It is usual to regard Anger as a corollary or counterpart of desire, since it usually appears when desire becomes frustrated. Psychologically, the two are interrelated. Yet from the point of view of the spiritual Sadhaka whose main task is to purify the mind, anger is a more powerful foe than desire. It is worthwhile analysing the cause of the defeat too frequently sustained by the Sadhaka when he wages war with anger.
First, it has to be remembered that the Sadhaka has to carry the fight all alone and unaided. In this encounter with Kama, he has the co-operation of Society. Public opinion bears the brunt of the warfare. If he reveals his Kama in its objectionable form he falls in the estimation of those whose good opinion he values. To be calumniated by his detractors is wounding to his vanity. To be reproved by his friends is painful. To be thought ill of even by those towards whom he is indifferent is displeasing to him. All these thoughts are positive aids in carrying out his mental fight with Kama. Far different is his condition when he attempts to conquer anger. Exhibition of temper is not regarded as a moral delinquency by the public. Provocation is put forth as an excuse and justification for reprehensible outbursts of anger, and is accepted as a mitigatory plea by the indulgent public. Society seems to stand still with folded arms when an angry person frets, fumes or raves. It would appear that ‘society’ even goes to the enemy’s camp and goads it (anger) to strike harder and harder so as to thoroughly overpower the lonely victim. Not infrequently are found a good many who irritate an already angry man merely for the fun of seeing him infuriated. Men are so callous by nature that they are pleased when gazing upon the antics of a lunatic, and the difference between an angry person and a maniac is only one of degree. The result is that the spiritual Sadhaka, when assailed by his arch enemy anger, is too often overpowered.
Secondly, there operate certain sentiments which put on the cloak of virtues and misguide the unwary spiritual pilgrim. One such is named self-respect. Forgetful of the fundamental truth that the aspirant should be indifferent alike to praise and censure, he takes his stand on self-respectâ€"after all a slippery and unreliable footholdâ€"and in his over-anxiety to protect it, fails to notice the stealthy approach of his foe anger, till it is too late. ‘Love of country.’ ‘Duty to one’s own wife and children’, ‘solicitude for the needy and the poor’ are all wrongly regarded as justification for getting angry. Whatever may be the value of these sentiments from the point of view of the community or the nation, they should not cloud the understanding of the spiritual Sadhaka, whose one and only aim should be to conquer his mind.
Anger, like fever, is a symptom which shows that something has gone wrong in the inner mechanism. The mental machinery gets heated for want of timely lubrication. The most effective of all lubricants is Introspection or Reflection. Even the most angry man realises his folly after his anger is spent out. It is then that he begins to reflect upon what he did. If this reflection had come to him before he got angry, he would not have got angry at all. But that would be possible only if he had made reflection or introspection over his habit. The habit must be formed in good time if the evil is to be averted.
Cause Of Anger
Anger makes everybody its slave and victim. It breaks the friendship of even very intimate friends. It even induces wives to quarrel with their husbands and make them file suits. It excites all. It holds sway more or less over the whole world and the Devatas also.
Anger destroys reason and makes man do things which cannot be dreamt of. Under the influence of anger man abuses, insults and even murders his father, brother, wife, Guru or king and repents afterwards.
Anger influenced even Hanuman the mightiest Brahmachari to burn Lanka. He lost his understanding and then repented “Alas! I have burnt the whole of Lanka under the influence of anger. This fire might have burnt Mother Sita also. What shall I do now? How can I return without Janaki Devi? I became a victim to anger. How powerful is anger? I am a powerful Brahmachari. I have destroyed passion to its very root and branch and yet I have not controlled anger. How powerful it is! It is more powerful than passion.â€
Too much loss of semen is the chief cause of irritability and anger. Passion is the root and anger the stem. You will have to destroy the root (passion) first, then the stem (anger) will die by itself. A passionate man is more angry. A man who has wasted his seminal energy becomes irritated soon for little things even. A Brahmachari who has preserved his Veerya always keeps a balanced mind. He has a cool brain at all times.
Eradicate anger. Manifest inner spiritual strength. Realise Satchidananda Atman. Glory unto those who have rooted out their anger and attained knowledge of the Self! 1. Be alert. Pray. Do more Japa. Practise Vichara. Keep a watch over your mind. Be silent. Observe Mouna daily for an hour. Forget and forgive. Bear insult and injury. Observe Brahmacharya.
2. See God in all. Submit to God’s will. Then you cannot get angry.
3. In the morning meditate on the virtue of patience. Manifest it during the day. Take a vow ‘I will practise endurance and Kshama (forgiveness) during the day’.
4. Speak sweetly. Speak little.
5. Mix little. Have congenial company. Have Satsanga. Read spiritual books.
6. Remember the lives of saints like Ekanath, the Avanti Brahmin of the llth Skandha of the Bhagavata. You will derive inspiration. You will develop love and Kshama.
7. Give up intoxicating liquors, meat and tobacco.
8. Remember the Gita Slokas describing anger as monster and gate to hell. (Ch. III-37 and Ch. XVI-21).
9. If you find it difficult to control anger, leave the place at once. Take a long walk. Drink cold water. Repeat ‘Om Santi’ l0 times. Do Japa of your Ishta Mantra or count from 1 to 30. Anger will subside.
10. Stand as a witness of the Vritti of anger. Be indifferent to it. Do not identify yourself with it. Identify yourself with the Atman. Fill the mind with ideas of love, joy, etc.
11. Develop patience to a considerable extent. People lose their temper when they become impatient. Allow the mind to dwell constantly on the opposite of anger, the virtue of patience. This is the Pratipaksha Bhavana, method of Raja Yogins.
12. Do not give vent to anger. Control the body first. Have physical control. Practise this again and again. Be regular in your Japa and meditation and Kirtan. This will give you great inner spiritual strength.
13. Food has a great deal to do with irritability. Take milk, fruits, Moong-ki-dall, curd, spinach, barley, groundnuts, butter milk. Do not take carrots, onion, garlic, cauliflower, Massoor-ki-dall and drumstick.
14. Observe Mouna for two hours daily. Occasionally observe Mouna for a whole day. This will put a check on the impulse of speech. When a man gets excited, he speaks anything and everything. He has no control over the organ of speech.
15. Prana entwines the mind like a creeper. Pranayama leads to the control of mind. Pranayama will put a break on the impulse of speech. It will give you abundant energy to check anger.
First, it has to be remembered that the Sadhaka has to carry the fight all alone and unaided. In this encounter with Kama, he has the co-operation of Society. Public opinion bears the brunt of the warfare. If he reveals his Kama in its objectionable form he falls in the estimation of those whose good opinion he values. To be calumniated by his detractors is wounding to his vanity. To be reproved by his friends is painful. To be thought ill of even by those towards whom he is indifferent is displeasing to him. All these thoughts are positive aids in carrying out his mental fight with Kama. Far different is his condition when he attempts to conquer anger. Exhibition of temper is not regarded as a moral delinquency by the public. Provocation is put forth as an excuse and justification for reprehensible outbursts of anger, and is accepted as a mitigatory plea by the indulgent public. Society seems to stand still with folded arms when an angry person frets, fumes or raves. It would appear that ‘society’ even goes to the enemy’s camp and goads it (anger) to strike harder and harder so as to thoroughly overpower the lonely victim. Not infrequently are found a good many who irritate an already angry man merely for the fun of seeing him infuriated. Men are so callous by nature that they are pleased when gazing upon the antics of a lunatic, and the difference between an angry person and a maniac is only one of degree. The result is that the spiritual Sadhaka, when assailed by his arch enemy anger, is too often overpowered.
Secondly, there operate certain sentiments which put on the cloak of virtues and misguide the unwary spiritual pilgrim. One such is named self-respect. Forgetful of the fundamental truth that the aspirant should be indifferent alike to praise and censure, he takes his stand on self-respectâ€"after all a slippery and unreliable footholdâ€"and in his over-anxiety to protect it, fails to notice the stealthy approach of his foe anger, till it is too late. ‘Love of country.’ ‘Duty to one’s own wife and children’, ‘solicitude for the needy and the poor’ are all wrongly regarded as justification for getting angry. Whatever may be the value of these sentiments from the point of view of the community or the nation, they should not cloud the understanding of the spiritual Sadhaka, whose one and only aim should be to conquer his mind.
Anger, like fever, is a symptom which shows that something has gone wrong in the inner mechanism. The mental machinery gets heated for want of timely lubrication. The most effective of all lubricants is Introspection or Reflection. Even the most angry man realises his folly after his anger is spent out. It is then that he begins to reflect upon what he did. If this reflection had come to him before he got angry, he would not have got angry at all. But that would be possible only if he had made reflection or introspection over his habit. The habit must be formed in good time if the evil is to be averted.
Cause Of Anger
Anger makes everybody its slave and victim. It breaks the friendship of even very intimate friends. It even induces wives to quarrel with their husbands and make them file suits. It excites all. It holds sway more or less over the whole world and the Devatas also.
Anger destroys reason and makes man do things which cannot be dreamt of. Under the influence of anger man abuses, insults and even murders his father, brother, wife, Guru or king and repents afterwards.
Anger influenced even Hanuman the mightiest Brahmachari to burn Lanka. He lost his understanding and then repented “Alas! I have burnt the whole of Lanka under the influence of anger. This fire might have burnt Mother Sita also. What shall I do now? How can I return without Janaki Devi? I became a victim to anger. How powerful is anger? I am a powerful Brahmachari. I have destroyed passion to its very root and branch and yet I have not controlled anger. How powerful it is! It is more powerful than passion.â€
Too much loss of semen is the chief cause of irritability and anger. Passion is the root and anger the stem. You will have to destroy the root (passion) first, then the stem (anger) will die by itself. A passionate man is more angry. A man who has wasted his seminal energy becomes irritated soon for little things even. A Brahmachari who has preserved his Veerya always keeps a balanced mind. He has a cool brain at all times.
Eradicate anger. Manifest inner spiritual strength. Realise Satchidananda Atman. Glory unto those who have rooted out their anger and attained knowledge of the Self! 1. Be alert. Pray. Do more Japa. Practise Vichara. Keep a watch over your mind. Be silent. Observe Mouna daily for an hour. Forget and forgive. Bear insult and injury. Observe Brahmacharya.
2. See God in all. Submit to God’s will. Then you cannot get angry.
3. In the morning meditate on the virtue of patience. Manifest it during the day. Take a vow ‘I will practise endurance and Kshama (forgiveness) during the day’.
4. Speak sweetly. Speak little.
5. Mix little. Have congenial company. Have Satsanga. Read spiritual books.
6. Remember the lives of saints like Ekanath, the Avanti Brahmin of the llth Skandha of the Bhagavata. You will derive inspiration. You will develop love and Kshama.
7. Give up intoxicating liquors, meat and tobacco.
8. Remember the Gita Slokas describing anger as monster and gate to hell. (Ch. III-37 and Ch. XVI-21).
9. If you find it difficult to control anger, leave the place at once. Take a long walk. Drink cold water. Repeat ‘Om Santi’ l0 times. Do Japa of your Ishta Mantra or count from 1 to 30. Anger will subside.
10. Stand as a witness of the Vritti of anger. Be indifferent to it. Do not identify yourself with it. Identify yourself with the Atman. Fill the mind with ideas of love, joy, etc.
11. Develop patience to a considerable extent. People lose their temper when they become impatient. Allow the mind to dwell constantly on the opposite of anger, the virtue of patience. This is the Pratipaksha Bhavana, method of Raja Yogins.
12. Do not give vent to anger. Control the body first. Have physical control. Practise this again and again. Be regular in your Japa and meditation and Kirtan. This will give you great inner spiritual strength.
13. Food has a great deal to do with irritability. Take milk, fruits, Moong-ki-dall, curd, spinach, barley, groundnuts, butter milk. Do not take carrots, onion, garlic, cauliflower, Massoor-ki-dall and drumstick.
14. Observe Mouna for two hours daily. Occasionally observe Mouna for a whole day. This will put a check on the impulse of speech. When a man gets excited, he speaks anything and everything. He has no control over the organ of speech.
15. Prana entwines the mind like a creeper. Pranayama leads to the control of mind. Pranayama will put a break on the impulse of speech. It will give you abundant energy to check anger.
