On April 23, 2006, in Woodacre, CA, at a lawyers' retreat sponsored by the San Francisco Bar Association, Norman Fischer, a Zen Buddhist priest, poet, and author, led a discussion on emotional competence, a requirement of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3-110(B), Failing to Act Competently.
There are reasons why negative emotions such as anger may make law practice difficult. Anger draws people away, and can be addictive. When a person uses anger to get his/her way, the person may continue to do so when he/she sees that anger gives him/her the desired feedback.
There is debate on whether intellect is separate from emotions. In Asian cultures, such as in Japan and China, the word used to denote emotions may be defined to mean either the mind or heart.
However, many times, people try to use their intellect to solve negative emotions such as anger. In doing so, people may end up finding blame or disappointment in themselves, others, or the world. Then they may get into a loop where they are able to function adequately in their work, but only experience frustration in their lives.
When trying to understand negative emotions like anger, Mr. Fischer suggests the use of mindfulness to recognize the anger in order to investigate why a person is angry. Sometimes a person may act angry when the person is not actually angry. The anger may be used to cover other emotions such as fear.
Once the root of anger is discovered, anger can be released. Anger is not something to fear. It is something that occurs in the world, and just happens arise. People do not have control over their thoughts. They only have control over which thoughts they give energy to.
There is good even in negative thoughts. Like a bodily pain to protect someone by indicating to the person he/she is hurt and may need to seek medical advice, a negative thought is a sign that something is wrong and that one must investigate the source of the feelings. After some questioning, habits can be changed in order to find a better way to connect with others, to have compassion for other people.
In the end, negative emotions such as anger, when seen clearly can be a source to make people closer.
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