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Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins
Heated words, cool malice, deadly feuds, the furious rush of adrenaline-anger is clearly the most destructive of the seven deadly sins. It can ruin families, wreck one's health, destroy peace of mind and, at its worst, lead to murder, genocide, and war.
In Anger , Robert A. F. Thurman, best-selling author and one of America's leading authorities on Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, offers an illuminating look at this deadliest of sins. In the West, Thurman points out, anger is seen as an inevitable part of life, an evil to be borne, not overcome.
There is the tradition of the wrathful God, of Jesus driving the money-changers from the temple. If God can be angry, how can men rid themselves of this destructive emotion? Thurman shows that Eastern philosophy sees anger differently. Certainly, it is a dreadful evil, one of the "three poisons" that underlie all human suffering. But Buddhism teaches that anger can be overcome. Indeed, the defeat of anger is not only possible, but also the only thing worth doing in a lifetime. Thurman shows how to recognize the destructiveness of anger and understand its workings, and how we can go from being a slave to anger to becoming "a knight of patience." We discover finally that when this deadliest emotion is transmuted by wisdom, it can become the most powerful force in freeing us from human suffering.
Drawing on the time-tested wisdom of Buddhism, Robert A. F. Thurman ranges from the individual struggle with anger to global crises spurred by dogmatic ideologies, religious fanaticism, and racial prejudice. He offers a path of calm understanding in a time of terrorism and war.
In Anger , Robert A. F. Thurman, best-selling author and one of America's leading authorities on Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, offers an illuminating look at this deadliest of sins. In the West, Thurman points out, anger is seen as an inevitable part of life, an evil to be borne, not overcome.
There is the tradition of the wrathful God, of Jesus driving the money-changers from the temple. If God can be angry, how can men rid themselves of this destructive emotion? Thurman shows that Eastern philosophy sees anger differently. Certainly, it is a dreadful evil, one of the "three poisons" that underlie all human suffering. But Buddhism teaches that anger can be overcome. Indeed, the defeat of anger is not only possible, but also the only thing worth doing in a lifetime. Thurman shows how to recognize the destructiveness of anger and understand its workings, and how we can go from being a slave to anger to becoming "a knight of patience." We discover finally that when this deadliest emotion is transmuted by wisdom, it can become the most powerful force in freeing us from human suffering.
Drawing on the time-tested wisdom of Buddhism, Robert A. F. Thurman ranges from the individual struggle with anger to global crises spurred by dogmatic ideologies, religious fanaticism, and racial prejudice. He offers a path of calm understanding in a time of terrorism and war.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Robert A.F. Thurman
72 books188 followersTenzin Robert Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair of Buddhist Studies in the United States. He is the author of the bestseller Inner Revolution, as well as Anger, Infinite Life, and other popular books. He is also a translator of Tibetan texts. He serves as co-founder and president of Tibet House US, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the endangered culture of Tibet.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 17, 2022
We cannot bring into this world that real peace urgently needed...without freeing ourselves from bondage to our inherited anger and its violence. p3
Anger always makes it harder to do things right. p44
It appears from the table of contents and the organization of his material, that Robert Thurman is giving us a straight forward, carefully logical presentation with personal experience backed by years of research. Distinguishing between the Western approach from medieval to modern, and the Buddhist way, he is informed by his years immersed in the monastic tradition. He quotes with ease from Seneca and Chaucer and Buddhist scripture and lore.
Anger happens when irritation, annoyance, disapproval and discomfort burst into an irresistible impulse to respond in a harmful manner to the perceived source of those feelings. You are no longer the master of the mental, verbal, or bodily acts then committed, you are not "expressing your anger" you have become the involuntary instrument. p58
Having dealt with fear and shame and righteous indignation as major motivators and explored the semantics as well as the therapeutic possibilities of anger, RT begins to gently herd the reader to his conclusions. Everything changes when you bring mindfulness to bear on the situation he emphasizes on p76. So far so good.
Whatever happens, I must not allow
my cheerfulness to be disturbed.
Being unhappy won't fulfill my wish
and I will lose all my virtues.
from the sutras quoted p64
That seems self-centered and harsh to me. How to remain cheerful in the face of great injustice? Isn't anger required of us by certain circumstances? Apparently, we need to go even farther than that. When fury arises, RT councils us, the first thing is to realize is that we have the power to resist rather than helplessly barrelling along. Through the process of tolerance, insight, patience and forgiveness we can programme ourselves to transcend our anger and return to the calm, loving being that we are.
My questions remain. Isn't this kind of thinking, empowering as it seems, still holding the aggrieved individual responsible while allowing the actual offender to avoid accountability?
I'm still angered about the inequity of our systems, racism, homelessness, stigmatization and violence against the other. I'm furious about the lies and the fracture of trust. It's surely a good thing to control my anger but too much to ask this humble pilgrim to tolerate all harm.
To stop anger, I can't be angry. p1
Anger always makes it harder to do things right. p44
It appears from the table of contents and the organization of his material, that Robert Thurman is giving us a straight forward, carefully logical presentation with personal experience backed by years of research. Distinguishing between the Western approach from medieval to modern, and the Buddhist way, he is informed by his years immersed in the monastic tradition. He quotes with ease from Seneca and Chaucer and Buddhist scripture and lore.
Anger happens when irritation, annoyance, disapproval and discomfort burst into an irresistible impulse to respond in a harmful manner to the perceived source of those feelings. You are no longer the master of the mental, verbal, or bodily acts then committed, you are not "expressing your anger" you have become the involuntary instrument. p58
Having dealt with fear and shame and righteous indignation as major motivators and explored the semantics as well as the therapeutic possibilities of anger, RT begins to gently herd the reader to his conclusions. Everything changes when you bring mindfulness to bear on the situation he emphasizes on p76. So far so good.
Whatever happens, I must not allow
my cheerfulness to be disturbed.
Being unhappy won't fulfill my wish
and I will lose all my virtues.
from the sutras quoted p64
That seems self-centered and harsh to me. How to remain cheerful in the face of great injustice? Isn't anger required of us by certain circumstances? Apparently, we need to go even farther than that. When fury arises, RT councils us, the first thing is to realize is that we have the power to resist rather than helplessly barrelling along. Through the process of tolerance, insight, patience and forgiveness we can programme ourselves to transcend our anger and return to the calm, loving being that we are.
My questions remain. Isn't this kind of thinking, empowering as it seems, still holding the aggrieved individual responsible while allowing the actual offender to avoid accountability?
I'm still angered about the inequity of our systems, racism, homelessness, stigmatization and violence against the other. I'm furious about the lies and the fracture of trust. It's surely a good thing to control my anger but too much to ask this humble pilgrim to tolerate all harm.
To stop anger, I can't be angry. p1
October 26, 2024
Ten years down the road, I have (mercifully) gained some compassion, tolerance, and acceptance—were I to re-rate this, I'd give it 3 1/2 stars, and principally for the second half of the book, which these past ten years have given me more experience in the detaching/resigning from anger as I've come to better understand what lies behind it. Well, my own, anyway. (It's fear, for the record, every time, and without exception.) Ten years ago, I had yet to absorb the concept of my anger-stirrers as Current Greatest Teachers. Today, I even have some gratitude for the chances "to practice endurance, forbearance, and forgiveness", not to mention far more compelling experience with the limits of my aging meat suit.
That said, the further I get into my re-reading of the NYPL/Oxford collab on the Seven Deadlies, the more I question the overall value of this set of reflections. Perhaps I'll report back once I'm through with them.
10/26/2024
**********************************
I rather preferred the first half of the book, which drew from sources besides the Dhammapada (note to self: must read Seneca!), and which spends more time discussing anger-as-sin (Western view) vs. anger-as-addiction (buddhist view), probably because I am an angry, unenlightened Westerner filled with bafflement and self-loathing, looking for easy answers, feeling unsteady on ground that is spongy and foreign and that requires me to give up my me-ness. Still, quite a good overview on the uselessness of anger.
(review from original read 4/11–5/6/2014, back when I was still diligent about these things)
That said, the further I get into my re-reading of the NYPL/Oxford collab on the Seven Deadlies, the more I question the overall value of this set of reflections. Perhaps I'll report back once I'm through with them.
10/26/2024
**********************************
I rather preferred the first half of the book, which drew from sources besides the Dhammapada (note to self: must read Seneca!), and which spends more time discussing anger-as-sin (Western view) vs. anger-as-addiction (buddhist view), probably because I am an angry, unenlightened Westerner filled with bafflement and self-loathing, looking for easy answers, feeling unsteady on ground that is spongy and foreign and that requires me to give up my me-ness. Still, quite a good overview on the uselessness of anger.
(review from original read 4/11–5/6/2014, back when I was still diligent about these things)
March 16, 2025
I was disappointed in this book. One of a series of volumes based on lectures on the seven deadly sins presented at the New York Public Library, and published by Oxford University Press, I expected something of a general introduction to the topic. Instead, the author, a noted Buddhist scholar and, incidentally, father of actor Uma Thurman, provides an approach to anger specifically from the perspective of Therevedan Buddhism, of limited value to readers not familiar with or interested in that tradition. Only Chapter 6: The Yoga of Anger Transcendence offered some useful insights to me.
July 12, 2017
Even though I didn't think much of this book I'll give it two stars because it explored, however poorly, a perspective I was relatively unfamiliar with. Robert A. F. Thurman is engaged in Buddhist studies at Columbia University, so he looks at anger through a Buddhist lens. Or rather, he looks at anger through a reputedly Buddhist lens. It's hard to tell how much is actually Eastern Buddhism and how much is Buddhism as co-opted by the West. His general contention is that anger should be, not repressed as such, but transcended to make way for genuine self-improvement as a relative being in a universe of relative beings. Okay, interesting, so much for that.
Thurman reveals himself pretty early on to be a second-rate, maybe even third-rate, thinker. This is primarily revealed by his inability or unwillingness to accurately represent ideas different from his own. The first rule of explaining an idea with which you disagree is to present it as though it were true, and only after that to deconstruct it from your own perspective. Instead of this approach, Thurman presents every idea through the filter of his own interpretation of Buddhism. For instance, anything Jesus said that he likes becomes merely a restatement of something the Buddha said, whereas anything Jesus said that he doesn't like is just a holdover from ancient tribal religion. So instead of treating the sayings of Jesus as a distinct philosophy in themselves, he pronounces on them as a Buddhist while attempting to give the impression of absolute moral and intellectual authority, which seems odd to say the least for a professed Buddhist.
At other points in the book this trend is even more egregious. For instance, he gives a synopsis at one point of all the people God was angry at in the Hebrew Bible, and attempts to show how this was simply a benighted effort by the authors to justify their own anger. But because he refuses to deal with Jewish or Christian theology on their own terms, he completely misses any sense of nuance, even passing over the concept of the impassibility of God without mention, a concept that would seem to align in a special way with his Buddhist proclivities. I'm not trying to say that Thurman should not be a Buddhist or should be a Jew or a Christian; I'm simply trying to point out his weakness as a thinker and philosopher, roles in which he clearly tries to place himself.
Apart from this, Anger was a mildly interesting read. One matter of annoyance was a series of references early on to how enlightened and secular everyone Thurman knows are, and how statistics about the population of the U.S. being overwhelmingly religious seem like hooey to him. Well, of course he only knows Leftist secularists, he's a professor at Columbia University. Finally, the unrhymed quatrains which apparently dropped directly from Thurman's own pen and which crowded the pages of the last third of the book were terrible poetry, not profound, and not clever. This book may have been published by Oxford University Press, but that wasn't enough to make it good.
Thurman reveals himself pretty early on to be a second-rate, maybe even third-rate, thinker. This is primarily revealed by his inability or unwillingness to accurately represent ideas different from his own. The first rule of explaining an idea with which you disagree is to present it as though it were true, and only after that to deconstruct it from your own perspective. Instead of this approach, Thurman presents every idea through the filter of his own interpretation of Buddhism. For instance, anything Jesus said that he likes becomes merely a restatement of something the Buddha said, whereas anything Jesus said that he doesn't like is just a holdover from ancient tribal religion. So instead of treating the sayings of Jesus as a distinct philosophy in themselves, he pronounces on them as a Buddhist while attempting to give the impression of absolute moral and intellectual authority, which seems odd to say the least for a professed Buddhist.
At other points in the book this trend is even more egregious. For instance, he gives a synopsis at one point of all the people God was angry at in the Hebrew Bible, and attempts to show how this was simply a benighted effort by the authors to justify their own anger. But because he refuses to deal with Jewish or Christian theology on their own terms, he completely misses any sense of nuance, even passing over the concept of the impassibility of God without mention, a concept that would seem to align in a special way with his Buddhist proclivities. I'm not trying to say that Thurman should not be a Buddhist or should be a Jew or a Christian; I'm simply trying to point out his weakness as a thinker and philosopher, roles in which he clearly tries to place himself.
Apart from this, Anger was a mildly interesting read. One matter of annoyance was a series of references early on to how enlightened and secular everyone Thurman knows are, and how statistics about the population of the U.S. being overwhelmingly religious seem like hooey to him. Well, of course he only knows Leftist secularists, he's a professor at Columbia University. Finally, the unrhymed quatrains which apparently dropped directly from Thurman's own pen and which crowded the pages of the last third of the book were terrible poetry, not profound, and not clever. This book may have been published by Oxford University Press, but that wasn't enough to make it good.
February 9, 2023
I knew going in I wasn't coming at this topic from the same worldview as the author (who is a Buddhist), but I was hoping for more practical engagement with the subject at hand. I found it to be overly academic and a rather ethereal discussion. And boring. Which is sad, because I am quite interested in the subject matter.
March 13, 2018
کتاب تم ثابت و خسته کننده ای دارد. البته از ترجمه عالی آن نمی شود گذشت
سنکا، فیلسوف بزرگ رواقی (حدود سال ۳ ق.م تا ۵۶ م) که با عیسی معاصر بود، مقاله ای درخشان در باب غضب نوشت و این گونه به توصیفش پرداخت: «زشت ترین و جنون آمیزترین احساسات.» او می گوید که «برخی فرزانگان غضب را جنون آنی نامیده اند، زیرا درست به همان اندازه کنترل ناپذیر است. خشمگینان چنین اند: غافل از نزاکت، بی اعتنا به تعهدات شخصی، سرسخت و مصر بر هر کاری که زمانی آغاز کرده اند، کر و کور در برابر منطق یا نصیحت، برآشفته بهانه های بی اساس، ناتوان از تشخیص انصاف یا حقیقت، چنان چون ویرانه هایی که بر آوارها فرو می ریزند.
سنکا، فیلسوف بزرگ رواقی (حدود سال ۳ ق.م تا ۵۶ م) که با عیسی معاصر بود، مقاله ای درخشان در باب غضب نوشت و این گونه به توصیفش پرداخت: «زشت ترین و جنون آمیزترین احساسات.» او می گوید که «برخی فرزانگان غضب را جنون آنی نامیده اند، زیرا درست به همان اندازه کنترل ناپذیر است. خشمگینان چنین اند: غافل از نزاکت، بی اعتنا به تعهدات شخصی، سرسخت و مصر بر هر کاری که زمانی آغاز کرده اند، کر و کور در برابر منطق یا نصیحت، برآشفته بهانه های بی اساس، ناتوان از تشخیص انصاف یا حقیقت، چنان چون ویرانه هایی که بر آوارها فرو می ریزند.
September 13, 2016
A very short, thoughtful book about anger from the Buddhist perspective. Man, I wish I had the discipline to enact its advice in my daily life. I like how it says how the energy of anger, once transcended, can be put to better use in more creative ways that benefit your family, your community, the world, etc. at large. That's a really great message. I'm not doing the book justice but it was a quick read and the information was easy to digest, even for a simpleton like me.
March 24, 2009
A more hands-on approach than some of the Dalai Lama's writing to dealing with the maya, or illusions that keep us unhappy, and the way we work ourselves up about things we can't control.
November 24, 2019
I very much enjoyed the concepts explored in this book it was able to help me shift my perspective, going into reading the book I was a very angry individual, coming from an abusive household only to escape into the arms to disability and many misfortunes both health and bankruptcy. To now being more balanced and happier in my every day life. I even wrote things out from the book to go back to to remind myself if I feel myself whirling into a world of being mired in anger as I once was.
"Normally we become irritated and frustrated with discomforts from the elements and the natural processes of our vulnerable impermanent life. These frustrations can build into explosions of anger, hating the rain, screaming at the wind, writhing with fury that we have caught this or that disease, suffered this or that assault or accident, shaking our fists at god, fate, universe, or our parents when death confronts us. But what is the point? The anger-reaction does not affect the elements, nature, or "divine power". It merely adds internal suffering and stress to our outer."
Thank you Mr. Thurman.
"Normally we become irritated and frustrated with discomforts from the elements and the natural processes of our vulnerable impermanent life. These frustrations can build into explosions of anger, hating the rain, screaming at the wind, writhing with fury that we have caught this or that disease, suffered this or that assault or accident, shaking our fists at god, fate, universe, or our parents when death confronts us. But what is the point? The anger-reaction does not affect the elements, nature, or "divine power". It merely adds internal suffering and stress to our outer."
Thank you Mr. Thurman.
February 19, 2023
The author makes a comparison between Western and Eastern approaches to anger. Whereas the Western approach sees anger as an inevitable part of life, the Eastern approach teaches that it can be overcome. The author states that anger can never be justified and is seen as a loss of self-control. The author characterizes it as a fire that can be destructive to you and to others. However, the author does not provide strategies in overcoming anger. As aforementioned, the author heavily bases his discussion of anger on Buddhist philosophy and principles. This book seems overly academic, is rather unclear and is not for the layman. I would not recommend it.
January 13, 2023
Robert gained my trust at the beginning of the text. He was cool and open minded, and he allowed me to process my anger from a perspective outside my own. However, deeper in the text, his agenda was apparent and almost confusing to the point that I was curious about where to place any of my feelings.
December 2, 2025
This was just okay. It was a book about one of the seven deadly sins, but the author spent only a very short time discussing the Western version of this sin and instead spent most of his time referring to the Eastern idea of anger and how to deal with it. Not terrible, but would not recommend. I am reading it as part of a set.
December 13, 2025
If you're going to use Buddhist "psychology" to claim that anger is always bad, then the fact that that "psychology" is fictional means that your objections to anger are fictional, so ... who cares? Where's my motivation to prevent fictional results?
Anger serves a purpose. Having developed through evolutionary processes it is not perfect. That's no reason to concoct a bunch of hooey.
Anger serves a purpose. Having developed through evolutionary processes it is not perfect. That's no reason to concoct a bunch of hooey.
January 5, 2022
Is anger a sin? It is something manifest universally in the animal world. But human beings cannot become animals expressing anger as they arise. The consequences of expressing anger unbridled is detrimental to our civil society. Anger has to be acknowledged and managed.
May 20, 2017
Professor Thurman always makes complex ideas not just tangible, but very easy to put into practice. I love reading his work.
December 30, 2020
Great appreciation for the beginning of this book. Much interesting thought on the natures of anger.
Then in the middle, the author took a stance and spent the end of the book teaching you how to get there. But I don’t want a stance. I’m still in anger/exploration. So, a middle ground of 3 stars
Then in the middle, the author took a stance and spent the end of the book teaching you how to get there. But I don’t want a stance. I’m still in anger/exploration. So, a middle ground of 3 stars
December 21, 2023
Lots of value here
December 7, 2024
I got angrier as I skimmed through this book.
February 7, 2017
If you aren't a fan of reading Buddhist philosophy, don't read this.
May 13, 2023
Infuriating...
March 22, 2011
This is an easy and quite interesting (dare I say "enlightening"?) read. The first half of the book is an interesting dissertation on definition and philosophies about anger. The second half isn't as on target because it becomes more of a lecture on Buddhist precepts, which was interesting but I didn't feel flowed with the series concept. Nonethelss, he brings both halves together in a brief summary on anger at the end.
I'm glad I read it and there a a lot of little tid bits that will stick in my head for a while to come.
I'm glad I read it and there a a lot of little tid bits that will stick in my head for a while to come.
April 8, 2014
A Buddhist's take in this series on the seven deadly sins. Just not much help here, though it does give some insight into Buddhism. Very condescending to Christianity in that the author sees every good thought in Christianity (which are few)as having been developed by Buddha 2,000 years previous. Disappointing series in general so far (though volume on envy was very good)but that probably has a good deal with my expectation that it would be an exploration of the seven deadly sins from a Christian perspective.
August 10, 2019
from Barse's HPP book sale, Mark took out my bookmark so when i returned i only read toward the end, it's furious fire is still there to be used creatively p122. i liked he colors: delusion, mirror wisdom diamond white freedom; pride/stinginess , equality wisdom yellow golden radiance pur generosity; lust/greed, individuated wisdom ruby red compassion bliss; envy/rivalry, emerald green unifying wisdom; explosive rage, brightest blueblack saphire purity wisdom unity.
in another way no ending for in the dream last night my inner becca still stands cold and aloof.
in another way no ending for in the dream last night my inner becca still stands cold and aloof.
April 2, 2008
Definitely not what I was expecting, based on the other books I've read in this series. A lengthy Buddhist meditation on removing anger from your life... you would probably enjoy this if you like reading about spirituality, which I unfortunately do not.
June 19, 2008
This book is from one of my favorite Buddhist scholars and gets to the root of anger.
January 16, 2008
Dia menaruhnya di mejaku ketika saya sedang dibuat keal oleh ketololannya. Ternyata lumayan juga buat sedikitnya nurunin panas kepala.
October 13, 2008
Dry but excellent.
October 27, 2008
Didn't get good until halfway into it. Was interesting seeing the difference between the way christians and buddhists view anger. Dealing w/current state and the future of ones actions.
January 21, 2009
If you have anger issues, you may find the book helpful. Not sure why else you would read it unless you
want to gain insight into helping others deal with anger.
want to gain insight into helping others deal with anger.
July 27, 2011
Robert Thurman presents western and eastern views of anger with well reasoned arguments (mostly from the eastern side) regarding overcoming the grip.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews