviews:
4.5 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from the United States
Jerry Segers Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars Should be accessible to non-Buddhists, a few paragraphs on not-self, and a few pali words for the different kinds of angerReviewed in the United States on June 22, 2015
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An excellent book if the subject matter interests you. The writing style was easy to read, and he makes the subject interesting. I would have liked more on dealing with angry people. The non-buddhists out there might be slightly put out by the not-self (annatta) part, but he doesn't harp on it, (it's only a few paragraphs) so I think it's ok, and he uses examples from Christianity and modern history as well so I would say it's well rounded.
The most useful thing in this book, for me, was the idea that underlying and supporting all anger is the concept "I am right". I have meditated on this for about 1.5 hours, and so far, I have to agree. The second most useful was the idea that anger goes away when watched.
The book is divided into 4 parts - understanding anger, anger destroys happiness, those who don't get angry, the solution to anger. The chapters are short, but not terse or dense. For the price, I was happy.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Freedom from AngerReviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015
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I thought this was a good book to give me a hand's up on trying to deal with my easy anger/frustration issue.
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My So-Called Book Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars I don't believe this Philosophy will work for mostReviewed in the United States on June 28, 2015
I like to consider myself a very happy person in general but I, as well as most of us, can admit that many things in life set me off and make me angry. I don’t like being angry and honestly try to keep my emotions in control as best as I can, but when I can’t, I feel a loss of control and a sense of unraveling that bothers me greatly. It’s this loss of control that has brought me to the realization that I need to find ways to keep my anger in check, to not let the little things in life bother me so much. I was hoping that by reading Freedom From Anger I might gain some useful tools and strategies in dealing with my anger and the things that set it off.
The author, Alubomulle Sumanasara is a Buddhist monk who’s been schooled in the Theravada tradition and has written many books regarding the practical application of Buddhist thought and practice. There were some things I really liked about this book; he writes in short chapters offering his wisdom and insight in a very light and sometimes humorous fashion which makes it a fast, easy. I also liked his section titled “Different Forms of Anger” in which he gives clear cut descriptions of the different types of anger and where they stem from. I was able to easily identify which category I fall under and his examples of things that set off this type of anger was pretty accurate. Throughout the book I was able to gain some valuable insight into what long-term anger and resentment does to a person and then different ways to cope with letting that go. What I did not learn though was how to deal with and interpret the initial anger itself. His philosophy is one in which he states “Simply do not become angry”, he goes even farther by saying “The feelings of being insulted, abused, beaten, or stolen from are all nonsense”. At this point I came to a screeching halt and thought to myself, he cannot seriously being saying this! How can he possibly mean that these feelings are nonsense? Does he expect us to walk around in today’s world and let ourselves be abused and taken advantage of by others and then simply decide not to be angry because it’s all nonsense? The more I read, the more I realized that yes; this is in fact what he expects us to do. I was really disappointed by this; I don’t want someone telling me I shouldn’t be angry, that it makes me weak and ignorant. I wanted to find ways in order to process that anger and let it go.
The more I continued reading the more I realized why his beliefs and practices won’t work. He applies all his reasoning to his Buddhist teachings, giving examples of how they deal with aggressors within their community and how they strive to live each day full of joy and actively choosing to be free from anger. His chapter on “Responding to Angry People” was truly mind boggling. The Buddhist way is to ignore the offender completely thus causing total social isolation. This becomes so unbearable for the aggressor that they eventually see the error of their way and make an apology. Sumanasara is asking us to adopt this philosophy in our everyday life but that just isn’t realistic. His ideas would only work in a society in which everyone was adhering to this same policy. What if I was walking down the street late at night and someone came up behind me with the intent to cause me serious harm. Am I supposed to ignore them and they will eventually stop and ask for forgiveness? No, of course not! We, as women, have been taught to fight, kick, scream and yes; become extremely angry in a situation like this.
In my opinion, anger is absolutely ok in our lives, without it you’re just a doormat. It’s about finding that balance of not letting the anger eat at you, about being able to forgive and not hold a grudge because if you do your life becomes consumed and therefore there’s no room for happiness. This is where Sumanasara and I do agree. I think there are some pretty powerful points in this book but I also think it will be up to each individual reader to determine how much of what he is saying applies to how they live their lives and what they believe about our basic human nature.
**I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the publisher, Wisdom Publications and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**
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Elizabeth
1.0 out of 5 stars psychologically unhealthy ideas about angerReviewed in the United States on August 16, 2015
It’s an amusing paradox that a book about anger could create a level of frustration, almost anger, in its readers, yet that was my experience while reading Freedom from Anger by Venerable Alubomulle Sumanasara. While I read the first 15% of the work, I assumed this was a self-published book by a young twenty-something atheist Buddhist who was certain he foolishly knew all the answers to the world’s problems. His condescending and omniscient tone was a huge turn off for me. Imagine my surprise upon Googling the author and finding his Japanese Wikipedia page. He’s a 70 year old Buddhist monk whose works have sold over 100 million copies if the awkward translation is correct. To say I was surprised is an understatement.
The author seems as though he lives in a world of moral absolutes. He believes that everything is worth being happy about in life, and therefore there is no justification for anger. However, I can very easily think of evidence to the contrary. Despite his graduate studies in Buddhism, Sumanasara seems to be lacking in knowledge of basic psychology regarding anger. As I read the book, I began thinking of it as Vulcan Buddhism. Sumanasara seems to function under a belief system where emotions are illogical: He believes that anger can be controlled by logic. However, we are humans, and we are not fully logical. We are also emotional. Our emotions, both positive and negative, are an integral part of our being. Sumanasara thinks that if one takes the position of not having emotions, then one won’t have anger. Yet I read through this work, I kept wondering how many unresolved psychological traumas Sumanasara must be repressing in order to live what he is preaching. Repressing anger only creates toxicity in the body. Even if we don’t want to, oftentimes we need to feel our feelings so that we can process them.
While translation issues could be at work, I also felt much of the book contained demeaning insults against those whose behavior displeases Sumanasara. He throws out covert attacks as well such as when he proclaims that wise people have no desire to govern. Sumanasara's views come across as blindly fundamentalist beliefs at times. When Sumanasara began discussing using the silent treatment as punishment, he lost my respect completely. First of all, most therapists and life coaches would argue that people need discipline, not punishment. While we all make mistakes, we need to be taught how to change those behaviors or actions that cause ourselves or others harm. Discipline conveys teaching whereas punishment conveys an attitude of humans being inherently evil. Second, the silent treatment in itself is an awful way of trying to teach someone. What that person will learn from being given the silent treatment is that the silencing person doesn't care enough about him/her/hir to work together to make a change. The silent treatment is not a good way to make positive change in the world. Once again, Sumanasara is taking a position of ignoring those things which cause him emotional discomfort rather than actually confronting the issues and working through them.
(Complete review on my website at Green Heart Guidance)
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5.0 out of 5 stars Freedom from AngerReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2015
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Very interesting book that reinforced my way of thinking, I would recommend that everybody read this, very useful for a joyful life.
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Roger Otavio, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente!Reviewed in Brazil on March 29, 2021
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Tudo ótimo!
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