Martin Lings

The sin of anger presupposes as much lack of sense of proportion as avarice does, though in an altogether different mode: either could be described as the “absolute” effect of a relative cause. But avarice is the deification of a material object, whereas anger, like the sins of envy and pride, implies a certain deification of the ego, its endowment with rights which belong only to the Absolute, that is, to the Supreme Self. But at the summit of the soul of the Saint there are necessarily elements of sublime “thunder” and “lightning”, just as there are necessarily elements which may be said to participate in the Divine Jealousy inasmuch as they “begrudge”, through their discernment, the attribution of any Absolute value to other than the Self. Similarly, having realized the answer to the question “Who am I?” the Saint cannot fail to participate in the Divine Pride, which will be reflected in the outer part of the soul, not as the sin of pride, but as the virtue of dignity and sometimes even of majesty.

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Source: Studies in Comparative Religion, Vol. 5, No.1. (Winter, 1971) © World Wisdom, Inc. Republished here with thanks. Published also as a chapter of Symbol & Archetype: A Study of the Meaning of Existence, Fons Vitae Publishing.